Links Bar

Nicely refurbished. You get a nice pint here and the staff are generally efficient and friendly. I haven’t tried the food yet but what I’ve seen of it looks nice. And the beer garden’s great on a sunny day. There are a couple of bar staff who are less interested in serving and it can occasionally be hard to get served even when it’s quiet but this is less the case here than in many bars nearby.

A very grand looking bar that never lived up to the name I thought it had. As Sara C. said, the bar has changed it’s target audience, I had always been told that the Links Bar was a student pub.
Being told it was a student pub struck one thought in my head and that was «bingo! Somewhere for a cheap pint after work», not quite the case.
I headed here after work one night on mt quest to try as many pubs in Edinburgh as I could. Me and my fiancée got to the bar and sat down. I noticed that the pub had a very grand, almost overwhelmingly so, feel to the place.
1 pint of Deuchars and 1 small white wine was £7.40. I don’t know what to make of that because I am still getting used to Edinburgh prices but it was around this time that I realised I wasn’t in a student bar.
The pint was nice and the wine was cold so really I can’t ask for more than that but if I was to ask for something it would be for not to have to ask to have a little less foam on my pint, that’s just being picky though.
Overall quite a nice bar and I did enjoy myself. Nothing special separating this pub from any other pub/​restaurant apart from the fact it has a superb view of the Bruntsfield Links.
Would definitelt grow on me if I went a second time now that I know what kind of clientele it has, or at least aims to have.

The Links Bar is an oddity! It’s a quiet, out of town hotel bar which can turn into the biggest wave of activity at the drop of a hat.
It has lots of flat screen TVs, which when there are an array of different sporting competitions running simultaneously, can be a great thing. Though admittedly the screen in the middle of the bar is a little distracting when one is trying to converse over a pint. I didn’t think I cared for cricket until one particular visit!
The alcohol is fairly standard. I’m a cider drinker by trade, but find myself resorting to lager when I visit as their selection is limited. Having said that, they do keep their lines clean, so whatever you choose, you’ll get a good pint.
I’ve not had too much in the way of food since they offered their tapas selection. Since this was a while ago and they no longer serve that menu, I’m not best placed to comment. Though it does look and smell good when the food goes out.
I’ve been in a load of times over the last couple of years, and certainly with its spacious beer garden overlooking Bruntsfield Links, this place should be on your ‘bars for summer’ list and if you’re after a good vibe during the rugby or footie, you can hit far worse bars.

Wow the Links bar got all grown up!!!
I have to admit I have been avoiding this place for the last few years purely on the presumpotion that well I was a little too old to hang out here now! Those heady days of being 25 and hungover and in need of nachos and a screen showing rugby/​football etc a distant memory.
So I was truly astonished to find myself sitting outsidre here a few weeks ago, glance at a menu and see «seafood platter»!! This cannot be the same place where I once downed a dirty pint standing on a pool table while a rugby team chanted at me questioning my sexuality based on the duration of the «downage» of the pint???
But in fact it is, its been Marchmontised I’ld say, and to be fair its really great. Lovely spot to enjoy a sunny day with a qaulity craft beer.
Highly JD Recommended!!!

I used to go to this bar a lot back in my uni days, but recently when Sara P and I were walking to her house, and I was about to pass out because I was so hungry, we decided to pop in here for dinner. Since then, we went back again, this time with Joe A. and just for a few drinks.
It has had a much needed refurb since I used to visit and looks a lot better. Pretty chilled out environment. There are two sides to the place (literally), if you turn right when you go through the door then there is more of a restaurant feel to it, if you turn left then there is often sport of the TV and a couple of regulars propped up at the bar.
Staff are pretty friendly and attentive. The first time we went, we were served by a very helpful lady who went out of her way to serve us. The second time the men behind the bar seemed pretty decent.
Granted it was a weekday both times we visited, but it was pretty dead. It used to be full to the brim with students and every day is a weekend for them so I don’t know if they are trying to move away from being a student pub a bit now.
The menu is quite attractive and when I ate there I had a steak pie and it was pretty tasty.
I think this place is what it is. They are always showing sport, the drinks are pretty cheap and they serve pub food. One thing though, in the summer it is usually mobbed as they face out onto the Bruntsfield Links and have lots of tables outside so it is great to sit in the sun (if we ever see it again).

This place as had a bit of a face lift! Last time I was in here (back in my student days) it was a sports bar, rugby tops and framed team shots plastered across the walls. Thought I’d stepped into the wrong bar when I came here for a function event recently. It’s been done up! New big print trendy wallpaper, new furniture, contemporary design and full glass doors, it’s stepped up a notch or two in image. But sadly I have to agree with Nic G. there is just no atmosphere in here. At least when it was a sports bar there was a bit of a buzz. Now it’s just… blah.
Still, it’s really cosy, heating is up high! Our function area, consisted of two rooms at the rear right and with very our bar, although it was barely manned. Service in the main bar was alright though. We had Indian snacks and potato wedges served at the function which were all really tasty and barely lasted 5 minutes. Although the drinks are pricey, I had a bottle of coke as I was driving, £2.95! Almost the same price as an alcoholic drink. Ouch!

A grand bar that seems to change its mind every now and then about what it wants its clientele to be! I’ve seen it stundenty, sportsy, a bit more upscale and back to studenty!
The crowd is always friendly, the bar staff too.
We’ve been in a few times for a pint on a Friday night and we can usually get a seat, the pint is grand and at an alright price.
Last time I went we were with some folks who were staying in the hotel and so were in ‘the other part’ (More to the right… possibly a residents bar?) It was quiet but I hear there was a bit of live music the night before! Something which surprised me as I didn’t think it was that kind of place. Apparently the manager was talkative too and knew friends of friends of friends (Ireland is a surprisingly small place).
All in all, it’s passable but nothing special.

Well, I had my work Christmas lunch here yesterday and have some constructive criticism…
First of all, the staff are incredibly friendly and accomodating. We were originally seated in the bar area (which is famiy friendly up to a certain hour) but when one of our group brought her baby, they offered to move us somewhere quieter, and gave us a lovely table in their gorgeously done-​up dining room.
But then we got the menus. For a place which is trying to give off an upmarket image, both the apperance and make-​up of the menu lets them down. First of all, it’s printed in such a way that says «this menu will never change with the seasons» as it’s a folded piece of thick, shiny … I don’t even know how to describe it but it makes me think of the old Links (student Links) menu. Secondly, for all of the gorgeous decoration in that dining room, the restaurant menu appears to be no different from the bar menu and serves up burgers, stromboli, sausage and mash, pie, etcetcetc. Pub fare. It had a couple of nicer sounding items, but when we all received our menus there was a silence that said «oh, I was expecting something nice than this» and not «ooooh it all looks so good I just can’t decide»
I ordered the stromboli (which had been baked too long and was pretty dried out) which came with (underseasoned) chips, (tasteless) onion rings and coleslaw. Seriously. Usually you don’t get all three of the fatty sides, and usually there is at least an *option* of salad? I realise it’s not the classiest of dishes to order, but they could easily class it up a bit to fit with the surroundings. Seriously, all they need to do it serve it with salad and, say, sweet potato chips and it immediately becomes more interesting and less beige.
For all my whingeing, my coworkers enjoyed their starters and mains. Maybe I chose poorly? Maybe I’m just picky? It wasn’t bad, it just didn’t fit.
Additionally, the price of our meals (mine was £8) was very good, and as I said, the service was lovely and friendly.
I would return, but with much lower expectations. I would return for a pub meal, and not a restaurant meal.