The Blind Poet

I absolutely love The Blind Poet. It feels just far enough out of the way to be both easily accessible from the central part of the city and still laid back and homey. They have some very comfy couches and chairs, and the décor is a lot of fun. They also participate in SnapFax, so students with the card can get a 25% discount off drinks. If you go before nine or so, it’s quiet enough that you can easily have more intimate or involved conversations, which can be quite unusual for bars in a university town. Drinks are quite affordabe (even without the student discount) and the staff is sooooo nice! I also like that many «townies» or regulars come here, which means it’s not just more of the same «college bar» feel. Definitely check this place out!

The only thing I ever had against the Blind Poet was their keeping of the ale, well all I can say is this seems to be sorted. I have had a few pints of ale here and they have all been exactly as they should be, so well done Blind Poet, you have fixed the only flaw I saw in you!

The Blind Poet is perfectly fine until they start the karaōke or whatever entertainment they might have on that night. I personally like a pub where I can have a quiet chat with people without having to shout. Blind Poet is thus a good pub at times. The bar staff is friendly enough, the clientele is a mix of students and regulars, they have a good range of drinks, prices are reasonable and they do a great Snap Fax discount on every drink.
To sum up: a decent place if you choose your time slot!

The Blind Poet is probably our favourite pub in that area, it’s much more homely than the Peartree next door. It s bit like a student version of an old mans pub.
Good staff, cheapish drinks, lovely comfy sofas and generally some good music on the jukebox.
Oh, and free wifi!

A change has come over me lately. Maybe even over the past half a year. Before, anything that seemed vaguely ‘old man pub-​y’ and didn’t have margaritas on the menu wouldn’t have gotten my vote. But it’s now highly likely you might find me at a bar, drinking a beer and munching some nuts (yes yes… in-​YOUR-​endo). I’ve now got a wee taste for beer, and couldn’t give a rats if there’s no cocktails around. This has opened up my Edinburgh drinking horizons significantly.
I always would have loved the Blind Poet for its weather-​worn, traditional charm. I love what Tony Y has said «what it lacks in flash it makes up for in amazingness.» Too right. There’s a great, friendly crowd. There’s lots of quiz nights, live music (just ignore the folk with the notepads Tony…) and banter.
There’s lots of whiskies and beers too. Always a winner.
It’s the sort of place that will be perfect on a winter’s night (so pretty much, any day from NOW (it’s just the end of August)) when it’s dark and blustery and you need somewhere warm, friendly and beery.
I’ve also heard good things about The Counting House (a few dance classes I want to try out) so the fact this place is connected makes me even happier.

There are a few pubs that you walk in and feel cozy. The Blind Poet may not have the biggest stage, best dart board or best layout, but what it lacks in flash it makes up for in amazingness.
For the big drinkers, they have £7 bottles of wine, overfilled pitchers of lager and an A-​Z «Bomb» menu to satisfy your every need. The bartenders are super nice (when the regular bartenders are working, i.e. not during Festival) and they are always up for a good chat.
They have a very difficult but fun trivia night every Sunday starting at 8pm. The Trivia Masters really plans these questions out makes it a great, cheap evening out. However, there is your typical team of regulars who show up with notepads and less than social attitude to bring the trivia mood down.
To be fair, some may be inclined to head next door to The Pear Tree. Keep in mind their prices are quite a bit higher and the bar queue is often a bit longer.
*small tip, you can order your drinks at the Blind Poet and walk upstairs to the Counting House is seating is sparse or if the venue is too loud!
*If Jamie Scott is playing or Shorty and the Giants, definitely stick around.

This is a popular venue for charity nights or University society nights so it can be hit or miss in terms of the music and how busy it will be.
However, it’s a good venue and I always have a good night here. There are lots a little cubby holes full of cushions so you can hide away from the dance floor and just have a drink and a chat. There is a dance floor big enough to strut your stuff if that’s you thing or there are comfy seats around the dance floor if youd’ rather watch other people strut their stuff. So something for everyone!

