I toured this charming and historic Edinburgh pub on the eve of its 200th birthday
This iconic destination has been around for nearly two centuries
I have a confession.
Even though I’ve lived in Edinburgh my whole life, I’ve never been inside Scotland’s oldest oyster bar, the iconic Cafe Royal.
Perhaps, in my Victorian past life, I was slung out of there for carousing after too many glasses of port, and that’s what’s prevented me from returning.
Anyway, I very belatedly headed along West Register Street and Gabriel’s Road, towards that classic dangling lobster sign, on the eve of the bar’s 200th anniversary.
These celebrations have been organised by the current owners, brewing company Greene King. They’re going with this whopping birthday, even though some might argue that the bar has only been there since 1863. Apparently, this corner spot has been the site of a tavern since 1826. So there.
Any excuse to honour this A-listed jewellery box of a pub. It really is beyond gorgeous, with its Royal Doulton ceramic panels of famous inventors, original monochrome tile floors, and gingerbread-hued wooden panels that glow as if they’ve been heavily beeswaxed. Then there are those stained glass panels of sportsmen, which, general manager Michael Eaton tells me, have been replicated in Hong Kong Rugby Club by a man who used to drink here.
Not to forget the original 19th-century revolving doors - one of three in the city, with the other two at The Balmoral Hotel and The Guildford Arms.
It must be an amazing place to work, though Eaton has been here for eight years and is quite used to the space.
“I see a lot of visitors' faces when they come in, and I remember, oh yeah, it's not your normal pub,” he says.
He’s been arranging most of the upcoming events.
Launching on July 6, there will be a 200 Years drinks menu, featuring serves including a Champagne cobbler, vesper martini and a knickerbocker rum cocktail, plus exclusive collaborations and releases including a special Thistly Cross Cider and a Stewart Brewing limited-edition lager. You can also expect new menu items on rotation. Try a 200 Years Seafood Platter, which has goodies including lobster, langoustines and razor clams on there, or various dishes such as langoustine in burnt butter sauce and smoked ham hock and ox cheek stovies.
The purists are welcome to stick with their Cumbrae rock oysters with mignonette dressing. Apparently, they sell about 1,000 of these a week at the Cafe Royal.
“It can vary, but I'd say that’s the minimum,” says Eaton, who isn’t too keen on oysters but has recently converted to stovies. “During the Edinburgh Festival or at Christmas, it can go up to 3,000.”
For some people, it’s their first time trying this delicacy.
“We always say try it with our bloody Mary. It’s a nice easy way to try one, because you can wash it down with something,” he says. “We don’t put the oyster in the drink anymore. It was hard to fish out and it looked a lot less appetising. In the shell, you can do it separately. We've started doing them with martinis as well.”
They were originally going to add some of the saline from inside the shell, to make their own take on a dirty martini, but they soon discovered that you can’t guarantee how much liquid will be in each oyster.
As far as customers go, they have a lot of regulars and a few locals who pop in on a weekly basis to enjoy this building. There are a few who come from Glasgow, while that city’s beloved oyster bar, Rogano, is still closed. However, tourists are a mainstay. They come for the seafood, the booze, but also the Cafe Royal’s own homemade haggis, which they started making a few years ago after being inspired by the one at restaurant Stravaigin in Glasgow. These holidaying guests keep the atmosphere jumping.
“People are always a bit confused about why we're always packed, as we’re not on a main road but are off Princes Street. I think we're in quite a few of the like Lonely Planet guides, and a lot of different websites and tourist sites as well, and there are a lot of hotel recommendations,” Eaton says. “We've got a tour company and whenever they do like big Japanese groups, they book in for a visit to use pretty much every month.”
Perhaps this lot will be interested in the historic dinners that will also be part of the Cafe Royal’s celebrations. Eaton and their head chef will be throwing Victorian, Edwardian, and Georgian dinners, as well as a Scottish heritage version, throughout the year, with dates to be confirmed.
“The head chef and operation chefs have done a lot of research. I think we’ve finalised most of the menus now. They’ll be era-inspired, but modern. On the Georgian menu there’s oyster soup. We've also got a trio of smoked fish and shellfish,” Eaton says. “On the Victorian menu there's eel, which makes me think of Victorian London and jellied eel, but it’ll be nicer than that. There will also be a mutton pie. Everyone loves a pie.”
Those dishes, which also include turbot with American sauce and lobster tail, seem very apt for such a historic building.
I wonder if there are any ghosts, like my Victorian port-addled counterpart, and what they’ll think of the upcoming celebrations.
“Sometimes people say they hear or see things. I don't quite believe it, but there are times when I'm in the pub very late because we’re doing line cleaning and it’s three or four in the morning, and all the lights flicker,” says Eaton. “But that could just be the wiring.”
I’m just happy that this place has survived for so long. It very nearly became a Woolworths in the Sixties, when then owners Grand Metropolitan Hotels decided to sell the property to the chain so it could extend its Princes Street store. Thankfully, a petition stopped that happening, and it became A-listed in 1970.
Just think. They could have been selling pick ‘n’ mix foam shrimp, instead of oysters.
That would’ve been a crime against Scottish pubs.
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