Leith Depot is a great addition to this, or any, city’s music scene. In fact, if you were to dream up the perfect combination of food, beer and music, you would come up with Leith Depot. It’s tiny: the venue only holds 60, but that makes the atmosphere intimate. You’d think the sound would be ropey, but the sound engineer at a recent benefit gig I attended presented singer songwriters through to a five piece band with perfect attention to detail.
The food is reasonably (very reasonably) priced and delicious – largely it’s pescatarian.
The staff are both cool and friendly (a difficult combination in my experience although they manage this at Andrew Usher and Co and The Hanging Bat also).
And the drinks menu is sufficiently varied to appeal to most tastes (importantly, a good range of real ales) is available.
The name comes from the bus depot situated directly opposite but demolished in late 2017.
And, of course, it’s situated on Leith Walk, £ for £ the best street in Edinburgh with its eclectic mix of bars, restaurants and shops.
As a guide to its coolness, they have a framed cover of The Stranglers’ Black and White album, signed by all the band, on the wall. A brilliant choice of record.
And all night long the background music is clearly curated by a proper music fan. Ed Sheeran fans will be deeply disappointed.