The Blind Poet is a great little pub. It is situated just across the road from the main University campus, George Square, so it is a fantastic place for students to pop into for a drink after classes.
There is a really great, lively atmosphere inside, which is cosy but occasionally verging on being cramped when it gets busy, which is quite a lot of the time. It is a fairly traditional pub inside, with stains on the carpets and tables and sofas which have seen better days, but that is part of the appeal of The Blind Poet. The pub is very popular with the locals, so it can sometimes a bit of an old man pub feel about it.
There is a weekly pub quiz on a Sunday night which I have attended several times and it was a good laugh so I would highly recommend going to that. The drinks in The Blind Poet are cheaper than some of the other pubs in the area so it is worth your while financially to drink here, especially if you are planning on going out after.
The traditional pub food is also served for lunch and dinner which is tasty and cheap as most meals are under five pounds — such a bargain! There are games machines inside, darts and a TV screen which is currently showing the World Cup football matches. The staff are also very friendly and it is definitely a pub worth visiting.

This place looks like it was decorated by a blind poet, certainly doesn’t reflect the young people who patron this joint. It’s a great little bar full of great people.
Worst thing about it, you will never ever find a place to sit down. I saw a young 18 year old girl in crutches propping herself up against the wall.
And who said manners were dead?

I’ve always liked The Blind Poet. I’ve been coming here since I was a youngster drinking Malibu and Peach Schnapps with lemonade, (how did I manage to drink what is possibly the sickliest alcohol combination of all time for so many evenings?). My drinking palate is now a bit more gin and tonic bitterness orientated, but The Blind Poet remains the same, character filled pub it always was.
Some old school pubs are just that, old looking and in need of a proper renovation. Some do it really well though, and you can’t beat a good cosy pub like The Blind Poet, with its welcoming, comortable atmosphere and banterful mix of people. Definitely get yourself down here and settled with a few pints (or wines) early, because the joint is popular.

The Blind Poet’s drinks are undoubtedly cheaper than it’s neighbour’s, The Peartree. This, coupled with its cosy and quirky atmosphere, means that it is more popular with students during the winter months.
It has an eclectic selection of live bands and comedians who perform regularly and has its own quiz night which, apparantly, is always rammed.
Inside it feels stylish and is definitely orientated towards the students which flock to it. The walls are covered with interesting quotes and the gents’ toilets are pasted with ‘page 3′ girls which adds a unique element of male chauvinism. The bar is fully equipped to meet all tastes, and even has some lesser known varieties such as Fruli which is a great-​tasting strawberry flavoured beer. Although I haven’t tried the food myself, the lunchtime menu features flatbread sandwiches and soup among other pub lunch favourites.
Personally, The Blind Poet isn’t my favourite Edinburgh pub, but its central location and reasonable prices make it a real hit with students and others alike.

I came here during one of the festivals free comedy shows, and I’m not gonna lie I felt a little bit intimidated! It is a lovely pub yeah, and I agree with everyone below me — maybe I just went on a bad day. I was getting eyed up and down (and I thought I looked normal!) and felt a bit like Truman from The Truman Show. I came on a Friday night, so maybe avoid that one.
Anyway, when I was sitting down it was much better, nice atmosphere and the drinks were relatively cheap. The food menu looked great too, I made a promise with my friends that we would come back for a lunch or something.
As a venue, it was really small. We were all crammed in and felt a bit like Sardines. But then again it was the free festival, and they were letting the performers in without charging them, which I thought was lovely!

Comfy sofas and a warm, inviting atmosphere equate to a reliable place to grab a lunchtime beer or coffee at the Blind Poet. They kindly let you eat food bought from the local delis on their premises too which is a bonus, although as I have recently experienced, one of the staff members seemed a little reluctant to lend me a spoon to eat my soup… poor show.
A random quirky feature is the Gent’s toilet’s walls are laced with page three cut outs. I wonder if the Ladies are treated to similar collages.

