the merlin in Edinburgh, City of

Absolutely brilliant layout for big groups, really attentive staff. Amazing for sunny days with a spacious beer garden out the back.

Good value for food and drink and great service

Friendly staff member James and others always with a smile and very helpful. Cheap soft drink, beer and food. Try the Nachos Best in the city with a cold glass of cola. Very spacious indoors and you can enjoy a beverage at their sitting area located at the back and front of the restaurant. Several TVs so you can always watch the football or rugby. 10/10 best restaurant / pub in the Morningside area.

Good food great service excellent value

Great pub great food! Lots of screens for the sport! Pool table and tunes!!

We have been coming here for years and the big thing for me is the tables are never clean to the extent that i bring my own wipes and clean the table first. But to my amazing surprise wow Chris was going around in The Merlin Morningside cleaning every table as people left. Go you chris and long may it continue

"Tried to watch the Six Nations here after seeing it advertised. Walked into a moderately busy pub and were immediately asked if we had a reservation. When we said we didn’t, we were told we couldn’t stay—despite plenty of standing room. Staff claimed we would be blocking fire escapes, though the place was nearly empty. A baffling way to treat potential customers. The three of us would have happily stood and had four or five pints each. Disappointing experience—wouldn’t recommend. I’ll be sure to share this experience with friends and others in the community and encourage them to visit more welcoming establishments.

Loads of choice on the menu for the family! Friendly staff, quick service, lovely sauv for mum, what more could you ask for?!

Excellent service and super gluten free menu. Food and drinks all at a very good price. Meal served quickly and was delicious. I'll be back!

Cosy visit today with cozy winter meals, (mac n cheese and the gammon steak) loved it!! 💚

Food isn't great but as a bar to go and watch the sport and have a few beers it's pretty good, plenty of seating and the beer garden always gets the sun

Booked table 55 to watch Scotland V Ireland. Barman wouldn't turn the sound on the TV till the game started after being asked numerous times. We missed the pre match comments and the anthems. Sat next to an Irish family who travelled from Omagh. They too were shocked at staff response. Won't be going back.

El personal era encantador y él hizo cócteles increíbles Los precios son geniales Gran experiencia Definitivamente vale la pena una visita!

Never had food. Staff are always pleasant

Great place to grab lunch and a pint with the family while out and about in Morningside.

On 11th January2025, my wife and I visited there for our lunch. All staff were very kind. Our ordered meals were very good. I felt very comfortable PuB in Morningside. Am looking forward to visiting again soon. Thank you.

Excellent value for money, food quality and service. Highly recommended.

This was our first trip to the the Merlin and I'm sorry to say we were very disappointed. The staff were friendly and helpful but the food was appalling. We paid £10.29 each for Chicken Shawarma which was basically a supermarket bought cold, hard flatbread with a meagre helping of what was supposed to be the turkish chicken delicacy. Save your money and go for the real thing to La Telve across the road. Perhaps more standard dishes like scampi or fish and chips would be better but if it's on the menu, at least provide the real deal. Also the menus were greasy and sticky so no points for hygiene. We won't be back.

Time of day it was quiet hence the 3 star for atmosphere

Everything goes well as always ! Food is delicious :)

Great place for a beer,plenty TV screens to watch the sport & a good atmosphere.

Family friendly pub, nice place to watch the football with my 8 year old

Food was super bad, dishes did not arrive at the same time. Staff was not welcoming and overwhelmed. Overall, just very very poor.

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

My FAMILY favorite place .. I love the food

Great staff and great local pub

Just had a lovely lunch. Great food, service and drinks; very affordable too. Highly recommend the merlin

The place was clean , staff were friendly, service was very prompt, food was lovely ! , and the pricing was great, good birthday experience had by me and the wife

Came here on a Thursday night, staff were polite and food was delicious. Would recommend!

Came in with family and staff were really helpful and friendly. Will return when I'm in the area.

Great place for a pint with friends or to catch the game. Food is priced very well. Katsu chicken is very good. Kid friendly on off hours with nice meal options and atmosphere feels open. Room upstairs to book.

Nice food great pint great staff lovely slot machine

Great food, great service and good value for money. Nice atmosphere too. Highly recommend!

Manager is fantastic well mannered and brilliant at his job speaks to customers and food is amazing

Lovely meal with my work colleague

As part of the Greene King chain, you always get a pleasant, spacious but expensive pub (e.g. £3.95 for a pint of Coke). Morningside prices?

Great service, especially from james who was so lovely to me and my friends after our long day of uni! Great and fun atmosphere, a local we keep coming back to!

Great service, lovely atmosphere

Food was nice well cooked and presented

I was really disappointed I couldn't see not only a Scottish game but a team from Edinburgh playing in Europe. What country do I go to to see a Scottish game?

La cena en el Merlín era bueno, pub estaba muy ocupado para el fútbol / rugby, pero no nos quitó de nuestra visita. El personal era encantador y servicial, ya que teníamos un montón de preguntas sobre el menú. Las bebidas eran buenas y un montón de opciones. Buen pub.

