Dagda Bar

Much smaller than I thought!
After living here for quite a few years, I’ve finally made it to Dagda. It’s just not on my list and a bit out of the way for me.
Overall I enjoyed it. It’s small, there’s not many seats and not much room to stand. We were lucky to grab a table on a Saturday night. The décor is typical pub and the staff are sweet and smiley. The clientele were nice and polite and there’s a real sense of community in the place, I get the impression it’s a local for the locals!
It’s a nice bar, not my first choice but as bars go definitely not my last.

Cosy and snug, you’d be forgiven for putting this in the ‘old man pub’ category. Cos it is one. There was a dog in the pub, locals, they didn’t take cards at the bar and the toilets weren’t really big enough. On a cold and rainy night this is the bolt hole you read about, if you’re reading Tolkein and Frodo’s looking for somewhere to kip down for the night.
My company for the night started out as four young women. This dwindled to two, students of mine as it happens. We chewed the fat and talked of many things. It was like being young again, in an old man’s pub. I owe them a drink now.

With enough wood inside to terrify a forest, Dagda encourages you to drink locally and cozy on up. It can get pretty noisy, and some of the stools look less than comfortable. In a bar empty, the bar staff don’t encourage interaction. But, Dagda is the kinda bar where I can sit down, drink far too many pints, talk more rubbish and spill more secrets than I wanted to. In a nutshell, Dagda is my kind of bar.

Dagda, I really wish I liked you more. It’s honestly not you, it’s me.
I really wish I could like Dagda more, it has so much that I usually love. Great ale at the bar. A pretty decent selection of wine for a dive bar/​student place. Cool interior. Good prices. A great selection of whiskey. But every time I go in it’s jammed packed with people, so many people you can’t move no matter what time of night it is. And it’s sticky hot, probably because of all the people. And it smells. And it’s just… it just never seems worth it to push through all the people for a drink. The staff are friendly enough (they never have much to say but all you should really be looking for in a place like Dagda is a drink suggestion anyway, in my opinion). I enjoy other pubs more that carry the same sort of stuff.
So yeah, I really honestly wished I enjoyed Dagda more, but I don’t. It’s not unique to me, just smelly and cramped. I just… don’t get it. Like Joe A. said, it just doesn’t work for me

A cosy howf with plenty to offer, decent beers and a good back bar. It’s small so don’t be suprised if you can’t get a seat as its very popular with uni social and sports clubs.

Fantastic little hide-​away of a place, Dagda is tucked away and, although tiny, packs a lot in. This is true of packing in a huge selection of whiskies, a good selection of beers on tap (my seasonal pumpkin ale was amazing!), a lot of people at the weekend, and a lot of atmosphere. It is an unpretentious neighborhood pub that says ‘Here I am! Take it or leave it.’ I like its quirky character and the old-​world feel of this traditional pub. The beer and ale prices are really reasonable, and the featured dram is £1.90 I believe, which can’t be beat. This is a great little place that is tucked away, and I’d recommend stopping in!

Cramped, but in a way that makes you realise you’re with your best pals and you want to hug them lots. *Tiny* little bar but it’s crammed ful of tasty things to drink. Also hosts a damn fine pub quiz (on a tuesday maybe?)
I’m always happy to come here. please feel free to invite me out for a pint if you are there: P

One of those places I just don’t get. Completely catered to the regulars, completely self-​indulgent as a result.
No personality behind the bar, no friendliness (unless they know you I would guess), no charm. On top of that it’s small, dingy, devoid of any real character or identity… even the music is sporadic.
As dive bars go, I prefer mine blaring loud rock music, serving cheap Jaeger and generally making a mess of itself. Dagda is a dive bar trying to be reserved.
Doesn’t work for me.

A hole in the wall
Cheapest whisky found in town
Unique and local

Aaaaaaaand… I’m in love again.
Edinburgh has kept me on the fence with new places lately… they just keep getting more posh, expensive, touristy and THEY. ALL. LOOK. THE. SAME. Oh, but wait, they ARE trendy. If you know me, you know how I feel about that. I feel not good about that.
I moved here with Edinburgh in my head as a place where I could hang out with a bunch of people at:
a dive-​y establishment that serves THE. BEST. BEER.
a place that has a juke box that works some of the time.
a pub where regulars are over 22, pretty much consistently.
a jeans friendly joint with no competitive trend-​setting ways.
a pub quiz that doesn’t ask about Bob the Builder, and doesn’t apologize for it.
a bartender that smiles, sometimes… but when he does, you know you’re in.
Oh, and I found it.
There’s Fresher Edinburgh where you try and test all the places that you’ve heard of, seen in guidebooks etc. and then there’s second year Edinburgh where you find a warm seat in a cool bar and you stay forever…

Love this little pub. Very traditional, good selection of spirits/​Ales/​lager and the staff are always polite/​professional. The décor is great, especially the lights above the bar that remind me of a steam punk egg from the Alien movies… well the do after one to many pints anyhow. :D

I’d love to give good reviews like most of my peer Unilocalers but I just cannot. I went there on a Monday, which is not an ideal night I know, but still. The bartender didn’t say a word other than «6 pounds» when we had to pay. No hello, no goodbye.
A bunch of regulars at the bar seemed unimpressed by the fact I brought a French mate and spoke my mother tongue with him. Maybe they thought we were tourists, who knows?
Fairly disappointed.

