Panda & Sons says:

Panda & Sons is a hidden bar ran by a family of Pandas who are Barbers by trade and cocktail aficionados by night. Panda & Sons is a high end bar without all the pretentiousness. We offer a wide ranging beers selection, extensive New World and Old World wine list plus our well regarded cocktail list. All of this in a quirky and vintage setting.

Social and Cocktail says:

I don’t want to spoil the surprise too much, but getting into this bar is an adventure in itself; think somewhere between Boardwalk Empire and C.S. Lewis. Once you’ve surmounted the challenge of finding Panda and Sons, you’re in for an exemplary cocktail experience.

Opened by Iain McPherson – ex of  The Voodoo Rooms – in late 2013, Panda & Sons swiftly became a talking point among the capital’s cocktail drinkers. Somewhere between a speak-easy and a barbershop, the focus here is on quality products and creative cocktails. The extensive drinks list is heavy on re-engineered classics with a tip of the hat to Ted Haigh’s Vintage Spirits and Forgotten Classics, plus a lot of bespoke ingredients. Barrel ageing is done in house, and drinks are infused and smoked and otherwise tinkered about with. It’s fair to say these are bartenders who take their jobs very seriously indeed.

This attention to detail also extends to the service – to the table with complementary popcorn and knowledgeable advice from a friendly waiter, which was just as well as you could find yourself getting a bit lost in the cocktail list. Our choices, after extensive consultation were a Boulevardier (“if a Negroni and a Manhattan had a baby”), Wild Horse Canyon which takes a Sazerac, adds plums and basil compote and runs with it, and the show-stopping Birdcage; Johnny Walker and rhubarb smoked in a bell-jar with a cinnamon and clove mix. Each drink has its own serve and appropriate glassware – the excellently named Liquid Brunch comes in a beautiful oriental teapot with lemon-scented hand towels.

There is a danger that this seriousness of approach can come across as a little po-faced, and this is certainly more of a bar for a few good drinks as opposed to a big night out. That’s no bad thing though, and being a little away from the George Street melee means that it escapes the dreaded hens and stags.

The bar itself is comfortable, if a little subdued; lots of little compartments and corners to hide yourself away in, combined with the feeling that you’ve just been let in on a secret, all make you forget about the outside world in the way only a good bar and good company can. A welcome addition to the Edinburgh scene, and a must visit for a curious cocktail fan. If you can find it, that is…

Christopher Queen

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