Food was spectacular! The food came out quick. Staff was super friendly and the place had great atmosphere! Will definitely come again! 10/10!!

La comida era espectacular! ¡Literalmente tardó unos 10 minutos en salir! Personal muy amable! ¡Definitivamente vendré de nuevo! ¡Qué bonito lugar!

El personal es agradable, muy servicial y bueno en decirle lo que es más barato opción para que obtenga el valor de su dinero. Buena comida y comida del pub era delicioso!

Este es un excelente bar local, particularmente teniendo en cuenta que es una cadena. El personal es siempre amable y eficiente. Yo como aquí de vez en cuando y la comida es invariablemente fresca y buena. Gran lugar para ver el deporte. Sirven una variedad de cervezas para todos los gustos y sirven una buena pinta de Guinness. Los precios no son irrazonables. La única culpa es que en ocasiones no parecen tener suficiente personal para satisfacer tanto a los bebedores como a los comedores.

£3.80 for a coke, £4.80 for a Guiness zero. Crazy.

Fab, stop off for lunch. The price was great. Beer and burger deal 😋

Cosy, reliable pub with nice, reasonably priced lunches.

Update: in for a burger this evening and the quality is back up to where it used to be, thank goodness! Thank you Green King! I will be back regularly now. And the service was fantastic! Sadly this place has gone downhill fast. The food used to be good and I used to come here fairly regularly as I am local, but no more. I ate here about a month ago and the hamburger was the worst I have ever had. I came here again last night and thought I'd try something different, so I ordered the chicken burger, and it was the worst I have ever had. Felt like I just threw my money away on crap. Everything now appears to be frozen and precooked like you'd buy at a cash and carry. Low quality, bland and overcooked. The only thing going for this place anymore is the beer, craft ales and a fairly nice atmosphere. Otherwise, there are far better options in the area for food.

A classic for the friend group. Plain lovely.

Come here weekly for lunch, always great service and the food is good aswell, would recommend!

Staff are superb. Served very quickly and pleasantly. Food was great and highly Recommend visiting.

Had a lovely family lunch. Very friendly staff, comfy sofas, lovely food with fast service. Football in the background knocked off a star for me as I’m not a fan

£10 pint, burger and chips. Great affordability especially in Edinburgh

Having tried a few of the morningside cafes and not finding anything to suit my vegetarian / pescetarian friend, we decided to go to The Merlin for fish and chips. Hadn't been for a while and were disappointed to see it looking quite sad and neglected. However, we ordered our drinks and fish and chips. The food came in good time and was delicious. The fish was fresh and not greasy. We both thoroughly enjoyed our meals. The staff we saw were friendly and we were served immediately. On speaking to the manager we were told that there is a refurbishment planned for the very near future. We look forward to returning next time we're in Edinburgh .

What a deal, £2 pint of tennents. Keep these kind of offers coming and we will happily ditch our local and come here. Food was decent and enough TVs to watch football comfortably.

Had heard on the grapevine that there was the manager for a well known bar now in charge of the Merlin so popped in with the wife over the weekend. Huge improvement, cleaner, fresher and way more organised. Enjoyed our visit and will start returning.

You can’t complain about. £2 tennents in Edinburgh, huge offer and well received with the way money is. Never been to this pub before but it decent. Lots of TVs, pool table and decent snack food. Keep the offers coming, this is great.

Played in Ceilidh Band for a ceilidh upstairs in Function Room for visitors to Fringe Festival

Served by one of the rudest staff member. There was no pleasantries at all. She proceeded to give us a warm bottle of Prosecco with two dirty wine glasses. No flutes apparently! Then when it came to paying for said warm fizz she said in a very rude way “cash or card” to which my friend responded with card. The said rude bar member then just walked away and served another customer. We didn’t see the chip and pin machine and she didn’t point us to it. Which in my experience happens. We then assumed that perhaps she was setting up a tab. We walked away and sat down with said dirty glasses and warm fizz. Then she came over and rudely said “you haven’t paid” . Then the who I can only assume was the “manager” if that’s his position then I can see the why the staff are so appalling as his standards and clearly low. He rudely came over to us with no apology about the mix up, simply defended his rude staff member. When we asked why the Prosecco was warm, he advised the fridges weren’t working properly. No apology whatsoever. So in summary it’s filthy inside, staff are shocking. AVOID!

10/10 service, on vacation with parents & popped in the Merlin, was greeted by Aaron & good vibes !

