#27. Brass Monkey, 14 Drummond St, Edinburgh

The Scottish pubs are certainly good at not taking themselves too seriously. Nor can they be accused of trying too hard. Case in point, the Brass Monkey pub, an immensely popular casual drinking spot near the University. The main room consists of comfy couches lined up around walls adorned with random movie posters for some real (A Clockwork Orange, Eraserhead, etc.) and some not-so-real (12 Brass Monkeys, 2001: A Monkey Odyssey, etc.) films. Somehow it all works.



The whole place had a hipster chill-out vibe to it.

The bar was adorned in Stewart's merchandise, but they didn't have any actual Stewart's beer on tap. I did have a John Smith's Extra Smooth. While waiting for the pour, I noticed the fellow next to me was using comprehensible English, so I asked him where he was from. It turns out he was from Boston, and a Bruins fan. As a Canucks diehard, he asked me what the heck was up with Luongo? We rehashed the entire emotional roller coaster of the Stanley Cup finals before heading back to our respective couches.

One other interesting feature of this pub was the washroom: a single room with private toilet stalls, some of which were designated for the men, and others for the women.