the merlin in Edinburgh, City of

Like the name suggests, this place casts a spell. And it's no bad for a scran and a bevy as well. Highly recommended. Magic, I'd say go in the night time or during the day.

Love coming to The Merlin for drinks! Aaron, Kirsty, Vuki and the staff are super friendly and make us feel welcome every Monday when we come in!

Visited with family, quick service, lovely food. Staff were very friendly and helpful esp Aaron, Oran and Aimee. Highly recommend.

Had a lovely lunch here, good food, friendly atmosphere. Staff very friendly, esp Aaron, Oren and Aimee will certainly visit next time in Edinburgh

We had a great time, food was good staff were warm and friendly. Made us feel welcome. A special Aaron. Couldn’t do enough for us .

Top pub in Edinburgh, cannot recommend more! Bar staff was incredible and service impeccable, visit the Merlin right now!

Best pub I've been to in Edinburgh, couldn't have asked for nicer staff and the food is some of the best that I have ever had

Bar staff were incredible! The best pub I’ve visited in Edinburgh!

Amazing service with a wide variety of food and drink! Many screens to watch the sports on too which is great. Will definitely be visiting more often for a bite to eat and some football⚽️

2 previous visits to the Merlin I had enjoyed the Seniors Menu" very good value for money😀. On this occasion I was given scampi chips n mushy peas as per previous visits- only this time the portions had decreased by 40%- when I asked the bar tender that this was a lot less than previous times - his reply was " I must have been over portioned on the previous occasions- then mumbled something about new management and this was the correct portion size- price was the same as before, but its a very deceitful ploy on the new management part- also asked for a pint of tap water with a shot of lime cordial and was charged £1.90 - the previous time for the same drink was 90p- it seems you are reeling in customers with the value for money food - to only go and give half size portions 6mths down the line- I was incredibly hungry afterwards as the neal was so meagre ☹️☹️

The atmosphere and staff make the Merlin, the drinks and food are well priced for what you get and there is a lovely outside seating area as well.

I went for lunch today with my wife and son I can honestly say that it was one of the worst lunches we have had in a long time. My wife ordered fish and chips it looked over cooked but it wasn't the oil had not been changed for a long time you it taste burnt from the oil. My son ordered a chicken dish wich was a bit dry and also a very small portion. I ordered scampi with chips and peas, it was terrible the peas looked like they had been sitting on the hot line for a while the 8 pieces of scampi i got was not very good and seemed to be from iceland and served with 11 chips, I had to check to see if i ordered a Childs portion but i hadn't so all I can say is we won't be back which is sad because we stay local. Even for pub food it was very disappointing. Unfortunately a very poor lunch for such a nice part of Edinburgh.

Expensive in my opinion. Lager £6+ for most brands and poor basic facilities to match. No toilet paper in gent’s cubicles, poo. When this was brought to the attention of a member of staff an acknowledgment but no apology. Not a visit I will be in a hurry to repeat.

Environment pleasant. Clean. Disappointing Fish and chips. Fish very dry. Overpriced for the poor quality that was served. Waited a long time for food to be served. Got given a random bowl of chips about ten mins before our meal. That I never ordered. But got charged for. Also staff got table number mixed up and the waiter was wandering around lost .

Wee cheeky birthday lunch drinks, excellent atmosphere and service. Aaron and kirsty fab hosts and kept the gin flowing!!

friendly and helpful staff. Great atmosphere with sports on multiple TVs. Great place to drink and eat. Superb outside area for summer

My wife and I attended a party to celebrate a friend's birthday and watch the Six nations rugby on Saturday 16 March, and enjoyed the occasion and the food enormously. We had attended similar events previously and always had a really good time. Highly recommended!

Get out of the tourist traps and head down Morningside way for an afternoon or evening out in REAL Edinburgh with tasty food, a good range of beers and wines, good value and all served up by lovely, friendly, helpful staff.

Staff were friendly and efficient with Aaron in charge and he could not have been more accommodating in making sure we had everything we needed to make the occasion a memorable one. The food was as good as usual and my Mac n cheese was perfect with wine flowing and the rugby on what was not to like - well the result of Scotland v Ireland was, but that was all! Of course we’ll be back. Thanks Aaron and staff.

Brilliant wee pub with great atmosphere. Nice big beer garden for sunny days☀️ Aaron went above and beyond to make sure our time here was perfect. Cannot fault it at all, we will definitely be back!