Starting to look a bit shabby Food was mixed - mine was ok, other half not impressed at all Staff kept apologising - I got the impression they got a lot of practice

Absolutely horrendous, 25.07.24 I was there for dinner with my 92 year old father, he had a bandage on his head, the barmaid did not listen to him nor give him the time of day as many older people can expect. The manager Kyle fixed the order, but when it arrived it was still wrong. I went into the kitchen as no one was available to fix the problem, the dishwasher ushered me out and found Kyle the manager outside, Kyle eventually came in but started clearing a table next to ours, I called him over and told him the Pepper corn sauce is missing, he repeated again and again, did you order it, I assured him my father did and then he kept saying you will have to pay extra for it, meanwhile our steaks were getting colder, so I wrongly and in the heat of the moment told him where to go. He returned after we finished our meal and said you have 10 minutes to finish your wine and leave or he will call the police,and that i am banned from the Merlin. I understand upper management have problems retaining good, professional mature staff, it's their uncaring long term legacy. My father said his steak was tasteless though it was twice the size of mine and mine looked and tasted like it had been boiled. The staff conditions are awful, the staff were uneducated children, Do not eat there. Peter

Was in on Friday night with a couple friends. Nice atmosphere, food was good and decently priced. Friendly bar staff, shout out to Kirsty. Friendly & attentive. Would definitely recommend this pub, will be back again

Kirsty was a fantastic member of staff and made sure we had the best night! Definitely recommend!

Absolutely fantastic place! The food, staff and atmosphere was absolutely amazing! Looking forward to my next visit and working my way through their huge menu, with a side of mash potatoes of course! 🙂 Highly recommended!!

Absolutely fantastic place! The food, staff and atmosphere was absolutely amazing! Looking forward to my next visit already and working my way through their huge menu, with a side of mash potatoes of course! 🙂 Highly recommended!!

Great normal pub in Edinburgh, defo not fancy. Good pub grub, nice pint and great for football. Been for a few euros games and will defo be back.

We had a table reserved for the football was good

Been a few times, the food is very good and the highlight of going. Even better getting student discount off food and drink. However, trying to get served at the bar is a pain as it always feels under staffed. We have also booked a table online for the football with food and they tried to place us on a small high table next to a pillar which couldn't see one of the TVs. The toilets are really not pleasant as well. Plus, there was a dj who was trying to play music and do his set while everyone wanted to watch/listen to the football.

This must be the worst pub in the country. The service is awful. I waited for 10 minutes for my first drink which was bad enough. There was only one bar tender around. And there was a large group of twenty or so folk in. Ordering my second drink was even worse. The large group were placing their huge order and the sole bar tender was clearly struggling. I waited with another customer and then the bar tender simply disappeared. No staff there at all and another 10 minutes! He did eventually reappear and I asked him if me and the other customer, who was also anxious, could get served. The bar tender said he had to do this big order first. I said so you’re not serving us then? He said I’ve got to do this order first! Unbelievable - he could have served us our couple of drinks first before the big order. I’ve never been refused service like this anywhere before. Absolutely disgraceful in a capital city. And the toilets were stinking!

Phoned up earlier to book a table and was told over the phone that they “don’t take bookings, it’s first come, first served.” So we still decided to come much earlier than we wanted to ensure we got a table to find most tables had a reserved sign on them. I asked the bar man Ross why I was told they don’t take bookings over the phone and instead of an apology i was told “that’s just the way it is,” while he smirked away to himself. Won’t be back. Shocking and rude service towards their customers. Shame for a local pub.

My favourite Edinburgh local for 15 years! Good, well priced pub grub and the staff are always super lovely and helpful! Aidan and Kirsty looked after us as a large group booking. They were so friendly and accommodating.

Lovely food but my fish was very oily and not great to eat. Staff were very slow to serve and not a great atmosphere. The staff who brought us our food were not speaking at all and we had to go to the bar to ask for our drinks as it took over 20mins to get them ready and then a further 30 mins to get our meals. We will not be returning to the Merlin.

Arran and Kirsty were wonderful hosts for my wife's birthday ceilidh in the Merlin's function suite. They helped with the planning, allowed us to put up decorations beforehand, and made sure the evening went smoothly. The function suite was large enough for a ceilidh dance floor with seating all around. There was a suitable PA system, good lighting, and a bar and toilets on the same floor. We had a wonderful evening and would definitely book again!

It's essentially a Weatherspoons pub without actually being one! There aren't many options in Morningside.

Yesterday was the first time I visited the Merlin in many years. It was scruffy, the toilets were a disgrace the tables were sticky . The comfy looking arm chairs were torn Need to pull your socks up

Best experience 😁am sorry I had the best experience in ur bar,its one of the best I have visited lately ☺️ keep the quality up...good one

Was my first visit ever. Kinda impressed, relaxing atmosphere and clean.

Suppose it’s okay ordered 8 strips got a little tiny stupid burger bun with little piece of chicken

Fab beer garden on a sunny day. Staff are absolutely brilliant.

Not magical. Gandalf's is better.

Regularly come here and the staff are excellent. Kirsty is especially great as she provides quick and effective service always with a smile.

Great atmosphere even nicer bar staff

Nice easygoing pub. Always a place free to sit. Very mixed audience, which is nice! It's not a good old authentic pub but it does what it's supposed to! Staff is really friendly and the food is good!

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 .

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!

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

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!!