Deacons House Cafe

A nice place to catch a fine breakfast. Enjoyed it outside, even as we had to face the chilly september winds raging through the narrow alley.

Poor food, poor service.
I visited this place for a late breakfast with a few friends. We arrived gone midday and specifically asked if they were still serving breakfast upon arrival, we were told yes but service would be a little slow on breakfasts and there would be a wait for a table. After waiting half an hour for a table we were finally seated but told upon ordering breakfast was not possible (despite diners around us having breakfasts), the man serving us was a little rude/​flustered we asked what we could have then and he said ‘there are the specials’ we said okay we’ll have a special and were then told we couldn’t have a special as there were no ciabattas — after reviewing the menu under pressure and paying up front (we later presumed this was down to the high chance of people refusing to pay and or the lack of communication between the staff) we placed orders.
We then waited for a good amount of time and one half of someone’s order turned up (the soup half of ‘soup & a sandwich’), 10 minutes later my own order turned up — a poor sandwich on stale bread, wilting lettuce in a bowl and two slices of cucumber which looked to be going the same way with an odd smattering of a mystery sauce. I’ve had better sandwiches from petrol stations.
Deciding on giving up on their sandwich coming my friend started eating his soup, only comment from him was («heinz?»);by the time he had finished his soup my other friend’s ham and cheese ‘toastie’ arrived. We all understood a toastie to be a toasted sandwhich, this appeared to be a sandwich made with toast instead of bread. She bit into the sandwich and put it straight down it was ice cold ham and grated cheese in the middle which hurt her teeth. Some more time passed and a waiter appeared with my first friend’s sandwich and one more’s bagel, they took the ‘toastie’ off for full toasting. Around 10 minutes passed and the half eaten ‘toastie’ reappeared. At this point almost everyone had finished their meal except one person who hadn’t been served at all.
Just as the retoasted toastie was finished the final meal appeared and the waitress (4^th member of staff we’d seen at this point) asked in a really uncertain way whether we had everything. Two minutes later the original server came over and asked if we had everything making it damn clear they had no idea what was going on.
On the way out there was no word of thanks, or apology from the staff stood by the door.

Service here was slow and steady, and the meal didn’t quite win the race.
Deacon’s House scored a few points for décor and atmosphere, being popular with locals and visitors on a chilly Saturday morning. Can’t beat the location.
However the food was a bit too «no-​frills» for the ££ prices.
Be warned that the Deacon’s is counter service only, with the inherent risk of queueing at peak times.
I’d put my money on the hare next time.

We stopped by the Deacon’s House for some breakfast (and to get out of the rain). The two of us went for the standard breakfast which was mediocre. Its hard to screw up some eggs and bacon and sausage but they gave it a good go! The eggs were scrambled but seemed like they were sat in a puddle of water! The food was edible, but only just. I don’t know what it is but it was hard to find a decent breakfast in Edinburgh!
I did however like the coffee and also the café itself, which used to be the workshop of the Deacon (who’s real name I have forgotten) and the story behind this guy. Although a respected cabinetmaker, he was also a thief and he and his friend and co-​crook were hanged on gallows that the cabinetmaker built! I’ll bet the guy wished he didn’t do such a great job on them!

Came here with a group of friends after getting off the night coach from London. They took a while to open up and let us in but the cashier lady was nice. Ordered a salmon sandwich which came with greens and tried a ham sandwich from my friend. Sandwiches were nicely sized but there wasn’t anything that really stood out. We really wanted to try a scone but since they just opened scones wouldn’t be available until later.
Three starts because there wasn’t anything that really stood out to me and the servers that were setting up weren’t very friendly towards us and we felt pretty unwelcomed. But, did find their giant teacup pots amusing.

Popped in here for a quick coffee recently. Lots of tables outside, none of which had been cleared and we had to clear one ourselves. Hubby got the coffees and a bit cake for himself and it was very expensive and not terribly good. Staff couldn’t care less and if they spent more time clearing tables instead of having a sly fag round the corner or speaking on the phone, they would have had more custom 3 times people came in when I was there, looked round at the mess, and left. No good for business guys! Can’t really recommend it and won’t be back myself.

Visited this café last week whilst visiting Edinburgh. I think the sponge cakes we ordered had in fact been made in Deacon Brodie’s time. Our last sip of coffee was barely over our throats when a woman (I presume the owner or manageress) made it clear it was time to move on. I would not recommend.

Cosy little Café, a wee bit slow and had ran out of scones for cream teas at 4 in the afternoon, scandalous, not terribly cheap either. On the positive side surroundings are quaint and steeped in history and it was very clean.

Great little place down a Close off the High Street. You can actually feel the history and there are charming murals around the walls of the café with scribed explanations.
The atmosphere is as delightful as the staff, who couldn’t have been friendlier or more helpful, making both children and the oldies like me very welcome.
The sandwiches and cakes are fresh and delicious, include all the favourites like smoked salmon, empire biscuits, good coffee, and best of all it’s all very clean.
A true Scottish experience with friendly smiles all round.
Recommended.

With 4 staff on it still took ten minutes to prepare a bacon roll at breakfast time, £1.75 for soft drinks struck me as expensive and I was short changed by £2. All in all not a good experience.

Directly opposite Brodie’s Tavern which is an overpriced tourist trap, I expected Deacon’s House café to be pretty much more of the same.
I was pleasantly surprised then, when down the end of a wee close sat the quaint little café, which was full of tourists, granted, but very reasonably priced and cosy.
I was in there on my own, which I don’t do often, and the staff were very nice and perhaps made a little extra effort to chat to me more because I was a nigel no pals! I had the soup and sandwich deal which was only just over £5. The lentil broth was tasty and piping hot, perfect for dipping my cheddar and ham sandwiches in. Bliss! For the deal and a coffee I left with a good couple of quid change from a tenner, which you can’t often say after lunching on the Royal Mile!

Small quiet café/​bar down a small close off the Royal mile directly opposite Deacon Brodies Pub. Not a huge variety on the menu, but nice simple well priced food and drinks. The walls are painted with a mural depicting the life of the cafes namesake.