Claremont Bar

The Claremont Bar has always been the elephant in the room of the Edinburgh LGBT scene. We all know it's there, but do our best not to talk about it. Perhaps it's the sci-fi action figures that used to line the walls or the emphasis on everything non-fabulous about the scene, but when thinking of where to head out for the evening Claremont is often easily forgotten – plus it has the dubious honour of being the farthest gay bar from Edinburgh's city centre. This distance keeps Claremont definitively local six days of the week, thriving on being just a pub. The staff go above and beyond their typical publican duties, making punters welcome and comfortable quickly - service is consistently fast and friendly. The in-house restaurant boasts a menu large and varied enough to be a café in its own right and the Sunday all-you-can-eat brunch promises to soak up any Saturday night hangover pains. This local feeling dissolves on Friday evening when their revolving speciality nights cater to various groups on the fringe of generally accepted queer society: two men-only kilt and bear nights, a fetish night and a drag night, all of which fill a void in Edinburgh's LGBT scene. Escape the quaffed club bunnies and experience an alternative. [Mat Kladney]