Edinburgh is such a charming city! I’m so glad I was able to sneak in a last-minute trip the charming medieval town full of adorable, modern shops, bars, and restos in these gorgeous old building. Absolutely divine! The food and drink were no joke either. I legitimately put on five pounds from this stint across the pond…not the birthday gift I was after.

While my heart was set on drinks at Bramble, the same mixos of the world-famous Dead Rabbit, the real star of the mixology cocktail bar scene was Panda and Sons.

Panda and Sons cleverly disguises itself as a barbershop from the street level. If you are looking closely, you’ll notice the haircuts and shaves are only $0.25 and perhaps are worth a visit.

Upon entering the barbershop, you descend a short flight of stairs to this tiny room. As you can probably guess, the bookcase is a cool hidden door.  No haircuts will be given inside…at least to our group.

But, there were plenty of barber’s chairs.

My friends and I were starving so we selected from the limited menu, a divine cheeseboard with oatcakes and pork rinds for some reason. The popcorn was oddly seasoned and we only kept eating it to figure out what we were eating. I’m not sure we ever did.

This is the kind of bar where the menu is a novel, both in drink variety and in actual story of the bar. I began to read about the Panda who came from Australia to open this barbershop in Scotland and how he interacted with his family. Totally random, and I must admit to not making it to the end of the very long story as my other colleagues and friends arrived for conversation instead.

We tried a ton of drinks. A couple of guys had the ‘Mr. Bananaman’ which was something odd like scotch and banana liqueur. It was surprisingly delicious.

My favorite drink of the night came in this takeout container. It was rum, lemon, and other really fresh tasting things. The straws were set to mimic chopsticks and I really didn’t understand how this container failed to leak. So, I just went with it.

On top of the liquid and a pile of chewy ice were cucumber noodles. Amusing touch.

I personally like the cheersing of all of these different drinks with a takeout box.

My first drink was gin and floral and was nice, but did not come with any theatrics, so it was discarded.

Here’s a whiskey-based cocktail my friend had that came in a bell jar of smoke.

Talk about theatrical! The only better drink I saw (we didn’t try it) was a top hat full of prosecco.

I’d definitely give a visit to Panda and Sons the next time you’re in Edinburgh. Maybe you’ll even find that they do in fact, give haircuts.