Edinburgh

Brunch cafés in Edinburgh

Cooked breakfasts off the Royal Mile, porridge in Canonmills, brunch in Leith.

Photo: Clément Proust, Pexels License

A cooked breakfast here usually means the Scottish version of the fry-up, with Stornoway black pudding, Lorne sausage, Ayrshire middle bacon and tattie scones (potato scones); haggis, white pudding, fruit pudding or oatcakes sometimes join them.1 Lorne sausage, or square sausage, is minced meat, rusk and spices formed in a tin without a casing and cut into slices, and often goes into a breakfast roll.2

Brunch cafés are spread thin across the city: the Old Town has the most, with Leith and the West End next. Few run late, and most close between 15:00 and 18:00. Love, Peace and Coffee at 59 Clerk Street and KUBA at 1 Dundee Street both serve until 18:00, and Cairngorm at 1 Melville Place until 19:00 Monday to Saturday.

Local tip: Hata serves oat dishes only until 13:00 and toast until 15:00, so a late brunch in Canonmills means soup or a sandwich.6

Where these cafés are: Old Town & Royal Mile (4), West End & Dean Village (3), Leith & the Shore (3), Southside & Newington (2), New Town (1), Bruntsfield & Marchmont (1).

At a glance

14Cafés listed
11With opening hours
07:00Earliest opening
19:00Latest closing
  • Opens earliest: Cairngorm, from 07:00 (Mon–Sat 07:00–19:00 · Sun 08:00–19:00).
  • Most common features: outdoor seating (57%), card payment (57%), bakery café (50%).

Nothing matches those filters here. See all cafés in Edinburgh.

Cooked breakfasts off the Royal Mile

Deacon's House Cafe is at 304 Lawnmarket, in Brodie's Close, and takes no bookings. Its cooked breakfast runs until 12:00; the Full Deacon brings smoked Ayrshire bacon, pork-and-haggis sausage, scrambled eggs, beans, Stornoway black pudding and toast.3

Mile Yard, in the Stay Hush aparthotel on Crichton's Close, a close (narrow alley) off the Royal Mile, serves breakfast 07:30–11:00 and sandwiches and snacks 12:00–16:00. Its breakfast tray brings cold-smoked salmon, soft-boiled eggs, Greek yoghurt, Scottish berries and local sourdough.4

Room & Rumours on East Market Street, near Waverley Station, does brunch and filled doughnuts such as milk chocolate and marshmallow or salted caramel cheesecake.5 It opens 08:00–16:30 daily.

Porridge and oats in Canonmills

Hata at 5 Rodney Street in Canonmills is built around oats: porridge, overnight oats and its own granola, alongside specialty coffee and Vietnamese iced coffee.6 It opens 08:30–16:00 every day.

As of October 2026, its menu prices porridge at £7.90–8.90, avocado on sourdough at £8.50, a sourdough sandwich at £9.50, a flat white at £3.70 and a cappuccino or latte at £3.90.6 Oat dishes stop at 13:00 and toast at 15:00.6

West End and Southside brunch

In the West End, meh. at 2 Drumsheugh Place has limited seating, so arrive early for a table.7 It opens 08:00 on weekdays and 09:00 at weekends. Croccante & Co, near Dean Bridge, opened in August 2025 and makes Tuscan schiacciata to order, with Italian produce and outdoor tables.8

South of the Old Town, Cult on Buccleuch Street serves brunch, including miso baked beans on sourdough toast.9 Thomas J Walls on Forrest Road, in a former mid-century opticians, has shakshuka and eggs Benedict with sriracha hollandaise, from 07:30 on weekdays.5

Further south, Soup Smiths Deli at 65 Mayfield Road in Newington takes cash only and serves until 15:00 on weekdays and Saturdays and 14:00 on Sundays. In the Grassmarket, below the castle, Zaza's Coffee House is at number 21.

Brunch in Leith

In Leith, The Haven at 1 Hawthornvale opens 08:30–16:00 on weekdays and from 09:00 at weekends; Cafe Truva is at 77 Shore. La Cîme Deli at 210B Newhaven Road is run by Anne and Will, a wife-and-husband team, and opens Thursday to Monday, with dinner on Friday and Saturday evenings.10

Sources

  1. Full breakfast: Scotland, Wikipedia, accessed October 2026
  2. Lorne sausage, Wikipedia, accessed October 2026
  3. Deacon's House Cafe: menus, Deacon's House Cafe, accessed October 2026
  4. Mile Yard & Pocca, Stay Hush Edinburgh, accessed October 2026
  5. The Best Edinburgh Cafés & Bakeries (Rupert Hohwieler, May 6, 2026), The Nudge, accessed October 2026
  6. Our menu, Hata Cafe Edinburgh, accessed October 2026
  7. Laptop-friendly coffee shops in Edinburgh (October 22, 2026), The Resident Edinburgh, accessed October 2026
  8. Croccante & Co: Italian deli and café in the West End, Croccante & Co, accessed October 2026
  9. The Skinny Guide to Edinburgh's Coffee Shops (July 16, 2026), The Skinny, accessed October 2026
  10. La Cîme Deli, La Cîme, accessed October 2026
FAQ

Brunch in Edinburgh: questions

What is in a full Scottish breakfast in Edinburgh?

A full Scottish breakfast typically adds Stornoway black pudding, Lorne sausage, Ayrshire middle bacon and tattie scones (potato scones); haggis, white pudding, fruit pudding or oatcakes sometimes appear too. Deacon's House Cafe on the Lawnmarket serves its Full Deacon, with pork-and-haggis sausage, until 12:00.

Where can you eat breakfast near the Royal Mile in Edinburgh?

Deacon's House Cafe at 304 Lawnmarket serves cooked breakfasts until 12:00 and takes no bookings. Mile Yard on Crichton's Close serves breakfast 07:30–11:00, and Room & Rumours on East Market Street, near Waverley Station, does brunch and filled doughnuts 08:00–16:30 daily.

How much does brunch cost at an Edinburgh café in 2026?

As of October 2026, Hata in Canonmills charges £7.90–8.90 for porridge, £8.50 for avocado on sourdough and £9.50 for a sourdough sandwich, with a flat white at £3.70 and a cappuccino or latte at £3.90. Oat dishes are served until 13:00.

For café owners

Your café deserves better than a pin someone else dropped

Free listings are free for good. A featured page gives you photos, a menu and your own URL, in your café's own design, for less than a coffee a day.