15 casual eating spots around Edinburgh’s Southside
From cosy cafés to wine bars, here are our top picks for a light bite or a cheese platter
.jpg)
If you’re trying to kick a caffeine habit, don’t wander the streets of Edinburgh’s Southside. Cafés and coffee shops are winking at you from almost every corner and the blocks in between. Some keep it short and focused such as Modern Standard or Artisan Roast in Bruntsfield, others add in a wider selection of pastries and bites, like Kate’s on Causewayside with its seasonal homemade cakes and scones, or 181 Delicatessen in Bruntsfield which hides a handful of tables at the back behind its groaning gourmet shelves.
There’s a wider range of breakfasts, brunches and lunches at the branch of Edinburgh Larder at the top of Morningside Road, as well as at Confelicity on Bruntsfield Place, a chef-run artisan bakery specialising in gluten-free loaves and a full daytime menu catering to gluten intolerances. Various neighbouring spots in Bruntsfield Place bridge the daytime-early evening divide, including a branch of Spanish café-bar Piggs, and long-standing Café Grande with its classic, lived-in setting, all-round menu and daily 9am–9pm opening.
On the edge of leafy Bruntsfield Links, lovely Margot, younger sister of next-door LeftField restaurant, is a chilled café by day and sophisticated wine bar serving small plates by night. Also enjoying Meadows views from the foot of Argyle Place is 2026 arrival Starter Culture, where sharing cheese and meat platters with some select wines are the order of a long, lingering evening.
There are other cheese and wine offers at the foot of Morningside Road where IJ Mellis Wine Lounge often opens for a few hours into the early evening in a room at the back of the esteemed cheesemonger, while Newington’s Piccalilli on Grange Loan does grazing platters along with wines, beers and ciders by the glass.
Along with more formal Southside restaurants, singular spots to discover in Marchmont include Pomelo on Sciennes Road, a contemporary Chinese diner masquerading as a funky wine bar, serving rich, tingling and filling pan-Asian food at sharing tables. Tucked away on Strathearn Road is Mara’s Picklery, which also squeezes a few tables into its small space and serves up lunchtime sourdough toasties or larger dinner plates featuring their own preserved, fermented and pickled ingredients, plus various homemade sodas and shrubs.
This TipList is taken from Eat & Drink 365, our sister mag recommending the best in restaurants, bars, cafés and more across Edinburgh. Want a copy? It’s available online or across all good stockists in Scotland’s capital.