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Frankenstein Bar Edinburgh

As fans of gimmick bars, we gave the Frankenstein Bar and Bier Keller a shot during our recent trip to Edinburgh, arriving at around 9 pm on a Friday. The venue is located on George IV Bridge in a former Elim Pentecostal church, so there are plenty of authentic gothic vibes. The main bar features two levels and the first floor was fairly crowded but we found a nice booth upstairs overlooking the main floor, a screen playing the original 1931 Frankenstein movie, and a great view of where the monster would appear and come to life.

The menu is appropriately themed and leans toward the party crowd, but we choose The Monster cocktail made with Captain Morgan, dark rum, Crème de Banana, pineapple, grenadine, and Wray & Nephew shot/float. Mrs. Mai Tai didn’t really like this but I thought it was okay especially after incorporating the overproof Jamaican rum into the glass.

Soon the dance music stopped and the lights dimmed in anticipation of the arrival of the monster. Fog and lighting effects are accompanied by cinematic music as the monster is wheeled out and then lowered from the ceiling before rising to look at the crowd. It’s a pretty good bit of fun, though as the monster lays back down the dance music started back up before he was properly stowed away for the next show, which broke the mood.

Frankenstein Bar was about what we expected, a nice fun diversion that could be fun with friends or just to try something different.

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The Tiki Bar Glasgow

Upon arriving in town we made a beeline for The Tiki Bar Glasgow for some drinks and treats. The space occupies the basement level including a well-appointed beer garden featuring numerous Moai (and TVs for sports). Inside there are a variety of tikis and artwork, tons of bamboo and matting, plus a nice set of floats on the ceiling. There are just two seats at the bar and all orders are taken at the bar, so it can get a little crowded there. Upstairs in a tropically themed augmented reality Darts Den.

Darts Den upstairs

Our drinks were generally good here, including a very nice Mai Tai floated with dark rum and came with a lime wedge garnish. The drinks here leaned sweet, though the nice thing about a lime wedge compared to a wheel is that if you want it less sweet you can squeeze some lime juice into your drink – which worked out really well in this Mai Tai. The 1950s-style Zombie includes pineapple juice and was just okay.

Mrs. Mai Tai did better with here two drinks including the Beach Bum that was topped with candy floss (cotton candy), leaning light with vodka and pomegranate. Even better was her half frozen Cherry Cuba Libre that was really great in this format and using a spiced rum to great effect.

We’d heard that Glasgow is famous for fried Mars bars and we can confirm they are amazing, served with vanilla ice cream, but this was the only food we ordered. A variety of locally made mugs are also available, plus drink specials Sunday-Thursday. The back bar featuring a nice set of sipping rums if that’s your thing.

Hardcore tiki fans will find faults with Tiki Bar, but we thought that they are doing a lot of things right in a market where pubs are king. The service was friendly and the drinks and decor were perfectly good for scratching the tiki itch and getting the locals acquainted to the genre.

Mai Tai, Zombie, Beach Bum, Cherry Cuba Libre
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Cab-a-Rette Tour in Edinburgh

Cab-a-Rette is a taxi tour of Edinburgh that’s like no other, featuring driver and performer Sylvia who dons several personalities including Geraldine the Nun to show us the sights and puts on a show herself along the way.

We’d seen this tour out in the wild when we were here three years ago and made sure to book a trip during our recent stay. Just in time too, since it seems Sylvia is retiring from this job and moving on to other things – so if you’re in town soon see if you can still schedule a ride.

During our trip we heard songs and saw how Sylvia interacts with people on the street. One young man was the object of attention and she jumped out to do her signature move. After we drove off he immediately started texting his friends – who surely wouldn’t believe a nun jumped out of a cab and flashed him. We also saw the U.S. Consulate and some of quaint residences of New Town. (check the videos in our Instagram post)

Towards the end of the trip we drove up to the top of the hill near Nelson Monument where we had some bubbly while we talked to Sylvia and saw her interact with the tourists and young people who had gathered on the hill, many in costume for some reason.