The Dagda is an eclectic sort of pub attracting a variety of either locals, ale drinkers and various social groups often linked to Edinburgh University or Beltane, the mix of folk tends to mean there is always someone interesting to chat to while you order your next pint.
Very much a pub in the more traditional sense the décor is dark wood, the tables are heavy and the jukebox is the classic CD playing kind with hand written playlists. Most importantly the beer is well looked after by staff who are knowledgeable and there is always a variety to choose from (4 guest ales). If ale isn’t your thing I would recommend giving the Black Isle organic lager a go rather than the more standard Tennents or Stella. Dagda also stocks a good range of spirits at a fair price.
It can get a little crowded occasionally, however most of the time it is ideal for a quick (or not so quick) drink and a chat.

Small bar (reminded me in fact of The Green Tree which has been missing for so long from The Cowgate) with a good selection of real ales, efficient staff, well-​stocked gantry and a jukebox.
£3 a pint so you benefit from it being that little bit further away from the city centre (to the tune of 65p compared to The Blind Poet which isn’t in fact that far from it). I could see myself coming here more often in the future.

Dagda is a really good little bar just up from the Meadows. It has a weird mix of people, with old blokes rubbing shoulders with the juggling and drum circling hippies that flood the Meadows every summer. The bar is pretty small, with only a few seating areas but has a good atmosphere. The downside to the size is that when there is a hippy invasion and it is hot, Dagda gets pretty smelly, but this is not a regular occurrence.
The drinks there are really good. There are some great guest ales, which constantly rotate so you can always try something new. They have a really good selection of Whiskies as well, and are all reasonably priced. They do good sized portions of fish and chips and other such pub grub and the food is generally pretty tasty. A good place for a few afternoon drinks or a bit f evening merriment.

I feel obliged to review this place since I’ve spent so much time in this pub. Apart from its usual old man clientele, Dagda is also big with the hippie community in Edinburgh. I’m not quite sure why. Possibly because it’s small and serves a great range of ales at a really good price. Like Doctor’s and Sandy Bell’s, their range of ales changes week to week and so it’s a great place to get educated on the available ales in Scotland and around the UK.
Everytime I go in there, I’m amazed by the intricacy of the ceiling. I know this sounds like a small detail, but they do have the most beautifully engraved ceiling. It’s a lower ceiling than you’ll find in most pubs, but it’s so gorgeous it doesn’t matter. And the space is also incredibly cosy without being too stuffy. Since there are two doors, it’s quite easy to get a breeze going during the summer, not that Scotland gets hot enough for that to be necessary.
I highly recommend Dagda’s. If you go, you’ll probably bump into me there. Also, there’s live folk music on sometimes. I’m not sure when, but it happens.

As with the other reviewers I was surprised by how few students there were in here when I pre-​drank here about a month ago. I’d been for lunch twice and it was virtually overrun with them, but by night the locals seem to love this place which is a good thing. They have a wide range of real ales and beers as well as malt whiskeys which can offer a culinary tour in itself. The atmosphere is chilled out with everyone just relaxing and minding their own business.
Their pub food is also more than decent and their fish and chips is served in a sizeable portion and theres plenty of vinegar and tartar sauce to garnish is with.
Dagda Bar is a great place to chill out in on lazy afternoons or go for a drink in the evening.

It’s true what people say about The Dagda Bar, despite its location it’s not full of the expected clientele. However this isn’t a bad thing. Instead of being full of students, cheap student deals, and all the disorder associated, Dagda feels a bit special.
The Dagda specialises in real ales and whiskies and the owners seem happy to exchange knowledge and impart wisdom. There’s also a reasonable selection of beers.
The bar is smallish but open and makes the most of its space. It has an overall traditional feel. It’s nice, warm, and comforting but at times a little impersonal, especially during the busier times. If you want a lonely drink go elsewhere. If you want conversation and a «quiet sort of lively» then visit the Dagda. It’s also the sort of bar that gets better, and more appreciated, the more you visit it.
A great bar in the centre of town with a different sort of vibe from those around it.

When I walked in here it was like walking into a Middle-​Earth pub– everyone seemed to have long beards!
This is a great little pub, a bit separate from the student dominating ones of the area. Pub-​goers here seem to be of all ages. The guy who served me knew an awful lot about whiskies and the different varieties found across Scotland so it was quite educational as well! There isn’t a lot of space and few tables but it’s a very cosy pub with a great atmosphere.

Dispite being so close to the universtiy, the Dagda Bar on Buccleuch St (Edinburghs Southside) isnt a studenty pub — even though from the outside you might think it was.
What Dagda Bar actually is is a gem hidden amongst the masses of chain owned or student over run places in this area.
Cozy and tradtitional, the Dagda bar seems very open planned but in an old fashioned way — meaning there are very few places to hide away with a quiet pint. The juke box is great and holds some classic songs, and the atmosphere is friendly and welcoming. There is a large selection of drinks available, including some real ales that I had never seen before.
This place is a good little find for a pint and some good chat.