Empire Café

Empire Café is brilliantly located in the heart of Marchmont, with a super cool store front. I expected a hip funky place to get a great sandwich.
Instead I walked into a relatively old school filled roll place with limited bread and filling options and staff who weren’t overly enthusiastic about their jobs.
We both opted for tuna sweet corn which was absolutely fine and tasty. I also got a millionaire shortbread which completely fell apart when I tried to eat it. Disappointing.
All in all a-​ok but nothing special.

Slush Puppy machine is AWOL and my cappuccino was made with off milk. Sad times indeed.

This is a really nice and sunny wee place that is great for early breakfasts and masters of the sandwiches. There is a nice window long table that is just perfect to sit and sip on a coffee or lunch and watch the world pass outside whilst the sun is shining through the window south born.
I had their club sandwich that was just what I wanted after going swimming. The best thing is that tasty food and cheap goes very well hand in hand.

In the catalogue of Marchmont coffee shops (which is not extensive), Empire Café is often overlooked, perhaps because it’s not as hip and studenty as Black Medicine, nor as memorable as Café Artista with its tempestuous owner; not as posh as Toast, nor as quaint as the newly opened Ephemeris.
It’s hard to know what adjective to use for Empire Café, actually. Nothing really stands out about it. And yet, it is pleasant and reliable, a small, sunny café on the corner that provides all the usual café items cheaply and well, such as fresh croissants and orange juice in the morning, strong coffee, milkshakes and a good range of sandwiches and paninis.
Which is probably why, despite the competition from more flashy establishments, Empire Café unobtrusively survives, the chosen destination for businessmen buying coffee on the way to work, hungry schoolchildren at lunchtime, and idle types like myself who like to sit in the window and read the paper.