After an early morning wake-up, a measly dry sandwich at Amsterdam airport, a flight to Edinburgh and an express bus into the city centre, we were ready to find a good, hearty breakfast.
Well, more like brunch by the time we managed to get our backsides out of the hostel and into the cold Saturday morning air.
Luckily for us, we picked the perfect spot for our first meal in Scotland: the Rose Leaf pub in the Leith neighbourhood of the city.
Leith is a little further out than many of the main attractions and tourist bars, meaning that it is usually frequented by many more locals than it is visitors (which suited us just fine). As we were staying in the centre, we walked the thirty minutes it took to get to the cosy little pub, which sits unassumingly by the harbour.
Even though we were ordering brunch, I couldn’t help but sample the mulled elderflower cider with ginger; mainly because it was so cold outside and also because I was happy to be back in a land where “mulled” anything is on the menu. (“It’s only 11am? Yes, but it’s mulled, so it doesn’t count!”)
Then we both ordered the Tattie Stack: a stack of potato scones (or potato cakes, as I know them from the North West), black pudding, bacon and a fried sunny-side-up egg.
The portion may look dainty, but it was absolutely divine.
And with a squirt of ketchup, it was a genuine masterpiece of a plateful.
If you follow in our foodsteps:
- The Rose Leaf is located at 23/24 Sandport Place Leith, Edinburgh, Midlothian EH6 6EW
- We were lucky to get a table at the weekend, so if you are eating and don’t want to just stand at the bar with a drink, it’s best to call ahead for a reservation, or risk a wait.
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