Edinburgh fry ups: Holy Cow, Coffee Mill, Edinburgh Larder

British cafes excel in a vegetarian fry up.  While in Edinburgh I was delighted to have fry ups in a few cafes with interesting additions that I would be less likely to be given at home in Australia: vegan haggis, tempeh bacon, tofu scramble and vegan black pudding.  And even the regular fry ups delighted with the addition of "potato scones", those wonderful flat breads that are scones in Scotland (and farls in Ireland).  So today I am sharing the three fry ups I enjoyed in Edinburgh cafes.

Edinburgh Larder / The Little Larder

The first place we went was Edinburgh Larder which Sylvia had found online before we left Melbourne.  She was surprised to find that she had been there on a visit to Edinburgh in 2012 when she was a toddler.  It is on a steep street off the Royal Mile near South Bridge.

When we arrived at the Edinburgh Larder on a weekend, we found that it was fully booked.  However they have a sister cafe next door called Little Larder which serves the same food and only takes walk-ins.  So we went there for our brunch.  

I liked this map of some of their suppliers on the wall near our table.  On the website Edinburgh Larder claims they are "built a solid reputation as being the place to eat seasonal, locally sourced and tasty food".

To drink Sylvia had an iced matcha oat latte and I had the lovely smooth Bon Accord rhubarb soda.  Sylvia was not impressed with her latte.  She usually has soy in her lattes but in the UK this was less common than in Melbourne, and oat milk was more usual.

We sat at a window seat overlooking a hostel.  I think this is the hostel where I stayed when I first stayed in Edinburgh.  It must have changed a lot since this time.

Our food was cooked at the Edinburgh Larder and brought to the Little Larder in metal bento boxes.  I had ordered the Vegan breakfast: Roasted balsamic mushroom, blistered cherry tomatoes, vegan black pudding, veggie haggis, wilted herbed spinach, potato scone, homemade beans, granary toast drizzled with olive oil (£14.50 on the menu but a note that there is a 12.5% service charge on all tables.)  Sylvia had the Vegetarian breakfast which costs 45p more to include a poached egg and butter on your toast.

The breakfast was excellent.  I would have liked more of the home made baked beans or some extra chutney for the haggis and black pudding.  This might be due to Sylvia deciding to give me her haggis and black pudding because it is not something she is used to eating.

The Coffee Mill Cafe

We had a more traditional brunch at The Coffee Mill.  It is a few doors down from where we were staying on the West Port.  We passed it each day and liked the look of it.  I wish it had been there when we lived in the West Port.  Ours was the red door just two doors up from the Coffee Mill.  As an aside, our flat was very damp and I see there is still green moss around some windows and I wonder if our former flat is still damp.

 

On the day we went, we had planned to go to Morningside but I got back later than expected from visiting E's family friends and then the cafe we planned seemed to have a different menu online than Sylvia had originally seen. 

The south of the West Port has a lot of old stone buildings.  The Old Coffee Mill had a modern decor with hints of heritage.  As well as some of the stone walls being exposed, I loved the nook in the back corner that was covered in old vinyl records.

 

  

 

We sat at a table by the bookshelf.  It was an interesting area with books, plants and graffitied bricks around the shelves.  If you look closely, it seems that years ago these bricks were used for a menu but now so many people have left their names and notes with marker pens.

 

Sylvia had  a cafe latte.  She was not impressed by her latte art.  This would not pass muster in Melbourne where baristas consider themselves artists.  I had an Appeltiser: a sparkling apple juice that I have not had for some time.

There were lots of fried breakfast options: Full British, Full Scottish, Amercian, Mediterranean.  We each had a Vegetarian Breakfast: Two fried egg, vegetarian sausage, two potato scones, baked beans, mushroom, tomato, toast, and butter (£10.95).  I gave Sylvia my eggs (eurgh) once I had taken a photo.  I really liked my breakfast.  Even Sylvia liked the sausage (she is fussy about them, even though we first thought it looked very like a meat sausage.  The potato scones were crispy and generous, the baked beans were the traditional tinned ones and the extra vegies were lovely.  

There were a few other dishes on offer with falafel and hummus but I particularly liked that they had Cheese and Beans on Toast.

Holy Cow Cafe

My favourite fry up on my holidays was at Holy Cow.  Their website describes it as "one of the first fully vegan cafés based in Edinburgh" when it was established in 2016.  (This is over 100 years since the first vegetarian cafe in Edinburgh in 1892-3 though I think some of the early 'vegetarians' would be called 'vegan' in those times.)

The cafe was downstairs off Elder Street near St Andrews Square at the East End of St George Street in the New Town.  It had natural light streaming in through the large window and plants and artwork around the room.  I had a kombucha and Sylvia had the blue matcha latte.  Mine tasted very refreshing and Sylvia's was so pretty.  She liked it.

 

I ordered the Full vegan breakfast: Italian style sausage, smoked tempeh bacon, organic baked beans in tomato sauce, scrambled tofu, potato scone, mushrooms, tomato and greens served with toast (£16.20).  I had been looking forward to it especially because it had tofu scramble and tempeh bacon.  They were really good.  Sylvia just had some hot chips with vegan cheese.  She enjoyed these but also sampled mine and particularly loved the mushroom and tofu scramble.  The potato scones were nicely fried and the mix of elements was great.  I would have liked some scramble (because it was so good) and baked beans (because who doesn't want a generous serve of beans to eat with everything else).

While we have fried breakfasts in Melbourne, they are more likely to focus on the meat and eggs.  As a vegetarian who does not like eggs, I really love how easy it is to find vegetarian options, potato scones and baked beans in Edinburgh when it comes to breakfasts.

Edinburgh Larder
15 Blackfriars St, Edinburgh EH1
Open Mon-Fri: 7.30am-3pm, Sat-Sun: 8am-3pm
Take reservations.
Little Larder is 11 Blackfriars St
Open Mon-Fri: 9am-2pm, Sat-Sun: 8.30am-2pm
Walk-ins only.
https://www.edinburghlarder.co.uk/

The Coffee Mill Cafe
54 West Port, Edinburgh EH1
Open 7 days a week, 7.30am - 5pm
https://www.facebook.com/yavuzgino/

Holy Cow Cafe
34 Elder Street, Edinburgh EH1
Open Mon-Thurs: 12-10pm, Fri-Sun: 10am-10pm
https://holycow.cafe/