Not been for years and was looking forward to returning but after visit will certainly be back. Was not particularly busy but had to chase up food couple of times. One member of staff helpful but another who appeared to be in charge had a bad attitude/poor customer service.

Fantastic atmosphere great staff especially vuki, Kirsty, Josh and Alex!!!! I will always drink here :)

I attended this venue over the weekend and the staff are so attentive , amazing atmosphere and the food was delicious! the manager Aaron is so inviting and helpful for anything we needed, would definitely recommend the merlin, will be back as soon as we can :)

Beer was off, bar staff appeared disinterested, atmosphere ok. Won’t be rushing back.

Very good food, average service.

not bad, simple food, quite nice. However, don't buy a cappuccino, it's like liquid gravel.

My wife said that the ladies toilets were disgusting. They had no clean wine glasses. Manager was completely disinterested and accused my wife of having an attitude problem. I think he has the problem. We have been going to this bar for many years and the decline in standards recently is rather sad.

If you like modern sports bars, this the one for you. Large outside area too

Simple local bar with friendly service that shows sport.

Only 2 members of bar staff on extremely busy day but all else excellent!

I’ve been going to the merlin for years now. This place has gone through much change and I’d love nothing more than to say it’s gone from strength to strength. I’d be lying. It feels like it’s lost it’s spark. The Subsidiary of “Greene King” making what seems to be, let’s say, rash decisions from the outside looking in. I’m all for change but more importantly I’m a man of nostalgia, and the merlin was so good. Was…

Dropping off equipment earlier for work that night for someone party. Staff couldn’t be more helpful especially the manager. Thank you.

It's a bit run down the chairs had rips in them not nice at all.

Christmas Day lunch -Staff fantastic, went out of their way to organise lunch for us when we were visiting just for Christmas and could not visit to pay deposit -Vegan options were best I have ever seen and had for Christmas Day. So much more effort has gone into menu design than just a Nut Roast or Wellington -Pub is gorgeous inside, friendly warm welcome, opposite bus stop that runs every 15 minutes even on Christmas Day -Not rushed in and out, staff happy to be there and can even get there early to have a few drinks

There are no words to explain how much I love this pub, recently visiting Scotland for the first time with my partner, i had the pleasure of meeting Karen (The governor) She is soo amazing, friendly and a perfect manager 😍🥲 I hope to come back ASAP to just to see her. The food is also very nice and well put together ❤️ safe to say, whenever I am in Edinburgh, i will come to this pub x Very lovely to meet you and your team! Sonny

Stopped.off for lunch nice clean bar

Didn't enjoy the Tennants lager that's the 3rd time in a row it's been poor

Went there well working away 6 of us ordered food at 5 pm and told kitchen was closed only to see others ordered at 5.30 and get food

There were about 6 people in this large bar and two staff and still the service was awful. When they eventually poured my (single) Gin and Tonic costing almost £7.00 they told me they had no ice. They were unhelpful to an elderly couple wanting to oder food as they hadn't booked. On the plus side the bar, tables etc were all clean. I won't be giving them a second chance.

First visit here. A quick drink while in the area. Prompt and friendly service. Bright and lively place even though it was mid day. I would return here if in the area again.

Food was cold, the bar man brought the food then he brought the cutlery 5 minutes later, very rude staff, won't be back.

Remember a time when this was a great pub... unfortunately not so sure now.. won't say I won't be back.. other chances and all that

We shared a selection of the mexican small plates which were very nice. Mother had the lasagne, which she really enjoyed. It was quite quiet but was a monday lunch time so probably to be expected.

We were all having a great night, until a bartender was rude to us, he had glasses on and I think his name was John? He has no customer service and appeared annoyed to serve us drinks (his job). The merlin is great but don’t let little things like this ruin it. It’s not an inconvenience for someone to apply a valid student, don’t be lazy John.

Lovely staff and good service but food was just awful.

Sam and Vuk are incredible at the bar late at night. Always excellent service and great chat. Definitely miss Mike, not sure what happened with him? But Sam and Vuk make my every visit!!

Very unhelpful, rude staff and meh food. Not worth a visit.

A warm and welcoming pub with staff really giving that service with a smile. I was welcomed after walking through the door, and served promptly by a chap called Sam. Giving that smile and weekend banter. The fish and chips was absolutely amazing. I can see why it’s talked about so much. Accompanied with a spectacular pint of real ale! Great all round experience, cheers to you Team Merlin

Never usually leave a review about a place but the food was shocking. Fish and Chips cold and dry. Beefburger was tiny, cold, dry and looked like it was bought from the Supermarket Iceland. Even the main Salad was bad. The only positive was we got a refund as it was that disgusting we couldn't eat it.

