La Barantine Victoria – Victoria St (Edinburgh)

Final posting from the Edinburgh trip and saved the best until last!

I had a cappuccino and a Tartelette Citron – almond base, lemon cream, vanilla infused meringue, madeleine (lemon meringue) whilst Kerry had a flat white and a Velvet Fruit Rouge – white velvet chocolate ganache, fresh raspberry heart, crunchy white chocolate, topped with red fruits.

My coffee was nice but it paled into insignificance against the tartelette citron. It is simply the greatest lemon tart I have ever had, with the meringue I consider it a lemon meringue and my mum used to make them for me without a base and I never thought they could be surpassed but this one managed it. Made me a little sad as I can never have one of hers again but happy to have something that reminded me of her.

Kerry enjoyed her coffee but was less enamoured with the Velvet Fruit Rouge, she liked it all apart from the raspberry, they are her least favourite fruit and I think she was hoping for it being a minor part but there was quite a lot of it hidden inside.

It is a small place but perfectly formed with loads of choice and friendly staff, we sat outside to be able to watch the world go by. And interestingly, to some, this street is what Diagon Alley was based on in the Harry Potter books. We do plan a future Edinburgh trip and when that happens I will be going back to be reminded of my mum.

Burr & Co – George St (Edinburgh)

This was the first coffee stop we had after arriving in Edinburgh – we had travelled up on the sleeper train so were looking for breakfast (should have been at the station but that is a long boring, and annoying, story). We wandered around a little and then found this one and it looked nice so decided to try it out.

Very smart inside and lots of options, Kerry went for an egg roll and a flat white whilst I had a croissant and a pot of tea – I was more thirsty than hungry and tea offers the best value as I knew I’d get about 3 cups from a pot. Kerry enjoyed her coffee, definitely helped by the delay in getting one, and tea was very nice too – anything wrong with tea would have been my faultas they provide the ingredients and I am in charge of construction.

It is joined to the Intercontinental hotel which we only realised once we had finished, makes no difference but had we been staying at that hotel it would have been a good place to start each day.

Staff were very friendly, I went to the toilet and once I returned Kerry was in a long and deep conversation with the waiter about the city and how he had arrived there. Good chance we will be in the city again at some stage and this one would definitely be on the list for a coffee stop, George Street is quite cool too.

Coffee House – Royal Mile (Edinburgh)

We had passed this place a few times whilst going to and from the hotel without bothering to stop in, on the last day we decided to give it a try as Kerry fancied something more filling and I will go anywhere new.

I had a decaf cappuccino and a chocolate cookie whilst Kerry went for a flat white and an egg roll / cob / bap (depending where you are from!) Also on the menu was a potato cake, which we had never heard of so asked what it was and still didn’t really understand so ordered one to find out.

We both thought that the coffee was okay, nothing super but nice enough. My cookie was huge and very nice – not from a packet even though it does look a little like that.

Potato cake is a flatter hash brown, fried (of course) and quite nice, more of an accompaniment to a savoury dish than a cookie, but get to try these things when offered. Plus the guy gave us it for free, which was very nice of him. Kerry liked it more than I did although she said that she would never normally cheat on a McDonalds hash brown. Really enjoyed her egg roll too.

Staff were friendly as we are coming to expect from people working in Scotland (not all Scottish of course) and location is good as if weather is okay you can sit outside as we did and then watch people pass by. Personally I did turn my nose up a little at the way it looks – yes I am a snob and it looks quite cheap and a bit grubby and dingy, but not grubby at all, and inside it was huge – even had an upstairs which would offer nice views down onto the Royal Mile should it be cold / wet.

Gladstone’s Land – Royal Mile (Edinburgh)

This is a very cool little place (so we thought) offering drinks, snacks and ice cream, with just a couple of tables (so we thought – theme here…). It was not ice cream weather so we just had coffees, Kerry had a flat white and I had a cappuccino. Kerry really liked the coffee, I wasn’t totally sold on it, too much froth and then when I did dig down to the coffee I found it rather bland and tasteless.

The location is excellent for watching the world pass by, and just a little further on is a guy with birds of prey – owls, hawks, even a golden eagle, which was awesome. The staff were friendly and as mentioned we thought it was just a small place – just the bit in the picture really. But once we’d finished drinks and went to the toilets it turned out there was a large inside seating area and it is part of a National Trust museum! It also has accommodation which is rather advanced for what we thought was just a coffee shop.

The Wall – Cockburn Street (Edinburgh)

This street seems to be a hub for cafes, we didn’t just go from one to another though, we did space them out of the few days. Useful street to remember though as if you want food or drink it offers variety and from what I recall none of the options were of the chain variety.

Kerry had a flat white whilst I had a cappuccino and scone. The coffees were very nice and came with a small biscotti type biscuit too which I always think is a nice touch (I would be very easy to bribe!)

The scone was fresh and rather tasty, no need for the jam, would have been nice if warm but you can’t have everything, plus we sat outside and it wasn’t that hot so scone may have started warmer than when I got to eat it. There were many other food options but I just had a hankering for an old classic.

The place was nice and neat, shabby chic inside. Staff were friendly too. Nice place to sit and watch the world go by, and struggle up that hill again.

The Milkman – Cockburn Street (Edinburgh)

Next few posts will be from a recent mini break to the lovely, but hilly, city of Edinburgh. The Milkman was recommended to us but I forgot and then we stumbled across it anyway.

It is a lovely little place, Kerry had a flat white and I had a cappuccino. No food as it wasn’t long after breakfast so we were still full and trying to be good! The coffee was lovely and a second was nearly taken but we had places to go, we still took our time though – it is a small but lovely little place, seating inside for maybe 4 people but not cramped.

Guy in charge was nice and friendly and the location is good, on a quiet but main (steep) street joining 2 of the busier areas together so good for people watching. There is a good chance we will be visiting the city again in the next year or so and this is a place I’d happily visit again, for more coffee and to try some of the food on offer.