Edinburgh’s Broughton Street is not short on consumer delights, and you can get anything here from a deep-fried Mars bar to organic toothpaste. Then there are those afternoons when all you want is a civilised, old-fashioned boozer where the real ale is well looked after, the football or rugby is on the TV, and no one ever runs out of crisps – so you head for the Cask & Barrel. Decked out in traditional pub style with big windows, brewery mirrors and a functional, masculine feel, there is a choice of 10 real ales from the local (Deuchars IPA, Caledonian 80/-) to the likes of Orkney Best, Avondale from Strathaven Ales in South Lanarkshire or the far-flung Whakatu from Everards in Leicestershire. Throw in around 50 single malt whiskies, plus basic bar food, and you have a very fine pub indeed – although it’s packed if there’s a big game on.