I can't imagine this place getting any worse. Went for lunch, asked at the till for some lunch deals, manager told me that everything was on the menu rudely. I asked him where because I couldn't see the deal that I was asking for and I did have 2 menus with me. Manager came with a different menu, told him that menu was not on my table and he rolled his eyes. Asked for 2 kids pasta, 1 baked beans, 1 garden peas and 2 bread, manager didn't do anything, after repeating several times my order in different ways, manager told me that was not what I started asking. I told the manager that I wanted 5 things that according to the menu could go together, I didn't care how he put them in the till. All I wanted was 2 kids meals with side and veggies, 5 items so far, the items were always the same. Manager complained that I ordered differently. I was fed up with his attitude and told him that his job was to put my order in the till, and my job was to order and pay for it. I didn't care how he put it in the till as long as I got my items. And it's not my job to tell him how to do his job, putting the items in the till. Manager found the excuse not to serve the foreigners after been so rude from the beginning. Worse place every

Ein Sport 🏟 Pup . Preiswert mit freundlichen und sympathischer Bedienung.. ⭐ ⭐ ⭐⭐

Great food and a good pint of guinness

Went here for a rugby game the other night. Lots of screens to watch the sports on, the food looks good but yet to order.

I go to this place quite a lot. They offer a great menu with small plates to full dinners and a decent selection of drinks. Good place to watch live sports, and a pub quiz if you fancy it.

Spent hoyrs here drinking pints even tjough 6 of the supposedly 9 drafts are unavailable. Its 20:00 and went to order foid to be told kitchen closed. Even though website states food until 21:00. If id known i would have left before the game im watching started. Cant recommend.. Shame.

What the hell has happened to The Merlin??????? It used to be a the place to have a great meal & a drink, BUT...after trying today at 6:30pm for the THIRD time in as many months to get a meal only to be told once again...THERE'S NO FOOD BUT THERE MAYBE A CHEF WORKING ON FRIDAY!!!!!!! NO WONDER THERE WAS ONLY 7 PEOPLE IN THE PLACE !!!!! Yet web site still advertises food served from 12noon till 9pm It looks like we'll need to phone on a daily and enquire whether food is available and if a chef is on duty to cook it.

Food was very poor. No fish n chips even though they said they had it. 3 of us : Burgers (1 beef 1 chicken) were awful. The french fries were a small child's portion instead of full portion and lettuce was so tiny (had to open up the burger and lift up the chicken and beef to fond it), no pickle, no tomato sauce. I had the gammon steak (as no FnC) was over cooked and tasted somewgat rubbery as it was likely put in the microwave. The difference in the quality of food this time vs previous visit is massive. Only 3 staff and pub not even a quarter full . Staff were repeatedly heard complaining to the customers, about only 3 staff and rushed off their feet. Maybe because it was monday the chef was off and someone else was preparing it, but that is no reason, better not to serve food than to serve bad food.

Lively Friday evening drinks spot. Sports screens plus a DJ.

Food can be good sometimes it depends who is on the microwave doint go near the curry your stomach will not thank you

Food wasn't available on the day I was there but I will go again

The Little Manager need s to learn about customer service, This should be my local and every time I have been in there even the staff moaned about him, he needs to learn how to smile and how to talk to his customers

Standard chain pub fare. Not bad not great.

Each time we visit our local pub, there is a problem with the kitchen. They have a new chef and I don’t know how he got the job, but he is not a chef. They offered on a Friday night 3 meals. Not even fish and chips. And what we got was disgusting. The chips and fish fingers were burnt and too long in old fat, the burger tasteless and luke warm. The staff is lovely though, but don’t go there if you want to eat something. Na Donald’s offers better food. The toilets were dirty and there was no toilet paper in any of the ladies toilets. That’s probably how the kitchen looks like. So no thanks

We attend the Boogaloo Sunday swing dance classes at Merlin, great classes, lovely people, bar staff really nice. The bar food and prosecco is pretty good too.

