Reviews The Safari Lounge

What a fab place! Atmosphere, friendly, great food and drinks. Would go back anytime. Very reasonably priced with lovely staff. Just a short walk off the manic royal mile

Love this place. The deco and atmosphere inside is super eclectic and industrial. Very relaxed. And the food! Had their hot dog and it was goooddd! The caramelised onions are super 'melty'. And the salad? Love the pomegranates in it.

The first day I moved to Edinburgh I was looking for a place to eat with a fellow (semi) vegetarian friend and we found this place by accident and we have sworn we would go back, because it was absolutely delicious food! 

Delicious vegetarian dishes, served quickly and hot. The service was so nice, we even got to talk a little bit with the guy making the food. 

This was middle of the afternoon so we were the only one there, but when I walk by it during the evening I can see it seems like a hip place since it is always full!

A couple of Saturdays back we were off to see our first fringe show, the brilliant Jimeoin (I thought his what seemed to be mostly unscripted / chaotic stand up routine was hilarious and would definitely recommend you go see him) . With some time to kill before the show we decided to stop off at The Safari Lounge for a beer and a quick bite to eat. The only reason I even knew of The Safari Lounge was thanks to some free beer tokens I had received a couple of weeks previous from Heverlee, which specified it as one of the bars participating in the offer. The Safari Lounge is situated in Abbeyhill, just a couple of minutes walk from the top of Easter Road so didn’t take us long to walk.

If I were religious, I would swear my prayers had recently been answered. For years I have been chanting the mantra “please might someone open a decent pub, with really good food, somewhere between Jock’s Lodge and Leith Walk”. But Edinburgh’s equivalents of the goddesses Edesia and Bibesia must have been sat atop Arthur’s Seat with their fingers in their ears – until now!

For the last few weeks, as I trudged back and forth between Scrumptious Scran Towers and my place of work in central Edinburgh, I noted that the old Station Bar on Abbeyhill’s Cadzow Place – a very traditional Scottish boozer – had been shut for a bit of a repaint. Then the posters appeared in its picture windows, announcing the arrival of The Safari Lounge. Might this be, at last, a decent new boozer in Edinburgh’s East End? Praise the lord! Or lady, or whatever be your deity of choice.

So this Friday, JML and I dropped by to see what pleasures this revamped Victorian bar might hold. Oh my! Walking into the place it doesn’t immediately look like a lot has changed. There is still much of the dark brown tongue and groove and ornate plaster work in evidence, except the walls are painted a subtle tangerine and white - taken together all vaguely reminiscent of a liquorice all sort. The original wooden bar has gone (despatched to another venue, to allow the nine rotten joists that lay beneath it to be replaced, apparently). And at the end of its subtly trendy replacement is a small kitchen – but what a kitchen…

As we ordered drinks at the bar and scouted round for a table, it became apparent that the place is much bigger than I had realised, with a comfy, offset area to the rear of the bar, and a separate “Tiger Room” beyond that. Our drinks arrived – chosen from a great range of lagers and craft beers – together with a couple of menus. And that is when I realised why this place is confident enough to site an open kitchen at the end of the bar. At first glance it may appear a typical pub menu of salads, mezze, ‘lite bites’ hotdogs and burgers. Yet read on, and it isn’t just your standard bar food at all. It’s a menu put together with real care and thought.

So, we ordered a main each of a “Safari Dog” and a “Momo Fuku” Pork Bun, accompanied by a side of skinny fries and the intriguing “popcorn mussels” and watched mesmerically as the two chefs in the open kitchen grabbed ingredients and cooked and assembled the dishes before our eyes. Within ten minutes of ordering, the food arrived. JML had chosen what transpired to be very posh hotdog – a meaty, flavoursome sausage nestling in a brioche roll, drizzled in a mustard dressing and surrounded by a tangy onion and cider chutney. It was simply smashing. My shredded pork belly buns – there were two – consisted of beautifully succulent meat with vinaigrette coleslaw, all encased in ghostly white rice baps. Intriguing in how they looked, delicious in how they tasted. Both mains were served with a generous accompaniment of freshly prepared, perfectly dressed salad.

As to the sides? Well JML’s fries were skinny and crispy as described, and came as an ample portion. My popcorn mussels were a revelation, however. Imagine a take on whitebait, but involving shellfish in tempura batter accompanied by home-made tartar sauce. Crisp on the outside and with a soft interior, packed with intense, slightly salty, seafood flavour. I need say no more.

Full review at: http://www.scrumptiousscran.com/2013/07/review-prayers-answered-at-safari-lounge.html

I am celiac and this pub offers glutenfree meals and gf beer! My meals was delicious Thank you so much. So appreciated by us Celiac people!

Superb tacos. Just had the beef shin and oxtail tacos today, had the fish ones too. Fish bites and fries are amazing, lovely little orange zest mayo along side. Absolutely delicious! Great bar staff, nice draft lagers. My usual once a month meal to myself on my route home.

Quirky independent bar near Meadowbank Retail Park. Decent range of local beers like Campervan and Bellfield (literally a stone's throw away), as well as some of your usual offerings. Nice and open with an area in the rear usually used for food, which consists of small plates, burgers and tacos (didn't eat on this occasion) but food looked good from the open kitchen

Imaginative, modern menu, way better food offering than usual pub fare. Good range of drinks too. Friendly staff and pleasant surroundings.

Lovely place with friendly staff. The food we had was really nice and plenty of it. It's also seems to be one of the few places in Edinburgh that have a licence so you can your kids in and they don't mind.

Great place to watch the rugby with good value and tasty food. We tried the Asia miso battered fish taco which was very good. Aiming to try their Thai beef burger next time as it wasn't available on that day.

First time here for a European dance evening in the basement. This isn't run by the pub but downstairs function room availability use. Could benefit from ventilation with 20-25 people dancing (attempts to open a window weren't approved of!). Will be back 😊

Excellent little gem, food was fantastic with a good selection of vegetarian options which weren't run of the mill. Cocktails were crummy and reasonably priced. Excellent find and would highly recommend.

Food is incredible, had a special Thai beef sausage roll that was amazing. Miso mayo is 👌