Time to chill out at Edinburgh’s Cold Town House

It happens to the best of us. Limping across the finish line from another busy week, the familiar pizza cravings strike once again. Indeed, the desire to indulge in an ice-cold tipple and a slice of carb-loaded joy is high up on many people’s agenda come the weekend.

Thankfully, here to relieve the hunger pangs of a Saturday night, the Cold Town House has us covered. Based in the bustling hub of Edinburgh’s Grassmarket, this new kid on the block is a central spot to unwind at the weekend.

The new Cold Town House roof terrace at the foot of Edinburgh Castle

After transforming the former Robertson Memorial Church into a brewery, restaurant, bar and rooftop terrace with a £4m investment, Scottish hospitality Group Signature Pubs launched their latest venture last week. Invited along to their house warming event, we got a peek behind the scenes.

(We may have actually been twice in three days, but who’s counting?)

Spread across three floors, there was plenty to explore. On the ground floor we walked into the main bar – the mix of plants hanging from the ceilings, industrial-style brick walls and writing on the walls was met with mixed response among our group, but with plenty of TV screens to keep the sports fanatics happy, it is a cosy corner to enjoy the last of the Six Nations matches.

Here, there will also be regular cabaret nights, DJs and comedians taking to the stage. If you can, grab the seats around the fire pit table. It’s a very welcome bit of heat on these chillier days…

The ground floor bar serves up in-house beers, cocktails, bubbles and more

Following our noses up to the first floor we found my personal favourite – the Pizza & Prosecco Bar. On this level there are eight 500L beer tanks that house a selection of Cold Town beers. In the restaurant, floor to ceiling glass allows you to see straight into the brewery.

The eight beers are made on-site and will be rotated regularly. If you can’t choose between the brews – the likes of chocolate cake stout, gingerbread brown ale and blood orange pale ale are on offer at the moment – you can opt for a tasting flight of four Cold Town beers.

The Cold Town House actually marks the return of brewing to the Grassmarket – a tradition that dates back as far as the 16^th century.

Beer flights allow customers to taste a range of in-house beer

With freshly brewed beer comes freshly baked Neapolitan pizza. The dough for every pizza is fermented with Cold Town Beer for at least 24 hours before serving.

There are also plenty of vegetarian and vegan options available – Millennials rejoice!

A classic mozzarella, tomato and basil Neapolitan pizza

Arguably the showstopper though is the roof terrace. Set at the foot of Edinburgh Castle, this fairy light haven is a wonderful place to sit and watch the sun go down.

Fast-forward to summer, the terrace will be a hotspot for catching a ray of sunshine during the festival.

Find out more at their website.

You can never have too many fairy lights…