From the same Scandinavian stable of bars as Joseph Pearce’s, Sofi’s is not new and hardly prominent either. Sitting on Henderson Street, it's all of a couple of minutes’ walk away from the heart of Leith but easy to miss as you rush towards that Michelin-starry locale.
Launched in the mid-Noughties, this is a hard-working twenty-first century neighbourhood bar that offers a great deal more than lager and crisps – convivial, community-minded and relaxing, it’s worth getting to know. There's a rotating art or photography exhibition, a knitting club, clothes swap events, live music and it's even been known to host mindfulness evenings. In the small back room there are books, games and just enough space to show cult movies. To drink, there's craft keg beer on tap, more bottles of craft beer and cider in the chill cabinet, cocktails, the usual spirits and a small wine selection of wine.
It was among the first bars in Edinburgh to take traditional licensed premises and give them a left-field makeover with sofas, cushions and candlelit tables while the décor in general has an element of kitsch, some sense of afternoon tea reinvented, and the odd comforting touch for stressed Millennials and their immediate predecessors.