The Pomegranate sits on Antigua Street, opposite the Edinburgh Playhouse at the foot of Leith Walk, a Middle Eastern mezze and shisha bar that pours no alcohol. It runs Lebanese, Moroccan and Iranian small plates with Arabic coffee and a shisha terrace. For a pre-theatre table with a different brief, it earns a look.
Set your expectations before you walk in. This is a dry house, not a pub, and the drinks list runs to mint tea, fresh juice, Arabic coffee and alcohol-free wine and beer. Anyone hunting a pint should keep walking up the hill. Anyone after late mezze without the bar tab will find a rare thing in this city.
The room leans into its theme without tipping into kitsch. Traditional Middle Eastern motifs, low lighting and a warm colour scheme set a calm register, with a shisha terrace for guests who want to linger over a pipe. The Scotsman, reviewing the Antigua Street venue, noted the mezze focus that still defines the kitchen.
The food is the reason to book. The menu reads as a long run of Lebanese and Moroccan small plates, barbecued dishes and wraps, with Iranian and Lebanese starters built for sharing across the table. Order broadly across the mezze rather than one main each, and let the table fill up. A spread of six to eight dishes is the way to read it. Vegetarians and anyone steering clear of alcohol are unusually well served here, which is no small thing on a street built on traditional pubs.
Pricing sits at $$, which for a sit-down mezze spread opposite the Playhouse is fair. Set lunch and pre-theatre menus sharpen the value further for anyone timing a show, and the kitchen is used to turning a table before curtain. Tell the staff your start time and they will pace it.
The drink, such as it is, does its job. Arabic coffee is brewed to order, the mint tea is the default after a meal, and the alcohol-free wines and beers cover anyone who wants the ritual without the units. It is not a destination for a serious drink, and it does not claim to be. The shisha is the real after-dinner draw.
Reviewers on Tripadvisor return for the mezze and the unhurried service, with a steady 4.2 rating across the listing. The common note is that it suits groups and pre-show dinners better than a quick solo bite, because the kitchen is built around sharing. Book on Playhouse nights, when the street fills before a show.
Best time to go is early evening before a performance, when the pre-theatre menu is live and the terrace is quiet enough for a slow shisha afterward. The kitchen runs through the day into the late evening, so it also works for a long, drink-free lunch. Reservations are sensible whenever the Playhouse has a full house.
For value, read it for what it is rather than what it is not. A shared mezze spread with mint tea and a shisha is a genuinely different night out in a city built on pubs, and the pre-theatre pricing rewards anyone with tickets across the road. Come for the food and the terrace, not for a drink.
This is the spot for a dry mezze night and a shisha before or after a show, not a bar crawl. For more of the city, see our guide to the best hidden gem bars in Edinburgh, date night bars in Edinburgh, the full Edinburgh city guide, and our best hidden gems in Edinburgh pillar.
Sources: The Pomegranate official Facebook · The Scotsman · Sugarvine · Tripadvisor
