Hey Palu is an award-winning, modern Italian cocktail bar whose glossy retro design stands proud as a patent Gucci stiletto amongst the vintage stores and bakeries populating Bread Street.
A bold colour palette is inspired by the big Italian brands, Campari and Martini, and includes black, oxblood red, and bright blue.
I was invited along with my foodie friend Eleanora to sample a showstopper cocktail.
Hey Palu was one of six bars across the UK invited by Bombay Sapphire to take part in a project - ‘Saw This Made This – Art Bites’; an edible art and cocktail experience.
Taking inspiration from the National Monument of Scotland on Calton Hill, the head bartender at HP created Above The Clouds, a harmonious blend of Bombay Sapphire gin, Black Lime cordial, Pineau des Charentes, and Champagne Vinegar. Meanwhile, some jelly technicians at Bombay Sapphire created an edible depiction of the monument.
We thought these creations were imaginative, clever, and balanced and were intrigued by the black lime. Hey Palu makes a cordial from these Iranian dehydrated fruits which then lends spicy aromatic notes to various recipes. For example, Black limes are used in Hey Palu’s Gimlet which of course we had to try.
We also tasted a martini which has a signature serve. Chill-batched cocktails are used for consistency and presented in bottles where the liquid is perfect -19. You then pour the drink into frosted Nick and Nora glassware, add brine with a pipette to make it dirty, and plop in an olive stuffed with truffle cheese.
These cocktails are not just grown-up, they are x-rated.
Aperitivo has never been such fun as at Hey Palu and although the ‘Saw This Made This – Art Bites’ has a limited run there remains much to enjoy at one of Edinburgh’s great cocktail bars. (S. Wilson)
Hey Palu, 49 Bread Street, Edinburgh, EH3 9AH
‘Saw This Made This – Art Bites’ runs Monday 6th – Thursday 30th November