The Lyon Public House has officially opened on Edinburgh’s George Street following a six-month redevelopment of a historic former auction house.
The new all-day and late-night venue at 51a George Street combines pub dining, an in-house bakery, 18 draught beers, live music and duelling pianos, with a late-night pie window serving food until 3am.
It is the new flagship venue from Edinburgh hospitality group Encore Bars and has been designed as a modern public house inspired by the building’s history.
The property operated as an auction house for more than a century, with references to its past incorporated throughout the interiors, menus and names of the different spaces.
At the centre of the venue is Hammer Hall, which features two pianos and long beer hall-style tables.
During peak dinner service, pianists take requests from customers and play covers with a jazz and blues influence. Later in the evening, the format develops into a duelling pianos show, with the audience encouraged to get involved.
Elsewhere, The Sale Room will host live bands and other performers, while the glass-fronted Courtyard opens the venue onto George Street.
Lot 51 is a private room with its own bar, accommodating up to 15 people for private dining or 30 for drinks.
Food is a major part of the new venue, with executive chef Jake Clayton and head chef Andrius Sabanovas creating a menu built around updated pub classics and seasonal Scottish produce.
Dishes include lobster roll and ham, egg and chips, with details of a Sunday roast also due to be revealed.
The Lyon also has its own in-house bakery producing fresh pies every day.
When the main kitchen closes, the venue’s late-night pie window takes over, serving until 3am.
Options include steak pie, macaroni cheese pie and Lorne sausage rolls, alongside two regularly changing seasonal pies. From 10pm, the late-night pies can also be ordered directly to tables.
The bar has 18 draught beers including Scottish brands, international beers and a rotating guest line.
Its house pour is Lyon House Lager, a 4% lager brewed in Scotland specifically for the venue.
Cocktails also draw on the history of the building and Scottish references.
Bonny White Glove takes its name from the auction tradition of presenting a white glove for particularly valuable lots, while the chocolate, marshmallow and vanilla Teacake Tipple is inspired by the Scottish teatime favourite.
The bourbon and coffee-based Smokey Wee Number is finished with orange and smoke at the table.
Designers have filled the building with antiques and reclaimed pieces including tapestries discovered during an estate clearance and Victorian pub mirrors dating from the 1880s.
Other pieces have been sourced from dealers and auction houses across the UK, including a letter from Scottish artist Edward Atkinson Hornel to the Marquess of Bute.
Where suitable reclaimed items could not be found, elements were made specifically for the venue, including hand-built bars, custom lighting and UK-glazed tiles.
Gavin Currie, director of operations at Encore Bars, said: “We’ve put a huge amount of thought into The Lyon, so it feels brilliant to finally open the doors and let people experience it.
“We wanted to create a proper public house for George Street, somewhere you can come for a pint or a pie, stay for dinner and suddenly find yourself singing along at the pianos a few hours later.
“The history of the building gave us so much to work with. For more than 100 years, people came through these doors for auctions that were loud, theatrical and full of characters, and we wanted to bring some of that energy back.
“There are little references to its past everywhere, but ultimately The Lyon is about creating a brilliant atmosphere and a place people will want to come back to again and again.”
The Lyon Public House is now open at 51a George Street, Edinburgh.