The Smokin' Fox

The Hope Bar & Eatery has undergone a foxy makeover, with the Waterloo Street pub's new incarnation looking to hold true to its traditional  roots while moving with the times. An upbeat, pop remix of a classic track, The Smokin Fox provides the comfort and warmth of an old-fashioned Scottish bar, fine-tuned with a few well place touches of 2017.

At a glance, things look much the same – all deep browns, brass, dark leather and hard wood in a style that has paired perfectly with pints since the Victorian era. A closer look reveals the little flourishes which give the fox its bite– walls adorned with pop art, couches emblazoned with stars and stripes and, of course, those bare bulbs which nowadays no bar can be caught without.

The menu carries on this desire to put a fresh, edgy spin on a well morn model. In the days of yore a pint was a pint and you were damn lucky to get it and maybe it would be full of nails and broken glass but we drank it all the same because back then men were men, damn it! Nowadays though, a wander into the Smokin Fox can be met with a wide selection of expertly selected craft beers and an extensive list of bespoke cocktails. Because drinking is fun now.

On the food front things are much the same. Wherever the jokes about British cuisine came from, they have no place in this fox’s den – the menu is all locally sourced and seasonally designed, served up as a range of light lunch dishes and hearty dinners.