Our Take on The Voodoo Rooms

The building alone justifies a visit. The Voodoo Rooms occupies a former Edwardian ballroom above the Cafe Royal on West Register Street, and the interior retains enough of the original grandeur to make you feel as though you stumbled into a different century. Ornate plasterwork, deep booths, velvet upholstery, and enough amber candlelight to make every person in the room look like they belong in a 1920s short story.

The cocktail programme is taken seriously here. The list runs to around 80 drinks, organized by spirit and mood, and the bar team knows how to build drinks that suit the surroundings: theatrical but not chaotic, complex without being labored. Prices sit above the Edinburgh average, but the room earns the premium. Live jazz and blues performances run most evenings from Thursday through Sunday, attracting a crowd that treats a night here as an occasion rather than a stop on a bar crawl.

Our editors recommend booking a booth in advance if you plan to visit on a weekend, especially during the Edinburgh Festival when capacity becomes a genuine problem. For comparison, Bramble offers a tighter cocktail focus in a smaller room while Edinburgh's date night bar scene as a whole gives the Voodoo Rooms serious competition at the top end.

What to Order

The Voodoo Old Fashioned The house riff on the classic: a blended Scotch base with Drambuie and a heather honey syrup, stirred long and served over a single rock. A drink built for this room.
Edinburgh Sour Gin, Scottish raspberry liqueur, lemon, and egg white. Seasonal, light, and one of the best arguments for Edinburgh's distillery scene in cocktail form.
Smoky Negroni Islay whisky swapped for gin, with Campari and Cocchi Torino. Bitter, peaty, and exactly the right drink if the room is full of jazz and you need something to hold.
Seasonal Spritz The bar rotates a Prosecco-based spritz with house-made botanical additions. Lighter option for the start of an evening before committing to something longer.

Best Time to Visit

Thursday evenings offer the best balance: live music is already running, but the room is not yet at full capacity. Friday and Saturday bring a proper crowd and a more charged atmosphere. Sunday jazz sessions are a gentler option. Avoid the week of Edinburgh Fringe in August unless you book well ahead.

Who It's For

Date nights are the primary use case. The Voodoo Rooms is genuinely one of Edinburgh's most impressive rooms for a first or second date, provided your companion appreciates theatre as much as cocktails. Also excellent for small groups celebrating something, or for visitors who want their Edinburgh evening to feel like an occasion rather than a bar hop.