The blind Poet is a really good pub, one of several in the vicinity of Nicholson Street.
The staff are laid back, excellent service, and some good cask ales as well.
Nice one!

Behind that non-​commital door, and up some stairs is a fab little pub, that you may just miss if you let it pass you by.
The Blind Poet is a great pub, it has the feeling of an old man pub, but is in fact a great music venue and being so close to the university, its main crowed is students. The bar itself serves a huge range of drinks and whiskeys — some of which I am told are rare — and is generally rather cheap.
There is a great squishy sofa seating area and warious other mismatched chairs and tables strewn about the place giving an oddly cosy and comfy feeling.
The Blind Poet hosts a great live open mic evening, and attracts a huge number of above standard acts.
The Blind Poet overall is a great pub, and I really cant think of anything bad to say about it.

This place definitely has the best name out of all the surprisingly large number of pubs on this tiny street, but I’d only go here if I were ordering food.
It’s main drawback is the lack of beer garden. We get hardly any sunny days in Edinburgh as it is, so on those rare occasions I like to be able to make the most of them and get sunburnt in a beer garden. No can do here.
For that reason I tend to drink next door in the Peartree, but then that brings me back to the original dilemma… they don’t do food. The Blind Poet, on the other hand, does awesome food. And it’s reasonably priced too. The only bad thing about it is that it’s so popular with uni students at lunchtimes that you’ll almost never find somewhere to sit, and when you do you’ll have to wait a fair while before you get your food.
So, the Peartree and the Blind Poet think they have come up with a great compromise: you can order and pay for your food in the Blind Poet, but eat it next door in the Peartree. The only problem with this is it’s a) a massive hassle, and b) the Blind Poet is so nice inside you won’t really want to eat your food next door.
Hopefully they’ll merge the two one day…

I hardly noticed this pub until I was in a pub crawl in my second year in Edinburgh. We apparently had stumbled into a pub quiz and much to other clients horror, decided to partake in. Its exterior hides a rather reasonable size interior– by no means as big as its dominant neighbour the Pear Tree. One sort of forgets about the outside world (and weather) in this cosy pub too so very good for a cold winter night. Other than this factor, it didn’t really draw me in any way or really stick out from other pubs of the area.

The Blind Poet is a great wee pub. Real wooden floorboards, quotation wallpaper (which might be a tad tacky), but big squashy couches and private booths within the architecture is a great attribute.
The toilets have been wallpapered with hunky men from magazines which is exactly what you want to look at while you’re taking a piss (cheers!).
Prices are reasonable and it’s a shame that the smoking ban means Blind Poet is overshadowed by it’s neighbour the Pear Tree and if you compare them, which you sort of have to, I’d rather sit outside.

You can’t beat the Poet for comfort and joy. It’s comfortable because, as another reviewer says, it’s like a tatty living room.
The joy is the locals and regulars who add their personality to this pub.
The quiz has changed on Sunday nights — still start at 9pm but now is more fun. Good stuff.

Korrekte Bar. Sehr britsche Einrichtung und daher herrscht eine kuschelige Atmoshpäre. Aber Achtung: Das ist Publikum scheint teilweise etwas borniert.

The Blind Poet is a great pub. It has comfortable couches. It has booths in quiet nooks. Its walls are papered with black and white posters as well as quotes from various historical wits (In America sex is an obsession, in other parts of the world it’s a fact — Marlenae Dietrich).
It has beautifully aged floor boards, friendly bar staff, a good range of ales and lagers and a nice 3 pints for the price of 2 offer on McEwan’s 80, Fosters and John Smith.
And, if all that wasn’t enough, the walls of the lavatory in the men’s room are plastered with pages torn out of men’s magazines.
Go along to the pub quiz on Sunday night and prepare for some good, albeit mind-​bending, fun.