I find that Bannerman's is a mix between a Scottish pub and a Deep South American Bar, and that really works for me. It is one of the Old Town buildings so has got that whole exposed brickwork interior thing going for it. The rest of the bar is small, with few seats but if you don't mind standing a bit then you'll have a good time, as the atmosphere is great, and the bar staff are awesome.\n\nIf you are looking for another cheap dive bar on Cowgate, this is not the place. It is one helluva load cooler, but you do pay a bit more for drinks. They are not too cheap but still, for a live music bar, much cheaper than say Whistle Binkies or Dropkicks. A pint will cost you about \u00a33, with some going up a wee bit. They have a great range of beers, including some of the Brewdog ones, my favourite brewery, which do a black lager (kind of a lagery Guinness) and the cheeky Tactical Nuclear Penguin, a 42% beer. They also sell vicious shots, one which I braved was described as something that makes people drinking Jaeger look like pussies. I'll be honest, Jaeger is not my friend; it pretends to be lovely to me whilst I slowly sup it but then I wake up the next morning in increasingly obscure places, including the Meadows. This stuff did not have the same somnambulistic effect on me but was pretty hardcore.\n\nWhat sets this apart from other pubs is the live music. During the day the back room has 2 pool tables in (free for students), which are taken out in the evening to form a decent sized gig venue. Whilst certainly not huge, it is big enough to fit in a fair few people - think the bigger room at Cab Vol. They generally only show local bands, but some of the ones I've seen here were really good, and although you have to pay a little, are definitely worth it.
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