Groups of up to 65 can sit down for a meal at the Old Chain Pier, and the whole building can be hired for up to 120 guests at a buffet. This seafood restaurant and gastropub stands on the shore at Trinity, in the north of Edinburgh, with a glass-walled conservatory and a mezzanine that can be reserved for smaller parties.
Weddings and receptions
The pub lists weddings, engagements, birthdays, christenings, baby showers and funerals among the gatherings it hosts. For a wedding meal or a small reception, the conservatory suits a close party, while the full venue takes a larger guest list. Private hire is for events built around food: the team does not take drinks-only bookings, and a minimum spend applies once a group goes over 35 guests.
When the whole building is booked, the minimum spend is agreed in advance and a deposit of half that amount holds the date. Everything guests buy counts toward the total. If the bill reaches the minimum, the deposit comes off the final bill. If it falls short, the group pays the difference.
Rooms and capacities
The mezzanine is semi-private and seats 20 for a meal, or takes 25 at a buffet. The conservatory is fully private, with glass walls facing the water, and seats 25 or takes 35 at a buffet. Hiring the whole venue raises the count to 65 seated. For a buffet, the pub's capacity table gives 120 guests, while another line on the same page gives 100, so the exact figure is worth confirming with the venue. Outside, a seaside beer garden welcomes dogs.
Catering
The kitchen is known for seafood and runs a pub menu alongside it. Buffets can be served all day from Monday to Thursday and until 5 pm on Fridays, and the pub publishes a seasonal buffet menu. A Christmas menu runs from December 1 to 24, and the pub stages its own Hogmanay evening on December 31. In winter the doors open from 5 pm on weekdays and from noon on Fridays, Saturdays and Sundays, with last food orders at 8:30 pm, or 7:30 pm on Sundays. Under its license, children under 14 are welcome until 8 pm.
History and setting
Before 1820, ships bound for Edinburgh used Leith Docks or Newhaven Harbour, and both grew crowded as steamships spread. A local businessman, Mr Parrot, built a chain pier at Trinity as a new port of call and a starting point for pleasure trips. Its timber deck hung from chains carried by timber towers on piles driven into the foreshore. The pier opened on August 14, 1821, with a trip on two steamers, and a storm destroyed it on October 17, 1898. A heavy stone land anchor at the western end of the bar is the last surviving part, and traces of the piles still show at very low tide. The building later served as the ticket office for Trinity Pier, then as a pub for trawlermen, before becoming a seaside bistro.
Getting there
The pub stands at 32 Trinity Crescent, EH5 3ED, on the Firth of Forth between Newhaven and Granton. Edinburgh Waverley, the main rail station, and Edinburgh Airport are both a taxi ride away.
