Constitution Bar

On a rainy and dreich day, I had a fair amount of scooting around town to do, but managed to still make a decent time window for lunch. I headed to the Constitution Bar on Consititution Street, in Leith.

Formerly the sister bar of the famous Port o’ Leith, the place has had a complete refit since the last time I was in it, a couple of years ago. It’s now much more expansive with a really smart feel to it. Nautical flags bedeck the place.

They have a lunchtime menu that offers a nice little range of things for a fiver including an accompanying draught soft drink. I went a little off script by including a bottle of sparkly water and adding soup, too, but did select a bowl of chilli from this £5 selection.

The friendly barman was soon relaying the order to the kitchen. We ran into a little problem here as my initial selection, mushroom soup, was declared to have not passed quality control, so I was asked if broccoli soup was a suitable substitution. I was happy with that. It then took rather a long time to arrive.

When it did, it was entirely worth the wait as it proved a delightfully flavour-packed and creamy treat. I was really pleased with it.

The chilli swiftly followed. While it was a touch soupy and had a lack of spicy kick, it was a really tasty and filling dish with which I was very pleased.

When the bill came, the soup had been removed from the reckoning as the barman said that no-one should have to wait that long for soup. Oddly, it is sometimes better for places to make the odd mistake then deal with them with assurance to illustrate good service. Certainly knocking the soup off the bill was way beyond what I would have expected, so kudos to them.

So overall, I was thoroughly impressed by the Constitution Bar. I was served two very good dishes in a very smart setting. Service was very good with swift remedial action taken for what was a relatively minor blip. I’d be happy to point you in its direction next time you’re looking for a good value feed in this neighbourhood.

Scores
Blythe scores the Constitution Bar
4/5 for food
3.5/5 for presentation
4/5 for service
4/5 for setting
giving an overall 15.5/20

I ate: cream of broccoli soup; beef chilli pot

I drank: sparkly water

I wore: www.tieclub.co.uk tie

Total bill: £10.60 (but £6.65 without being charged for the soup)