The Storytelling Café
- Telephone 0131 556 1229
- Food served Mon–Sat 10am–5pm. Jul–Sep: Sun noon–5pm. Oct–Jun: Closed Sun. [Extended in Festival].
- Average price £10 (lunch)
- Website www.scottishstorytellingcentre.co.uk
Jump to comments (3)
The 2013 edition of The List's Eating & Drinking Guide is out now – only £5.95 (+p&p).
This review is taken from the current (2013) edition.
The best seat in the Storytelling Cafe is by the horizontal window overlooking the Royal Mile. With a mid-size theatre on the premises and an emphasis on history and oral tradition, this multi-genre venue offers crafts and storytelling workshops as well as dance, literature and theatre events, all of which peaks during Festival time. The cafe is to the side of an exhibition space and its sturdy wooden tables and chairs evoke a cosy atmosphere. One might expect bold and colourful dishes on the menu since this is a place of storytelling, but the reality is fairly muted. Alongside a kids' menu and a changing daily special, the cafe features mainly cold dishes such as salads, deli sandwiches and a few mezze platters. The cafe aims to set itself apart from the pack with on-premises baking, resulting in a wide selection of tarts, brownies and biscuits complemented by a strong Americano. This all makes for a good stopping point on the tourist trail although the menu is rather limited.
- High point: Custard tarts
- Low point: There is only one, non-vegetarian lunch special
- Number of wines sold by the glass: 2
- Provides: Gluten-free options, Children's portions, Children's high chairs, Wheelchair access, Live music, Free wi-fi
- Music on stereo: nothing
- Capacity: 52
- Largest group: 8
- Open since: 2009
- House wine: £13.95 per bottle
Comments & ratings
-
3.
Living in Edi – 26 Mar 2013, 8:18pm
The Storytelling Café
Report
-
Unfortunately, I can only confirm what the other reviewers have said. They want to do table service, but can't be bothered to actually to do it. They want to be a child friendly cafe, but can't be bothered with the kids. And they want to charge above standard prices, but can't be bothered to serve appropriately good quality food. Such a shame, it's such a nice space.
- 2. Lucy2012 – 2 Apr 2012, 3:37pm Report
-
After seeing the Storytelling Cafe recommended in a travel guide, we visited to enjoy tea and cake after a walk up Arthur's Seat. We sat down and tried to catch the eye of the waitress, who ignored us. When more than 5 minutes had passed and another waitress had arrived and we were still not served, I approached the till. We were the only people there, apart from a group having a meeting and signs read 'table service'. I asked if the cafe was closed, the woman said no, they were open for another hour. She said she could come to our table to take our order, if we liked. I didn't see the point by then. As we ate the waitress put the 'closed' sign up and started rearranging tables for a meeting. We would have preferred to have been told they were closing so we didn't feel we were an inconvenience. The food was fine, but the experience spoiled it. We begrudgingly paid and left. One of the most unfriendly places I have ever been to, and such as shame as everywhere else we visited in Edinburgh was so friendly. Avoid.
-
1.
mumsnetmum72 – 21 Feb 2012, 2:23pm
The Storytelling Café
Report
-
I loved the sound of this place when I first heard about it - as a mother of 2 year old twins, it is very hard/ stressful to take them anywhere to eat in this city without the usual tuts and eye-rolling that happens when you open the door. As The List's review exclaims 'Young children are especially welcome, with regular storytelling events, a large open space to run around in', I thought it was going to be a great experience. How wrong I was and how wrong the review was. Not 5 minutes after I ordered, the waitress came over and asked me to ask my daughters not to make so much noise. As I turned bright red, I asked ' is this not a child friendly cafe?' and she said 'it is but we need to keep the noise down as people are trying to have meetings'. Now I am the first one to pull my children in to line if they are being out of order or unruly but in this instance, they were just having fun in the children's area opening up the cupboards excitedly and laughing. There are 1000s of cafes in Edinburgh and a good few in this area that people can go to have a meeting - why would you choose a Storytelling Centre Cafe to conduct business in? I was happy to pay the inflated lunch prices (£7.25 for the cheapest sandwich and £7.95 for a small salad) in return for a lunch where my children could explore while waiting for their lunch but after this experience, I will not be returning and I will be telling as many of my mummy friends about this experience.
Average rating /5 from 2 reviews of The Storytelling Café.
RSS feed of these comments
To post a comment you'll first need to sign in:
Not registered?
Sign up – it only takes a minute.
Forgotten your password?