Cuthberts

Its average… thats all I can say really! For me with Loudons as a neighbour they really need to up their game!
Service is questionable, coffee is ok and the food is well average!
Its ok… if you cant get a table at Loudons… dont see why else you would bother coming here!

I went to Cuthbert for lunch with a friend on a Saturday afternoon. The place was very quiet and we got nice comfy sofas. After much deliberation and getting up to see the board of specials, which you cannot read unless you are close, we opted for omelettes. I ordered salmon and spinach, and my friend spinach, salmon and onion. We also ordered some coffees. The first coffees arrived reasonably quickly, then we waited for our omelettes, and waited, and waited, and waited. After a very long wait, the waiter eventually brought them to us. We agreed that they were very nice and well cooked. But surely, in an almost empty café, one shouldn’t have to wait about 40 mins for an omelette, which after all, doesn’t take that long to make.
Then we decided to have some cake, and another coffee. We had spotted a gluten-​free coffee cake, which looked very nice. Again, we waited, and waited. The cakes eventually arrived, followed by the coffees. How disappointing, we were expecting a nice moist guy cake, and it was dry, very dry!
Overall an average experience, the coffee is OK, the omelettes are good, the cakes, well, maybe we were just unlucky… But there is no excuse to make customers wait that long when there are hardly any other customers.
However, as the place is quiet, I would go back for coffee with my laptop to do some work as it is not packed with kids which is totally an advantage compared to the place next door.

The omlette here defeated me. And what an omlette it was.
I’m just going to come out and state the obvious. Cuthberts is right next to one of my favourite cafés in Edinburgh, Loudons. They’re literally side-​by-​side and the only decent big, free wifi cafés in the area.
I really can’t choose a favourite, so I will also come out and say I like them both equally but for different reasons. I won’t turn this review into a side-​by-​side comparison so let me just continue to say what it is I really like about Cuthberts, and why I’ll be willing to trek the 25 minute walk there from my flat for breakfast (quite often I imagine too).
The ambience inside is really nice. It’s quite quiet, and seems perfectly prepped for professionals looking for a quiet place to read the paper, check emails, have breakfast meetings etc. There’s even 1.5L bottles of mineral water in the fridge, which really struck me at first, until I saw the many suited, booted types holding breakfast meetings and realised how clever Cuthberts were in providing the business-​meeting-​catering essentials.
The staff are friendly, and it seems family run. I really like the décor. A bit sumptuous, comfy, but also relaxed. There’s a mixture of sofas, booths, and tables. The only thing I would say is it was a little cold, it was freezing outside, and they didn’t seem to have turned the heating up to compensate.
I admit from the outside I thought Cuthberts might cater standard café fayre with the standard carrot cake with the iced carrot on top that half of Edinburgh cafés provide, all from the same supplier. I was wrong. The most delicious handmade cakes, tray bakes, scones, cheesecakes were on offer.
The menu itself is really quite large too. A little pricey for certain items (£4.95 for museli, add more for fresh fruit?) but as well as eggs, bacon etc. there were pancakes, waffles, french toast, lots of different fillings, omlettes.
My omelette was huge. Probably a 3 or 4 egg one I’d wager. Stuffed with delicious bacon and spinach and cooked to perfection. Not greasy at all (as can sometimes be a downfall of any Scottish breakfast option).
The soups looked delicoius, and it seems everything is home-​made.
They do movie nights too, with lots of Christmas themed ones running through December.
It’s a little out my way, but as I’ve already said, I’d happily trek here for breakfast. It’s home-​made, hand-​made, friendly, delicious and fresh. And there’s free wifi. See me, with my laptop, here often!
Note: I realise I have spelt omeltte wrong, in many different variations throughout this review, but I can’t for the life of me figure out the correct spelling. I will come back and update later.

So very disappointed with our experience last Sunday 19^th, as have enjoyed Cuthberts in the past, very poor customer service, very indifferent server/​manager, took over 50 mins to bring sandwich which turned out to be not really what we ordered, meanwhile tea and coffee had gone cold, also would not rate the coffee! she was then not interested in feedback as regards the service and was very patronising, needless to say we will not be back and word of mouth is a powerful thing, I am a Mum with a young baby who likes to go for lots of coffee with friends! just wondering why we could not get a seat next door in Loudons while Cuthberts was virtually empty…

cuthberts coffee & sandwich bar has a warm but airy feel to it. friendly staff and a relaxed atmosphere that is both modern and softly furnished. plenty to choose from by way of eats. tempting sweet things, sandwiches to go through to full sit down meals. the temperature of the coffee was good, possibly a little on the cool side and the milk texture and crema soft and rounded. the flavour itself, however, didn’t rise to the same level. bitterness was a bit high compared to other attributes. on the right track though. gets a ‘good’ rating from edinburgh coffee lovers — @edinburghcoffee