Jacob

I walked by this place many times and finally walked in when it had only one other person. It took 15 minutes to get my cappuccino and almond croissant when I was the only customer waiting for food. The croissant tasted like it wasn’t fully baked, I could taste the unfinished dough. The dining area is filled with grease smell from the kitchen below, which is surprising since the kitchen is on the bottom level. Don’t recommend it.

I’d been wanting to go here for a while, as it always looked nice from the outside. I had walked past it a lot when it was closed (still have no idea what the opening hours are…) I have to say I wasn’t too impressed. The inside décor is very nice (we snagged the comfy sofa) and the cakes look homemade, though neither of the two people working there knew what type an unlabelled cake was. There was a backlog of coffee orders when I ordered, so it was a bit of a wait. I wasn’t overly impressed with the service — they were very nice, just seemed a bit clueless and overwhelmed despite it not being overly busy. The coffee and hot chocolate my partner and I ordered were good, but the cake was disappointing — my red velvet was dry, just like it had been sat out for a while.
Wouldn’t recommend for more than a hot drink, really, and it seemed a little overpriced for what it was.

I went into Jacob expecting great things. From outside, it always looked appealing. I don’t know what it was, I just wanted to go in every time I passed by. Unfortunately, the last three times I went, it was closed and shuttered. No idea why. Finally, today, it was open, and Mary and I went in for our weekly coffee date.
The first thing I noticed was a large tower of macarons, which was quite coold and appealing. However, I wanted cake, so I immediately moved over to the rather limited cake selection. One of the cakes had no label, and neither of the staff members on duty could tell me what it was. Ah well, doesn’t matter. I ordered a hot chocolate and apple cake, whilst Mary took cappuccino with red velvet cake. We were told it would take a while as the barista had many coffees to make. No problem.
We sat down on a comfortable sofa, and looked around the café. There were about ten people altogether, some enjoying a hot meal, some just coffee and cake. The décor is a bit of a mish mash of stuff, with lots of different types of chairs scattered around the place.
Eventually, our cakes and drinks came along. The drinks were good. The hot chocolate was actually hot. Too many times I have suffered through a lukewarm chocolate which just isn’t satisfying. That wasn’t an issue here. The cappuccino was also good. The cakes were only mediocre, which was disappointing. Neither seemed fresh.
Overall, I can’t recommend Jacob as somewhere to go for coffee and cake. Try somewhere else nearby if you’re in the area.

Good spot for a breakfast or coffee. I got the impression that the service was not the fastest on Earth if you know what I mean ;) The food was good, but nothing special.
I ordered Scottish breakfast, which is basically full English with some haggis. Which makes it like thousand times better. You should try it while in Scotland!
The prices are quite moderate so if you don’t want overpriced breakfast like on the Royal Mile, you should come over here.

I’m not sure this place knows what it is. The décor seemed very unfinished. And not in a cool quirky way. I don’t think it knows what it. A bakery, a coffee shop, a Mediterranean salad bar, a pizzeria.
The menu jumps from greasy English truck stop to Italian cuisines (and when you get to the pizza, there’s a change in the font where it looks like that got stuck on Caps Lock. Very bizarre. They need to pick one theme and focus on it in all aspects.
My toastie was extortionate in price for a bit of chorizo and cheese.

Great café and the same great cakes and bread as the Haymarket branch. The quiche and salad is always a great option for lunch.
The only minor thing is that the service can be a little slow and there’s not that much seating.

The original Jacob’s was in Gorgie then moved to Haymarket and now there is a second branch at South Bridge, lucky Newington peeps.
Great range of gorgeous French patisserie, quiches, pies and beautiful breads made fresh daily. This is definitely the place to come — beautiful artisan baked goods but without the hefty price tag.
The premises is light and airy and tables are spaced out so you can truly linger and enjoy those delights. Last time I was in I had a beautiful gluten free gateaux which was less than £3 and a massive slice. Chocolate, cream and almond sponge, it was a delight. I’m not often in that part of town but when I am, I always pop in and pick up some tasty treats :-)