The Old Spence Café

A friend recommended this coffee shop to me, and I’m so glad they did! It has such a lovely mix of vintage charm and cozy, nostalgic vibes. The place is beautifully decorated, very cute and welcoming. The food was amazing—fresh sandwiches and delicious cakes. My favourite was the honey multi-layered cake, absolutely worth trying! I totally recommend this coffee shop on Leith Walk.

The Old Spence absolutely blew us away! From the moment we walked in, we knew we were in for something special. Our Canadian waitress, was an absolute gem, so friendly, attentive, and genuinely delightful. She made the whole experience feel personal and warm. Now the food… where do I even begin? Hands down the best meal we’ve had in Edinburgh and honestly, one of the best breakfasts we’ve had anywhere in Scotland. Every bite was perfection, but the latte? Life-changing. It was rich, perfectly smooth and amazing. I’m still dreaming about it. If you’re in Edinburgh and miss out on this place, you’re doing your taste buds a disservice. Run, don’t walk!

Great place for coffee and brunch - I will definitely be back!

Lovely little cafe with a cozy and quirky vibe. The sausage and egg sandwich was standard. The holiday candy cane peppermint hot chocolate was a treat. It was quiet busy for a tuesday morning. Great spot to grab a bite and coffee or escape the cold.

Unassuming and down to earth, Old Spence Café nevertheless served nicely cooked food in an eclectic atmosphere. A simple English breakfast (‘Spence brunch’) was made with best quality ingredients for less than £12. That included 2 poached eggs (soft and runny in the middle), 2 slices of back bacon, plus beans, sausages and rustic toast. I chose a seat by some corner books and picked up a Virginia Woolf, one I hadn’t read before. Books are on a take-one donate-one basis so I asked to take it away. There was also a large collection of old-fashioned cassette tapes which I browsed, thinking if they took requests and played Tom Waits I’d stay for a coffee or two. But then my taste in music might have persuaded others to leave so I thought better of it, thanked them and headed off.

Loved this place. They have fantastic eggless scones which are so hard to find now all o we Scotland! Loved the coffee too! Did not have the sandwiches but we noticed they looked good and everyone was ordering lunch. Staff is very friendly and we had a good coffee break.

Excellent place for lunch! The food is well seasoned and the chicken marinade is phenomenal. The flat white was very good. I ordered the Caesar salad and it was delicious ! The atmosphere is cozy, the decor is lovely and very welcoming. Thank you!

Really pleased with the food and was served very quickly as well. Everything tasted fresh and was definitely well executed. Cafe has a very nice vibe with antique radios etc. making up part of the decor. Situated in a great location too. Lost a star for cleanliness. We chose a table which had obviously not been cleaned, then moved to another which again, was not cleaned. Takes literally 30 seconds to do a quick wipe down before taking an order, disappointing this wasn’t done.

This place seems to have been renamed The Old Spence. We ducked in from the rain and found the space super cute and the staff very friendly. Love the music choices and decor.

Lovely warm and welcoming cafe in Leith, fresh and modern and comfortable place to relax and enjoy some food and a cuppa. Worth a visit or two, I for one will be returning.

The simple and wholesome atmosphere of this charming cafe gave me an experience to have one of the best breakfast in years. I definitely cannot experience this in San Francisco, and already know I will be missing this place when I head home. A perfect cup of latte, fluffy and moist scrambled eggs, crispy bacon, toasts, and a small cup of bean soup here made a snowy morning a pleasant way to start the day to explore the city.

Lovely atmosphere, great coffee, and delicious food! We came here for breakfast and had a lovely time. Try the honey cake if they have it, it's wonderful.

Update : I've been back and we had some fresh juices. Mine was apple/pear. The size was quite small and so-so (not spectacular). There are a couple outdoor tables and it was nice to some get fresh air! It would have otherwise been like an oven inside sitting my the windows! Won't knock any stars until I've sampled more food! Staff seem friendly and check on you quickly.

How frickin cute is this place?! Fellow Yelper Hamish S and I wandered here on a Saturday morning... and when I say wandered, I mean he knew exactly where he was going and I tagged along looking lost. I'm still not great at finding my way around this area, which is a shame because I miss out on little gems like these, but my bewildered lack of direction felt suited to a place named "The Hideout". It's a sweet little cafe, with a cute collection of vintage knickknacks and a hodgepodge of tables & chairs. Like a paint by numbers hipster cafe, this had all the checkmarks. Now I know "hipster" gets a bad rap these days, but they do know their coffee. They serve the usually cafe cakes and pastries, along side a little food menu. On this particular occasion, I only had eyes for coffee, so I can't shed any light on the meal offerings. But my flat while was good... and really, on a Saturday morning, what more can you ask for? My only eyebrow raise goes to the £5 minimum spend to use the card machine. I understand that businesses get charged every time they use the machine, but as someone who only carries a debit card, it is always a fuss to have to either find cash or double up my order. But that little detail wouldn't stop me from popping in again... i'll just have to be more organized next time around.

