The Abbotsford

The Abbotsford is at the start of Rose Street, the narrow street running parallel to Princes Street, at the end closest to St Andrew Square and Waverley station. The bar was built in 1902 on the site of an earlier one, the work of P. L. Henderson, the architect behind several of the city's classic pubs, and it keeps what made it famous: a Spanish mahogany island bar in the middle of the room and a Jacobean-style plaster ceiling. It's a place for Scottish pub food without climbing up to the Old Town.

What comes out of the kitchen

The menu is pub food, with Scottish produce and moderate prices. To start, a small haggis with neeps and tatties (mashed turnip and potato) for £6.95, which you can douse in whisky sauce. For a main, the full haggis (£12.45), also in a vegetarian version, the steak and stout pie (£17.95), beer-battered Scottish haddock and chips, grilled cod or steaks from the grill. There's a soup of the day and salads. The kitchen is open from 12:00 to 21:30, and on Fridays and Saturdays until 21:45.

The bar downstairs, the restaurant upstairs

On the ground floor you eat and drink around the bar: rotating guest ales, served from traditional Scottish fonts, and more than eighty malt whiskies. Upstairs is Above, the restaurant, quieter and with laid tables. Table bookings are made on the website.

With children or teenagers

Because of the licence, under-5s aren't admitted at any time. Children can eat in the upstairs restaurant with an adult, at any time. In the downstairs bar, 14 to 18-year-olds can stay before 17:00 if they're eating with an adult. With children, ask for a table in Above.