Cannot believe how many times we go into this pub and there's no food. It happens far to often. The place was empty, as people came to the door and read the notice, then turned around and had to go elsewhere

Staff amazing but had to deal with drunk teenagers in the function room after they or There parents had sneaked I booze stupid stupid people the staff were amazing though shame on the parents of these kids

Good place for food and drink, tv screens for sport

The Service was so nice, courteous and patient. We were there with 2 adults, 2 kids and 2 dogs and so-so english.

Este día no había cocina, pero es un pub grande, luminoso , y tienen cervezas de varios países.

Not very well handled function i attenended and a very upset girl who herself had no idea what was goin on. Staff need retraining crying infront of customers in a stressfull situation doesnt look good and things could have been handled much better than they were. Manager a very awful person to speak with so up himself and unwilling to cooperate to solve situations. I do feel sorry for the staff who seem missmanged and i did try help dissolve situations before they ended up much worse because of how unhandled it was managment defo needs retraining and for future reference put out notice and rules for functions under 18s allowed till half 9 if u cant handle certain situations that come with children. ****Edit to correct some of the things you have said.**** Many parents were outside sending kids home making arrangements when you asked for kids to leave(that was co-operating). No the party did not threaten you the DJ did and they refused to pay him and were given dogs abuse by his girlfriend for this! Many were co-operating when things kicked off, they were outside doing as you asked and next thing we knew police pulled up as parents were doin so, so had no idea of any of the ongoings with the idiot of a dj till we were all told. I voiced all this to the police you lied saying the whole party threatend you when they didnt dj was given plenty words for what he did and continued to do while packing his stuff up and i agree he was completely out of order. Accept how ill handled it was, apologise to the heartbroken birthday girl, learn from it and move on.

Went for the pub quiz, and thoroughly enjoyed the food, beer, and the quiz. We didn't win though.

I was part of the party last night. The staff werent very welcoming. For knowing it was a party with some smaller kids youd expect youd understand kids so young werent going to be sat on a seat and not move all night. Youse seemed to have an issue with them leaving the hall going down the stairs to be with the adults who were outside..the kids werent causing any issue to any of the other people in the building and werent entering the bottom part of the bar. Youse maked all the teenagers feel unwelcome by watching there every move. All the teenagers parents were there and were watching they werent drinking and the were all behaving. Between turning the music off and saying the party was over you didnt give much of a chance for people to gather their stuff and for the food and presents to be collected to allow everyone to leave, half the party were confused to what was going on and didnt even know to leave. You then had the place mob handed with police who were man handling the party down the stairs nearly maken people fall over, and pushing minirs to the ground which i have video footage of. Obviolsey think youse are based in mornonside and so mich better than a pile of people who were less posh than your usual clientel. I have emailed requesting data of myself on your cctv and i will be submitting a complaint to both yourself and police. Funny to see that minute you have 3 reviews about a bad experience you have reviews going on about how great the staff are. Is this staff writing them? I beleive the staff are great for partys if you go and listen to swing music, place dosnt welcome people listen to anything with a beat or with young children who dont sit in 1 spot. Also for the customer who was shocked by the trashed toilets, this is rubbish, someone left a empty vodka bottle in the toilets hardly trashing the place. Maybe this is just how the toilets are in general as they seem to have about 20 bad reviews in regards to roilets. Also seem to be reluctant to release the cctv footage im having to wait till general manager is back in a week in a half. Legally im entitled to this data and action manager shouod be able to release it, however ill wait the 2 weeks requested till general manager is back.

I attended a party in which the toilets were disgusting yet we seem to be being blamed for as a party,the driver was hanging of the wall on arrival and they were not very clean reading previous reviews seems this is the norm. The staff were not very welcoming of young kids or teenagers. Let me add this was a family party the mum alone had 2 young kids. You asked for all kids under 18 to leave for party to continue and parents went downstairs to arrange and send home some of the kids as asked. More clearly kicked of when this was being done as before we all knew it police pulled up man handled and even hit young kids because you were negligent in handling a bad situation (the DJ being an absolute tool). So nobody was asked to leave or those of us downstairs anyway before police pulled up claiming we had been threatening towards you and refusing to leave, when we were never asked. It was very ill handled and about time you just admit that and apologise to the birthday girl and her family for a joke of an event which could have been handled much better

Fab place to eat & drink & dance.... great staff & vibe. We host our dance classes upstairs Would highly recommend for a night out, food and drink or for a function.

Great place with lovely staff! We come every two weeks to attend dance classes in the function room and often go for drinks and food here. Staff are always great and up for a chat, prices are very reasonable and the place is clean and has a good atmosphere overall. Would be my first recommendation for eating in Morningside, and having a function.

