The Royal Oak

The 2019/20 edition of The List's Eating & Drinking Guide is out now – only £5.95 (+p&p).

An honest, frill-free hub for local Scottish folk music, the Royal Oak represents Edinburgh’s ever-diminishing traditional face, stripped of canned bagpipes, faux chandeliers and obscure cocktail ingredients – in fact, any cocktail ingredients. This is an ale and spirits pub, with just three, single-portion sized wines on offer. The luxury lies in a 35-year-old legacy of unpretentious commitment to live folk music, mostly open-mike, every night. You’ll not get through the door without being absorbed into a conversation, and if you bring an acoustic guitar and a good tune with you, so much the better. The only time you’ll not be able to get right into the thick of things is during the Edinburgh Festival, when more formal concerts run every night. Both the public bar and bookable downstairs gig space are pretty small with limited seating, and décor that would make any sort of chandelier feel very out of place.