Mercat Bar

Good place, nice vibe. As usual in Scotland, the burger was average at best, over cooked piece of meet. The fries (chips for you Brits… even though they aren’t a chip of anything). Had a Punk IPA… always delicious, and then te Apple Crumble for desert.
The apple crumble is basically cook apples with granola on top, plus vanilla ice cream and a side of hot custard. Actually tastes healthy… for a desert.
Best part of this place is the bartender. A Norwegian beauty with an incredibly lovely personality. Friendly with everyone in the place (not flirty, just very nice). That’s made this experience all worth while. Great ambiance as well, music, but not too loud, and classy setting.
Overall pretty go

Wonderful restaurant & bar. Very knowledgable bartender. Great selection of tap beers, including at least 2 cask conditioned. The menu was smaller but focused and balanced. Starters, mains, sandwiches, and desserts. Had the Arancini Balls for a starter and Mac & Cheese for a main (partner had the Duck). All sumptuous! Go here if you can. The outside is quite unimposing but don’t let that fool you!

Hungry after arthurs seat and calton hill, this place definitely satisfied my appetite with chicken and mash. It was a random restaurant me and my american friends stumbled upon and we were so pleased with the outcome and the meal. The waitress was new and so sweet and the bartender was really great with handling our splitting of a separate check of 8 people as well. I really enjoyed my meal and the warm environment of the pub and live music. Definitely recommend the burger or Mac and cheese as well.

Stopped buy for lunch after landing in Edinburgh. Fish and chips were excellent. The other 2 with me enjoyed there food also. One had a burger the other a sizzling chicken platter. service was quick and pleasant

It is a shame that the bar has been build around with the Tram Works. This makes it a bit difficult to find /​spot from across the street.
Once inside you’d be forgiven for the small non descript front.
It has got comfy seating and eating areas.
The bar is at the far end and close to the stairs taking you to the below ground VIP rooms with their own bar.
Anita & I had the pleasure of attending one of their monthly wine tastings.
It was on a Saturday around lunchtime and we paid £20 for 5 wines and additional snacks /​taster menu.
We were told something about the wine served while nibbling and afterwards we had a quiz to see what we learned. We possibly did learn something, but that was forgotten by the dessert wine.
As we got generous measures served in full wine glasses it is not a surprise we were all a bit sloshed. But we had great fun!
I like the laid back atmosphere and friendly service, though sometimes a little slow it doesn’t bother me too much here.
Great place to meet up, great wine tasting session!

Very good gastropub with an extensive menu, good wine list and now a good range of whiskies in their downstairs bar. When looking in don’t worry if it looks busy there is more room for dining downstairs as well as two vip couch areas that you can reserve. Have had many after work drinks with colleagues in these areas. They also have wine tasting nights which are definitely worth the money. Also a good pub for rugby nights.

this review may be a bit underrated as i was only at the mercat to attend an event. so due to this, perhaps didn’t experience the full of extent of what the bar has to offer. but that said, the drink selection is pretty decent (although my boyfriend was disappointed that he could only get prosseco and not champange, but i think this is normal for most mid-​range bars and probably a request they very infrequently get). however, there was a large number of spirits available and beers on tap or bottled. so no one went thirsty. i noticed that some people had ordered food and it smelled good, but i can’t report on the quality as i didn’t have any.
i have to say that the service though was excellent. there was a large number of people, some very drunk, constantly at the bar ordering more drinks. but the bartenders were polite (although they did look a wee bit harassed, which i dont’ blame them for) and did their best to keep up with the demand for drinks.
so i did find this place A-​OK and i’m sure on a return visit i’ll be happy to update my review and perhaps add another star. but in terms of use for a mid-​size event, this was a good venue. they booked out the lower bar for us which was a great space and had it’s own private bar so no need to travel upstairs. my only real complaint was the spiral staircase between the floors. i mean a few drinks and wearing heels meant that i had great difficulty in not falling on my face when i attempted to go up or downstairs. perhaps they should re-​think this design in terms of customer health and safety!

Went here for dinner on a weeknight, and it was moderately busy (hard to tell, since there is a downstairs area as well). We started with kefta, which was superb. My wife had nothing but good things to say about her fish, and i had sizzling steak in peppercorn sauce, which was also delicious. Beer selection was decent, Deuchars was the only real ale. Service was a little bit slow, but staff were constantly darting up and down the stairs, and they never looked like they were just standing around, so I’m thinking they might have been running a man short. I would certainly go back.

This was the best dinner we had in Edinburgh. Our concierge suggested this place and we went in with no expectations there werent very many people there on a friday night, whch usually isnt a good sign — boy was i wrong!
The people were friendly, the food was great and the whiskey list was extensive and reasonably priced.
I ordered the tuna which was delicious and hubby had the grill with peppercorn steak which he equally loved.
We were too full for dessert with the wine and beer and food and scotch but if coming back to Edinburgh, will try. This was truly a pleasant surprise.

incredulicious burgers, home-​made everything, and the mac & cheese RULES! they were a little late with
one of our orders so they took it off the bill. classy move…

Graham, you are the BEST!!! Thank you for helping me arrange the farewell party. I couldn’t have done it without you. The food is amazing. The drinks are incredible and you kept them flowing. The wait staff were all very nice to us and gave us their attention. What more can I say??? Thank you all for a wonderful evening and it was nice to spend it with you.