Brilliant venue on all fronts - staff especially welcoming and brilliant at dealing with idiots. Would recommend to anyone wanting to go for a brilliant night, chilled or lively.

Excellent staff and atmosphere. Would come again in a heartbeat

We can’t speak highly enough of the Merlin in Morningside! ❤️ We host a fortnightly swing dance class here and we love the venue, the staff and the food/drink. The manager Cameron goes above & beyond to make everything is perfect. We were disappointed to see the carnage left after a party last night where a group trashed the ladies loos, left cigarette butts everywhere and generally disrespected the place. Luckily the team cleared it all up for us tonight. Thank you 🙏

Was in this afternoon and had a beautiful stake pie and it was absolutely amazing I can’t recommend this place enough and was served by a lovely girl Dana

Me and my partner go to the dancing classes they host upstairs. The food, the people that run the pub and the dance instructors that host the classes- are the highlight to our weekend. The place is worth visiting for the food/service and the classes are out of this world. Here's to many fun times ahead and more dancing to do!

Good food, one of the most affordable pubs in the area, friendly staff

Women's toilets are grim. 3 out of 5 broken sinks. Shame. It's the Wetherspoons of Morningside.

A bit dear for lager, but has a good range of beers and spirits along with food which are all reasonably priced.

Lovely wee pub restaurant serving decent meals.

Fed up going in and the kitchen ls closed

Fantastic day at the Merlin with friends today. Service and staff are great and make you feel welcome. The manager Artur has a great attitude and his team were fantastic. Couldn’t do enough for us. We loved the Aussie guys chat, he was great value and the food was excellent. Great sunshine in the beer garden. Dana pours a good Guinness too! What more could we want. Great day overall!

Only had 1 pint of Madri flat and half chilled, service was so slow not enough staff🥺

It was awful..it was my birthday with my family.. everything we ordered was unavailable.. shocking for a Saturday afternoon... kids all wanted burgers, and there were no rolls.. there's plenty of shops on the doorstep where someone could 5 nipped out . A few tables left! There was nothing on the menu my son could eat and he left and had a sandwich elsewhere we would have left but there were 7 of us and a new baby...too much hassle. There was very little on the menu... Very very disappointing. I won't be back. We book a Xmas lunch every year for about 10..that won't be happening I have to say your serving staff were very nice... and apologetic... I actually felt sorry for them You're in such a good spot in a very nice place you should be able to supply food for enough covers to suit your capacity You may think it doesn't matter and you'll still get custom. People will soon get fed up and not come back It was a holiday weekend, and the place was not busy at all Not sure what is wrong, but it needs sorted.

They had no mac and cheese and no burger buns so I had a really sad plate of nachos instead. They didn't bother to melt the cheese and forgot the jalapenos. No guac available.

Had an amazing experience here with friends, wasn't my first choice to come here but after seeing how kind and friendly the staff are, as well as good food and drinks, il definitely be returning in the future 😁

Went today for a lunch of sausages potatoes gravy peas and onion disappointing no onion no peas and had soup to start look warm very disappointing. Had a reply from the owner /manager wouldn't have to complain if you got it right we the customer pay for a service and the service is no there,however I'll be taken this up at the next board meeting with Green King.

Good space, friendly staff Very eclectic (read odd) music playlist Beer wasn't to my tastes but plenty variety

Good atmosphere and some good beers

Had an absolutely wonderful time here. The staff were lovely and consistently seemed happy to helpful. Everything about my experience here at The Merlin was a joy. Thank you.

pleasant enough pub but again was not serving food. this is the second time i have visited this pub and the kitchen is closed. not good enough.

Had an amazing time here! I love trying out new places to drink and have a meal - this place blew me away! The bar staff were incredibly kind, helpful and great for having a laugh with. Best night I've had in a while!

Good place to watch sport, with great service from Mark and his team

I enjoyed this pub/restaurant. Nice chill atmosphere. The food was yummy. I had the mushroom chili with cilantro lime rice and corn ribs for the first time. All around very delicious! First time visiting Edinburgh, Scotland and really enjoyed.

First time in Edinburgh and stayed in Morningside. Came across this place and highly recommend! Great atmosphere and food!

Quick, pleasant service. Usual pub chain offerings. Shame the car park is only for staff or we would have stayed longer, hence the 4 star, instead of 5.