It takes around 10 minutes from arriving at one of Europe’s ‘100 Best Pubs’ to be sure that I’m in the right place.

It’s late afternoon at the Canny Man’s in Edinburgh, and the only other soul on this side of the bar is a middle-aged man who sits scrolling on his phone, the final third of his pint getting warmer by the minute.

It’s not exactly what I’d expected after learning of the Morningside venue’s listing in the European Bar Guide, making it one of only two in Scotland to earn a spot in the Top 100 alongside Glasgow’s beloved Laurieston.

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A quick glance through their website had earlier in the morning revealed that Rick Stein, a hero of any food and drink writer worthy of their artisan sea salt, had named this place as ‘The Best Pub in the World’.

Because of this, I’d imagined the type of place where a warm Scottish welcome awaits, the bartenders pounce at the opportunity to introduce a malt of the month or special cocktail.

This…was not quite it.

Stepping in from the busy street, this compact space appears cluttered with small tables and vintage memorabilia adorning not just the walls, but the ceiling too.

Think everything from old military uniforms decorated with epilates to instruments like the violin or trumpet suspended in the air, and a few taxidermy animal heads to boot. There’s no such thing as too quirky here, it seems.

With no menus on the tables, it requires pulling their web page up hastily from my seat near the door to confirm that........

© Herald Scotland