This bar is well worth a visit. The bar is lively, reasonably priced and fun. The staff are genuinely chatty and welcoming and the atmosphere is brilliant. It’s a little out of sight but you can’t miss it, coz the place is usually packed. And rightly so, it’s a brilliant bar.

The Mercat Bar in Haymarket boasts of being the best gastropub in town, and that bold statement is not far from the truth at all.
It’s a big step up from the traditional (and occasionally downtrodden) appearance of gastropubs — with its contemporary, clean and simple look, you can tell from the offset it’s a cut above.
Aside from having a good and vast assortment of drinks behind the bar, they pride themselves on having an up-​to-​date, widely varied menu. It’s basically tarted up pub grub, but they do it with an elegant flair. From hummus sandwich snacks to big (and I mean big) tasty burgers, it’s good stuff. They even had guacomole as a side order which I found quite unusual but also to my liking!
It’s the kind of pub you can relax in, but with its sophisticated take on the gastro style it’s one you could meet for a big family meal, or even a hot dinner date!

Ok, I’ll be honest, a teeny part of me expected to see small furry creatures speaking in a Russian accent — I slightly misread the name of this place.
It’s in Haymarket, kind of half way between the rugby place and Princes Street and doesn’t really disappoint.
We called in for a quick bite to eat when we were out exploring. My man had the confusing (but tasty) burger with chilli con carne and I stuck to my healthy eating and had the fish cakes.
They were really quite good — not up there with the ones in the Butterfly and Pig in Glasgow (my fav!) — but I didn’t like the saffron mayonnaise, but that’s a personal thing rather than a cooking thing.
We had a couple of glasses of house wine and the bill was only just over twenty pounds which is a bargain.
Really good food at a really good price — simples!

Mercat went and fixed the one issue I had with it before. The Food.
Not sure what changed in the kitchen but Cary «Mr Challenge» and I arrived at the Mercat for a Vendor Event held in the lower lounge area of the bar.
We were both hungry and a bit early for the free grub which would be rolled out later by the vendor. I chose a burger as did Cary. However, Cary said maybe some nachos to start.
The bucket of Nachos arrived and was consumed with trepidation. Great chilli on top of cheese and a large mound of baked tortillas. Next the burgers arrived. They were great and the chips were stunning. But the large portions started to have their effect and we barely managed to complete these.
The Vendors food was left untouched by us. I was exceptionally stuffed by the burger and the nachos. Brilliant food well presented. Don’t think you will get the tiny portions you received here before. They have definitely up their game and the quantity of food.

Recently, I had the pleasure of attending The Mercat Bar on a Saturday before a Rugby Match. Not only did I enjoy the ambience and good fellowship, I was welcomed by the staff with great cheer! The Mercat Bar is extremely welcoming for anyone interested in a good beverage, a traditional meal, good fellowship or to watch a sporting event. I had such fun that I returned the following day for some good laughs with the people that we met! On my next trip to Scotland, I look forward to spend an afternoon and evening with the best Bar in EDINBURGH! Thank you MERCAT BAR!
An American Tourist
— Robert Walls

You MUST visit here when you go to Scotland!
We were welcomed from the moment we looked at the menu by manager Graham; he gave us some vouchers so we went back that night for dinner, and we had such a blast we went back every night we were there.
The food was just amazing, as was the selection of beers on offer! We wanted to try everything on the menu it was all so wonderful, it’s no wonder it’s a GastroPub.
The best part of the place though was the staff. They were all so friendly, and Graham the manager spent a lot of time chatting with us. My husband Anthony enjoys whiskey and Graham gave him a quick whiskey tasting lesson, and helped us sights to see while in Scotland; he was so helpful he even printed maps for us to get around.
They really made us feel really at home and we were sad when we had to leave.
We look forward to going back to Scotland purely to go and visit the pub.

This is a terrific bar in the Haymarket area of Edinburgh.
My friends & I started coming here over a year ago, and it has never let us down.
Their freshly made food is amazing, and they have an extensive selection of fine wines and champagne!
The staff are always very friendly, and you are welcomed at the door with a smile — this makes a huge difference.
I could quite happily sit in this bar all day & night, as the atmosphere is great.
I highly recommend this bar it’s definitely worth a visit, you won’t be disappointed!

Absolutely terrific bar! Technically called a Gastropub I can see why they make the distinction — I’ve gotten a few meals here and they are among the best that I’ve had in all of Edinburgh. Meals are very reasonably priced and portion sizes are more than adequate
There’s a fair selection of draft beers — typical Tennent’s, etc as well as a few other beers that are less common. All prices are average for Edinburgh.
Staff is absolutely terrific. They are very friendly and when the bar is a little bit slow they spend a lot of time getting to know the patrons and swapping stories — great fun!
Atmosphere is great — really nice reclining area downstairs in the basement that shows American Football games — no better way to spend a Sunday evening. Highly recommend this pub!

Lovely wee pub at Haymarket, that always seems busy.
There is a basement bar as well, that features comedy every Thursday as well as other regular nights.
Only eaten in here a couple of times, but the tempura prawns are lovely!