Cafeography
Edinburgh

Bakery cafés in Edinburgh

Sourdough, cardamom buns and cake counters, with the tightest cluster in Stockbridge.

Photo: Leigh Patrick, Pexels License

Scotland's bakery counter has its own canon. Shortbread originated in Scotland, usually one part sugar to two parts butter and three to four parts plain flour, and is cut as petticoat tails, rounds or fingers.1 The Empire biscuit sandwiches jam between two biscuits under white icing, often with half a glacé cherry; it was the Linzer and then the Deutsch biscuit until anti-German feeling in the First World War changed its name.2

Bakery cafés are spread more evenly than most kinds of café in Edinburgh: Leith and the New Town have the most, with Stockbridge close behind. Stockbridge has the tightest walk between them, from Patisserie Florentin at 5 North West Circus Place to The Pastry Section at 86 Raeburn Place and Mimi's Bakehouse at 153–155 Comely Bank Road.

Local tip: Plan a Stockbridge bakery walk for Tuesday to Sunday: The Pastry Section on Raeburn Place is closed on Mondays, while Mimi's on Comely Bank Road opens 09:00–16:30 every day.

Where these cafés are: New Town (6), Leith & the Shore (6), Stockbridge (5), Old Town & Royal Mile (4), Bruntsfield & Marchmont (4), West End & Dean Village (4), Morningside (3), Southside & Newington (2), Abbeyhill & Easter Road (2), Haymarket & Dalry (1).

At a glance

37Cafés listed
28With opening hours
07:00Earliest opening
20:00Latest closing
  • Opens earliest: Cairngorm, from 07:00 (Mon–Sat 07:00–19:00 · Sun 08:00–19:00).
  • Closes latest: Mòr Bakery, until 20:00 (Daily 08:00–20:00).
  • Most listed streets: Morningside Road (3), Melville Place (2), Hawthornvale (2).
  • Most common features: card payment (35%), outdoor seating (27%), partial wheelchair access (22%).
Southside & Newington

Pudding's

  • 98 South Clerk Street
  • Mon–Tue 11:00–18:30 · Wed–Thu Closed · Fri–Sun 11:00–18:30
  • Wi-Fi
  • Takeaway
  • Card payment
  • Partial wheelchair access
  • Toilets
  • Smoke-free indoors
  • Bakery café
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Swedish buns and sourdough

Söderberg was founded in Edinburgh in 2007 as a Swedish-inspired café and bakery; its menus run from open sandwiches to kardemummabulle (cardamom buns) and kladdkaka, a sticky chocolate cake.3 By 2019 it had its own bakery, three cafés and three bakery shops in the city, and opened in Soho in London that year.3 Its Quartermile café at 27 Simpson Loan opens at 07:30 on weekdays.

Twelve Triangles, run by Rachel Morgan and Emily Cuddeford, opened its fourth shop on Dalry Road on 16 September 2019: 500 square feet and 15 covers, selling sourdough loaves, pastries, doughnuts, sandwiches and coffee.4 All its bread and pastry is shaped by hand from slow-fermented sourdough with no additives or improvers, and the Stockbridge, Dalry Road and Duke Street branches serve lunch too.5

Pastry counters in Stockbridge and the West End

The Pastry Section bakes only sweet things, from scratch on site each morning: a chocolate custard tart, a key lime bun or a jam-and-marshmallow shortbread sandwich, with seats inside and out.5 It opens Tuesday to Saturday 09:00–16:00 and from 09:30 on Sundays.

Croccante & Co opened at 2 Lynedoch Place, near Dean Bridge, in August 2025. Daniela Scott and Samuel Picchi run it with Italian staff and Italian produce, and the Tuscan schiacciata is made to order; there is outdoor seating, and winter hours differ.6 Cairngorm at 1 Melville Place in the West End opens at 07:00 Monday to Saturday.

Cake shops, scones and morning rolls

Mimi's Bakehouse is named after its founder, Michelle "Mimi" Phillips, who sold the family home to open the first café on the Shore in Leith in 2010.7 That café closed in November 2025; the business kept its City Art Centre, Comely Bank, Corstorphine and Lauriston Castle sites, and its fruit scone took a Best in Region Gold for Edinburgh at the Scottish Bakers Awards 2023/24.7

Preacher's at 24–26 Lady Lawson Street bakes rolls and makes its own tattie scones (potato scones).8 Bedrock at 13 West Port serves espresso with fresh baking and opens at 08:00 on weekdays.9

Bakery café hours in Edinburgh

Bakery cafés start early and finish early. Loudon's at 94B Fountainbridge and Flow at 24 West Tollcross open at 07:30 on weekdays, and most bakery cafés close between 16:00 and 18:00. Mòr Bakery at 116 Princes Street is the long exception, open 08:00–20:00 every day. Several keep short weeks: Think Pastry at 80 Montrose Terrace is closed on Mondays, and The Lea Rig Café & Bakery at 127 Easter Road opens Wednesday to Sunday only.

Sources

  1. Shortbread, Wikipedia, accessed October 2026
  2. Empire biscuit, Wikipedia, accessed October 2026
  3. Edinburgh's Söderberg group to make London debut (Sophie Witts, January 14, 2019), Restaurant Online, accessed October 2026
  4. Edinburgh's Twelve Triangles to launch new bakery in Dalry in September (Sean Murphy, August 22, 2019), The Scotsman, accessed October 2026
  5. The Best Edinburgh Cafés & Bakeries (Rupert Hohwieler, May 6, 2026), The Nudge, accessed October 2026
  6. Croccante & Co: Italian deli and café in the West End, Croccante & Co, accessed October 2026
  7. Mimi's Bakehouse: 'Much-loved' Scottish bakery to close first shop in Leith (Rosalind Erskine, November 18, 2025), Edinburgh Evening News, accessed October 2026
  8. 11 of Edinburgh's Best Breakfasts and Brunches (Peter Simpson, June 29, 2024), The Skinny, accessed October 2026
  9. The Skinny Guide to Edinburgh's Coffee Shops (July 16, 2026), The Skinny, accessed October 2026
Keep exploring

Other ways to browse Edinburgh

Specialty coffee

21 cafés

Outdoor seating

78 cafés

Wi-Fi

49 cafés

Vegan & vegetarian

64 cafés

Brunch

14 cafés

By area: Old Town & Royal Mile West End & Dean Village Stockbridge New Town Leith & the Shore Morningside Bruntsfield & Marchmont Southside & Newington

FAQ

Bakery cafés in Edinburgh: questions

What should you order at a bakery café in Edinburgh?

Shortbread, which originated in Scotland, and the Empire biscuit, two biscuits sandwiching jam under white icing, are the local classics. Preacher's on Lady Lawson Street makes its own tattie scones, Söderberg bakes Swedish cardamom buns, and Twelve Triangles sells hand-shaped sourdough, pastries and doughnuts.

When did Söderberg open in Edinburgh?

Söderberg was founded in Edinburgh in 2007 as a Swedish-inspired café and bakery, known for kardemummabulle (cardamom buns) and kladdkaka, a chocolate cake. By 2019 it ran its own bakery, three cafés and three bakery shops in the city and opened in London's Soho. Its Quartermile café on Simpson Loan opens at 07:30 on weekdays.

Is the original Mimi's Bakehouse in Leith still open in Edinburgh?

No. Mimi's first café, on the Shore in Leith, opened in 2010 and closed in November 2025. Mimi's Bakehouse still runs its City Art Centre, Comely Bank, Corstorphine and Lauriston Castle sites in Edinburgh; the Comely Bank café opens 09:00–16:30 every day.

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