hoot the redeemer

hoot is a great place for the youngster for party, crowded , loud music , compact , underground, the drinks are great , atmosphere is happening and price is reasonable. location is very central. worth visiting for couple of drinks.

first time in hoot the redeemer on friday. it brought back memories of sneaking in the previous pub there many a time as an underaged drinker. what a face-lift it has had! quirky decor and old cinema seats. was overwhelmed by the lucky dip machines where you can let the machine decide your drinking fate, didn't know where to start so i let a friend decided what we were having instead. so much going on that it becomes quite tough to decide what u want to drink if i'm honest. will try again.

hoot the redeemer is such a perfect little place! i've literally taken all my guests here, they also very impressed by how unique this place is. i wouldn't however go here on a regular basis, as it tends to get very crowded.

hoot the redeemer is a sister concern of panda and sons but is very very different. i've tried going in here on but it was filled with very students crowd and very noisy so we decided to leave. the second time round, a friend and decided to go here a little earlier in the evening and managed to find a seat. we ordered pretzels and cocktails which were both good. we chose not to go for the toy/machine thingy as it just didn't sound very convincing. the decor is kitsch but not really my kind of thing. decent bar but can't say i'll be choosing this over panda and sons anytime soon.

as i mentioned in my previous reviews i'm not the biggest cocktail fan but i've heard so much about this hidden gem that i've decided to go see it with my own eyes. entrance is really quirky which was a funny touch at the beginning. i have to say they did make the place quite cool with the machines for ice cream and machines with flavours for cocktails. i didn't try those this time, however i had a royal edinburgh canoe club cocktail which was pretty nice. it came in martini glass and with orange skin. it wasn't too sweet so i liked it. the place was a bit crowded on friday evening for my taste so i didn't have a proper look at the decor inside. the dj station is pretty cool so don't miss it when you're there! i had a good laugh with sarah mackenzie :) will need to go again to get a better feel of the place. but i liked that it wasn't too dark or too loud so even when it was crowded it was still convenient to hang out and have a chat. will be coming back!

i loved this place! i just think the speakeasy bar trend is so fun. this bar is owned by the same people who own panda and sons, so i was expecting it to be good but didn't realise it would be this good. they have a fun claw machine where you put a pound in and get two shots to get to flavours, you then take these up to the bar and they make you a cocktail including those flavours. i was just in awe. i'm going to need to go back so i can take it all in again!!

i cannot express enough how much i love this place. edinburgh has always felt inferior to glasgow's nightlife scene. however, this quirky new edition may be a game-changer.

i love anything different and hoot certainly is that. if you are into craft brews the on-tap selection will make your day. there is also a generous selection of spirits to satisfy any taste.

i really enjoyed their boozy slushies. this sort of thing can often be nothing but sugary chemical-filled water, with little alcohol to be found, but the rum one certainly packed a punch.

a shout out has to go to the boozy ice cream vending machine. if more bars sold this the world would be a happier place.

make it your mission to check out hoot. except don't, because i'd love to keep this little gem to myself.

as soon as i heard about hoot the redeemer, i was pretty keen to check it out. a 1950s funfair themed bar is right up my street and i was sold pretty quickly. just like panda & sons, you would not think it was a bar from the outside due to to the signs talking about fortune tellers. you walk down the stairs where you are met with a secret door, again like panda & sons. inside you are greeted with almost a miss match of different styles of chair, some are red leather booths, wooden tables and theatre style seats. the walls have retro style posters and artwork. overall the whole look just works perfectly. the first time i visited was about a week after they had first opened so it was pretty busy but did get a chance to try the mystic ball cocktail which was delightful. my second trip was a sunday afternoon visit, so i was finally able to try out the pinch n sip machine, which is such a fun and quirky idea. you put £1 in the machine, which is like one of those grab games, pick out two flavours, take the them up to the bar and they will make you a cocktail! you don't have to use both the flavours you pick together, you can keep on for your next drink which is a good idea if you pick two very different flavours. i was lucky enough to get pineapple and kiwi, i was asked what spirit i would like (gin... obviously) and ended up with such a summery tasty little cocktail! 

a must visit place if you, like me, enjoy somewhere a little quirky. try to get their early enough so you can get a proper look around before it gets busy!

also they sell boozy ice cream. yes... booze and ice cream.... together!

knowing about panda&sons i came here with high expectations and i wasn't disappointed, at all!this little place is a hidden gem, every detail has been studied and created to make this place cosy and fun. i had a professor funk which was very good and sweet and my friend and i tried the "adult ice cream"'as well, very funny!

what can i say? i had high hopes for a '1950s fun fair themed bar'. staff - pleasant, helpful, speedy with drinks, a+ for staffing. venue - needs some kind of air conditioning, it was really busy when we were in and it felt stuffy and almost to that horrible sauna feeling. the decore is great, i love all the murals. the bathrooms, well, i don't get why the are plastered with pages from one of the worst books written in history (50 shades of grey) or why they are in both the male & female bathrooms, being honest, it's tacky. millions of great books that could have been selected.
drinks - we both had a cocktail to start, royal edinburgh canoe club and days of thunder, great cocktails, well made with premium spirits. the second round was lakeland lager for both of us. again, a good lager, easy to drink.
i didn't try the alcoholic ice cream as i'm not that sweet toothed but it seemed extremely popular.
once the hype calms and the bar isn't 70% full of george street wannabe models and hipsters i'll be sure to try it again.

great little place on hanover street. as quirky as it's sister bar panda and sons, hoot the redeemer allows you to use those arcade grabbing machines to select ingredients for you cocktails. take these ingredients to the bar and the bar staff will create a cocktail round these flavours and a spirit of your choice. the only draw back for this is whilst it costs £1 to have a go on the machine (which goes towards the cost of your cocktail) if you don't get anything out with your two attempts you are left with nothing. my first cocktail cost £7 (£6 at the bar and the £1 on the machine). the second cost me £9 (£6 at the bar but three attempts to get ingredients and only ending up with one). a little bit unfair i feel. that said, you don't have to use this option and there are plenty of cocktails on the standard menu and the cocktails i was made by the bar staff were excellent. a fun, quirky place worth checking out.