Bar 50

Bar 50 was somewhere that had completely eluded my attention until recently, but I’d spotted it on social media and thought I should go and investigate.

Although their address is 50 Blackfriars Street, I approached it from their Cowgate entrance. It’s a great barn of a place with a strong student vibe. It’s part of a hostel complex, so there was a steady flow of punters wandering through although few lingered.

It has a nice little terrace and courtyard seating area outside so I imagine it does cracking business on a warm and sunny day.

The menu is a blend of burgers, pizzas and a few other main dishes. They had soup on offer to start, so I opted for a bowl of leek and potato, then followed that with a bacon cheeseburger. The burgers promised locally sourced Buccleuch beef so I was cautiously optimistic.

Sadly, things were pretty disappointing. The soup was a pale and lifelessly thin gruel, entirely under-seasoned and totally underwhelming. It was piss poor.

The burger was better and represented a fair effort and the malted beer bun was certainly interesting, but it was let down by unevenly cooked fries and a mediocre slaw.

So overall, Bar 50 requires a good deal of improvement. As it stands, it will adequately address your hunger but demonstrates little in the way of culinary skill. It’s a shame as it’s a potentially smart venue that has definite summer sunning possibilities and is trying to do the right thing by sourcing locally. However, things just need to be executed to a much, much higher standard.

Scores
Blythe scores Bar 50
2/5 for food
2.5/5 for presentation
3/5 for setting
2.5/5 for service
giving an overall 10/20

I ate: leek and potato soup; bacon cheese burger

I drank: water

I wore: purple stripes

Total bill: £9.20