This tour was a once-in-a-lifetime blast, so much fun and we’re so lucky to have arrived in time while this is still operating. Give it a try if you can.

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Hole in the Wall Pub: Europe’s Longest Pub

We ventured out of the downtown area of Dublin to check out Hole in the Wall, the ironically named pub that’s the longest in Europe. Tightly nestled between a suburban road and Phoenix Park, the pub owners acquired a series of buildings which now seemingly go on and on and on. The venue dates from 1651 and there are so many little nooks and treasured contained within.

We arrived at lunchtime and were seated in the front room, as the venue was not particularly crowded. We enjoyed lunch, beer, and cider. When our meal was done we wandered through to some o of the other rooms, seeing that each room had its own character.

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The Temple Bar Dublin: Far from a Tourist Trap

The brightly colored Temple Bar is named after the Dublin neighborhood where it resides. The place has something of a reputation as a tourist trap, in fact our taxi driver warned us that it wasn’t worth it. We arrived at around 10:00 am with an opening time listed as 10:30. We did see that some of doors were open with people inside so took a look to check out the venue.

Inside, we saw that one of the bars was already open and so it seemed like an opportune time for a Guinness. People told us that Guinness tastes different here compared to the states, though I couldn’t ascertain the difference myself. The venue has all kinds of little rooms that are fun to wander within and hang out in, and the people watching is so good a group of four lads asked me to take their picture. The myriad historical details are interesting to check out and it is wall to wall stickers on the way down to the toilets that may have had a recent addition.

By the time we left there was traditional Irish music being played by a trio and the space was starting to fill up. The visit was anything but a tourist trap, though it wouldn’t have been worth it later when you have to wait for an hour to get a drink. Like a lot of things, being early has its advantages.

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Last Spring Cocktails at Alter Ego

We returned to Alter Ego Cocktail Club to give their Spring 2026 seasonal menu one last try, with Mrs. Mai Tai trying the High Heels and Cigarettes that features Scotch as a trainer for our upcoming trip to British Isles and Scotland. Meanwhile, I absolutely loved the zesty flavors of First Bloom that features basic, coconut, and lemon. The drinks at Alter Ego are really top notch and consistent on each of our visits.

First Bloom

Another favorite is the Bread and Butter, featuring salted butter and savory sprinkles on top. We love it, and the fries also have some Japanese seasoning as well. The chicken skewers are also very good.

Paul let us know they’ve introduced a new late night cocktail menu that features some of Alter Ego’s signature cocktails as well as some modern classic such as the Trinidadi Issues, Second Serve, and Smoke Ume Margarita. Some of these some from seminal venues and bartenders of the last 25 years of the craft cocktail revolution.

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Crowd-Pleasing Tiki Recipe: Blue Hawai-Tai Cocktail

I had a lemon to kill and I’d been thinking about revisiting this hybrid Mai Tai / Blue Hawaii cocktail that I developed a few years back. It leans sweet, so feel free to pull back on the simple syrup, but I do still think this works and can be a crowd-pleaser for cocktail newbies.

Blue Hawai-Tai by Kevin Crossman
1 oz Lemon Juice
½ oz Orgeat
½ oz Simple Syrup
½ oz Blue Curacao
1 oz White Overproof Jamaican Rum
½ oz Aged White Rum
Combine all ingredients in a shaker with crushed ice. Shake and dump into a small snifter glass.

  • Giffard is an amazing orange liqueur that also happens to be blue, strongly recommended.
  • Any overproof Jamaican rum would do fine here, demonstrated in this case by the Monymusk. If you like it more punchy than use one that’s 100% pot still, like Worthy Park Overproof or Rum Fire.
  • For the white rum, use one with a bit of age and ideally at least some pot still components to remind you that a Mai Tai started with an aged rum. My old bottle of Denizen 3 works great, as would Probitas, Breezeway blend, or Myers’s Platinum White.
  • Latitude 29 Orgeat is great in this application as the syrup is fairly clear and not cloudy like some orgeat can be.