This has been our favorite breakfast spot in Edinburgh. The granola/yoghurt combo with fruit is to die for. The porridge is also lovely. Their coffees are many and sooo good. Really get you going in the morning. The staff are so friendly and helpful. We'll be back...again

Relaxed, chilled cafe. Love this bright space with the ceiling to floor arch windows on a main cross junction. Nice staff serving a good selection of breakfast and lunch items and scrummy home baked goodies. Gorgeous honey cake! All reasonably priced too. Check out their action smoothies: which action hero will you be? :)

I'm updating this review because I've been a few times now. I love it. It's a gorgeously aesthetically pleasing place to sit and work or meet up. The staff are lovely and friendly and acknowledge your existence even when they are busy! The Velvet cake is OUT OF THIS WORLD. You have to try it. You can get parked for free here if you hunt around near the links. Now here's the thing...the brand of coffee is not really to my taste but it is good in regards it's just the right strength etc. I'm a coffee snob and have particular flavours I enjoy. But lots of people like this brand, it's just a personal taste nothing at all to do with the quality or presentation. This place is 5 stars all the way from me.

Lovely Cafe with a great atmosphere and wonderful staff. The service was quick and the food was excellent.

This is suck a cute small cafe. The servers were very kind and friendly. They are detail oriented. We enjoyed our breakfast sandwich. They also had a nice selection of teas and pastries. Our breakfast and drinks tastes great.

Stopped in here just for a tea so can't pass any comment on the food. The toilet was clean and tidy and the cafe itself welcoming and comfy. There's not a massive amount of passing foot traffic so not one to go to for people watching but good for meeting to catch up or to have someone else make the tea while you read the papers or a book. There's a selection of boardgames too.

My good Yelp! friend, Caz H. met me here for lunch as neither of us had tried it. It's quirky and so cool with all the audio tapes stack until the ceiling. It even has an old ghetto blaster - man the 80's rock! The food rocks too - I had a veggie wrap warmed, which was well packed and felt healthy and tasted yummy at the same time. Ginger beer was my drink of choice because it was too darn hot outside for coffee and I needed a thirst quencher! It took a wee while for our wraps to come out. They didn't look too busy, and I don;t think it was too complicated an order to process and make up? The cakes are well impressive - I need to come back for coffee and cake. They are made in house and look very appealing to gobble up (the cake, of course)! I was tempted to take a piece away but resisted quite well, so I will obviously have to come back and try the cake now - ha ha!!

Sweet and sincere neighbourhood coffee shop. Delicious home cooked food, cosy atmosphere and friendly vibe.

We have been coming here since it first opened and have no complaints. The service is excellent and staff are friendly. Choice on menu is great and food is fresh. Price for their coffee is reasonable and on par with other places locally . The atmosphere is relaxed. Recent addition is a cassette wall where punters can choose their own music for hundreds of cassettes from the 70s 80s early 90s . Love it . Our dog is very welcome and always gets fresh water which he spills over never to any complaint from staff. My only complaint is that I wished it opened later into the evening ..ie 9pm as it's hard to get a cafe in leith open past 5pm to serve coffee and food. Maybe this is something they could consider for the summer months. I'd vote it the best cafe in leith !!

The Hideout Cafe full of surprises, the food is always fresh looking. You never know when they will bring out a New Dish that you have never tasted. Quality, Friendly and to be honest Hassan and Gabriel have chosen staff who are friendly and make sure everyone is welcome. The Hideout Cafe is a place where you will want to keep to yourself because they still play cassettes, so come on guys bring along your unwanted cassettes .

Very relaxed, dog friendly café in Leith. Great breakfast place (try their scrambled eggs!), and a nice quiet place to read a book or get some work done.

I am not quite of the "you can't have too many cafes" school of thinking but not far away so I was pleased to see Constitution Street get another coffee focused cafe. Located on the corner opposite the Compass pub, The Hideout Cafe starts with the great benefit of replacing an eyesore empty site. It's a bright space with a mix of furniture styles including a bench made of old pallets. One of its great virtues is the friendly staff with smiles and going that extra mile no issue. This good start is assisted greatly by decently prepared Artisan Roast coffee. Good selection of cakes and pastries. The breakfast rolls and sandwiches are good too. Cost-wise the Hideout fits into the normal fancy coffee cafe bracket: around £2.20 for a regular sized espresso based drink. This is becoming increasingly popular including with the mums and occasional dad from local Leith Primary. It's obvious comparator business is Printworks 100m down the street. For the moment the longer established Print works may just have the edge for me but it's close and if Hideout continues to develop it could see itself become a popular quality cafe.