Brewhemia is a really difficult venue to describe, because it’s kind of everything?! The building use to house the old City nightclub so is a mix of open spaces and cosy nooks. From the space, Brewhemia have created a Beer Palace, a Cafe, a Restaurant, and a Prosecco Bar.

There are six giant copper beer tanks that dominate the central ‘Beer Palace’ space, while the cafe serves artisan coffee and pastries. The kitchen offers Scottish style food and there’s cocktails and a good wine list too. Can you be everything to all people? Brewhemia clearly thinks so, and they call them….Brewhemians.

Of course we were in to try the food. Ok, and the beer…

A pint of Paolozzi, brewed in Edinburgh and named after the Scottish sculptor and artist, went very well with our shared starter of Haggis Scotch Egg. I have what you might describe as ‘a thing’ for Scotch eggs right now. I’m also a new fan of haggis. This version was served with an Embra ale and Arran mustard dip. I must admit I was a wee bit disappointed the egg was hard boiled, but that quickly faded as it was still very tasty.

Most bar food is pretty heavy on the calories so we decided to try something I thought sounded a little different, something a lot lighter and Slimming World friendly (other diets are available!). The Healthy Wraps come in three varieties: Chermoula Chicken, King Prawn, and Mediterranean Vegetables.

Each platter comes with gem lettuce cups, chipotle mayo, smashed avocado and red cabbage slaw. The Chermoula Chicken is mixed with syboes (that’s Scottish for spring onion), cucumber and pistachio.

A large portion of King Prawns are served with poached salmon and micro watercress. I didn’t find much salmon but no disappointment as I’m not a fan anyway. We balanced out all this healthiness with a portion of truffle chips and onion rings!

Dessert was a shared Mango Cheesecake, the biscuit base was good – buttery and crumbly – and the garnishes were pretty. The cheesecake topping however was that type that’s more set mousse in texture, and this one unfortunately was set too firmly giving it a rubbery texture. I passed the feedback on and I’m sure this was a minor thing they’ll iron out.

Overall I really enjoyed Brewhemia, and it turns out you can be a lot of things to a lot of people. It’s not the kind of place you go if you want a quiet dinner, but if you want atmosphere, this place has it in spades.

Brewhemia
Location: 1A Market St, Edinburgh EH1 1DE
Price: Starters £5-£6, Mains £8-£25
Good for: A variety of spaces and a lively atmosphere