The Caffeine Drip

Just arrived in Edinburgh and came across the Caffeine Drip which is really quirky café which sells an assortment of good food and drinks.
Presentation was good and there was a constant flow of people coming in and ordering food.
Definitely come back!

The salad is good and the sandwich is tasty. Hotchocolate with marshmallow is good looking but too sweet to finish all.

This place is really easy to get to — by bus from Glasgow it’s close to the stop before Princes Street. I’d never have known how amazing it was unless I’d seen a photo of their breakfast options posted online by a fellow vegan. You can build your own breakfast (vegan or not) and pay for additional sides. I opted for French toast made from a chickpea scramble, with veggie haggis and fried smoked tofu. They have lots of drinks including ice cream floats (not marked vegan) and smoothies. I opted for a ‘Cola Coffee’ which was a double espresso with cola, ice, and lemon. It came in a jar (I have no qualms at hipster-​ish nice things, there are worse things to be labeled!) and was delicious!
They had 6 vegan cakes on offer, including a variety of flapjacks — which I would probably have shunned if it had been the only cake option — and I chose the ‘Lotus’ chocolate tiffin. I could taste the lotus Biscoff flavour from the chunks of biscuit as soon as I bit into it — so good!
Service was great and although they don’t normally take reservations they’d very kindly agreed to hold a couple of tables for us this morning. Seemingly the two owners have gone vegan themselves recently. :) I loved the décor of the coffee bags which covered the walls our little alcove area. The toilets were also quite quirky with cartoon images of toilets on the cubicle doors. Handdrier wasn’t great, but I’ll forgive them for that. I would definitely recommend, and go back if the opportunity arose.

Interesting South African café with quality fresh food and good coffee.
I must have walked past this place so many times before giving it a try which is a pity because it is very good. The menu is diverse and on both occasions I have been the food was fresh and tasty.
The coffee is great too with the usual choices.
I want to give it 4 or even 5 stars but the space is so terrible. There is a dark cramped basement (beware if your are 6′ +) or a tatty windowless upstairs room with an obscured door. I think they could do much better if they moved.

After reading the rave reviews for The Caffeine Drip on Unilocal,I immediately began my walk to the other side of Edinburgh purely to visit this South African themed café. We arrived on a Sunday morning, and it was absolutely packed. The staff were really friendly, and let us know that there would be a long wait on food (which doesn’t bother me, as long as I’ve been informed). So we sat and drank some coffees whilst waiting for our brunch.
First off, the coffees are fine. Nothing negative to say about them, but also nothing positive. It was just a coffee.
The food was good. I opted for a sausage, bacon and egg sarnie. The sausage was the best bit, but again it wasn’t mind blowing. I’m not sure if I was overly critical because this place had been so over-​hyped, but I was definitely underwhelmed. It was good, so don’t let this review put you off going, but don’t expect fireworks, because you’ll only get a sparkler at best!

We love this place for brunch! Everything I’ve tried has been spot on here from breakfast wraps, juices, coffee, and desserts are good. This time I ordered the pastrami chili jam flat bread and a Morning Glory smoothy. My husband got the super meaty ‘Killer Club’ — chicken, pulled beef, pulled pork with cheddar cheese, spicy coconut squash soup, and a large Americano. We had a couple milk tarts to go. Love Portuguese pastel de nata!

I came here for dessert that I have seen the photos on Unilocal.I had bananaberry smoothie and a piece of pear chocolate cardamon loaf. The smoothie was so goooood. My friends had dark hot chocolate, coffee and carrot cake. All of them are also very tasty.
I saw many kinds of food from neighbour which look so yummy. Unfortunately, we’ve already had our lunch. However, I will definitely come back to try it.
–1 star because there’s no scone today
I gave 5 stars for drink and dessert

I gave this place a 5 star for its quirkiness. It’s nothing fancy and maybe more suited for somebody that likes things a bit different :-)
It’s very small and there is not much space. Still, it can accommodate a larger group of 8 – 10 I guess. There are two rooms. One very small one upstairs and a slightly larger one downstairs. You need to order at the till and the order is brought to you. I ordered an Affogato coffee and a mushroom soup. Not the best combination, but it was ok :-) both were very tasty.
They have an extensive menu of hot chocolate and coffee choices. Lots of desserts, small cakes, bagels, sandwiches etc.
I will be back!

Huge club sandwiches, really good milkshakes with super fun flavors! Would definitely go again, if not just for the great atmosphere and cool décor.

This is one of my local go-​to places for coffee and breakfast and it is by far one of the best in the West End. The quality of the food and service is outstanding.

We were here for breakfast on a Saturday, it was a nice, warm and cozy space away from the cold morning! It has a fair bit of seating downstairs and despite being busy, the noise was minimal. The menu is quite extensive, with lots of options, including two vegan options. I don’t claim to be 100% vegan, but I try to eat as vegan as I can, so nice to have easy options. You order at the counter, which is situated next to a large range of treats, all looks fairly enticing. We ordered the savory french toast and I ordered the vegan hot pot with mushrooms. We also ordered two long blacks. The food to a while to come out, but again they were busy, so we were able to enjoy our coffees before our breakfast. When it arrived, mine was massive. It came with two huge slices of sourdough toast. The french toast was covered in cheese and had (from what my partner said) really tasty sausages. I enjoyed my mushrooms and avocado, although, as it was vegan, there was no spread on the toast, and my preference would have been some hummus or chutney or something to make it a bit less dry, but it still tasted nice and fresh. All together it was around £20 for the two of us. I would recommend this place for a hearty portion and a different tasting coffee. They also do milkshakes, and offer a few vegan options as well as a vegan hot chocolate, which I was very tempted to try.

Delicious Americano that’s perfectly strong and black. Nice staff and cozy with several floors and the main café in the cellar

I was on a weekend break visiting family in Edinburgh and my cousins recommended this particular café for the excellent value for money and Huge portions and they weren’t wrong! The bowl of soup that accompanied my Sandwitch was more of a bucket. It was great carrot with pesto and parmesan, the sandwich not so good, it lacked flavour and even though it was huge, I didn’t want to finish it.
It gets very busy and the actual café is very cramped, you feel like people are just standing watching you eat like you’re in the zoo! The staff was very helpful though, we had my boisterous 3 year old godson with us and he needed to be contained as he likes to wonder off and say hi to people! Our waiter totally understood and got us a great table in the corner which we were thankful for.

Well that’s it. Thank you to the many other coffee shops that have taken my business over the years but I have just found my new favourite. I have become a coffee snob of late and my caffeine fix is getting harder and harder to please.
The Caffeine Drip has a very unassuming exterior. It is just a doorway leading directly to a basement stairwell. Do not be put off by this but venture forth down the stairs!
The interior is wonderfully quirky, the walls are lined with hessian coffee sacks and I love the accent of orange throughout. The downstairs is surprisingly roomy with several nooks and crannies that you can settle yourself in.
I study the menu, tempted by the amazing sounding hot chocolates, but opt for my standard flat white. If you can’t get this right then I’m not coming back! I place my order at the till and stand there for a little while (drooling) at the homemade cakes. Seriously huge slaps of rocky-​road like delights and traditional African pastries.
After snapping back to reality I take my seat and wait. This morning was busy with lots of take-​away orders, I had timed my visit with the work commute. I waited. I was getting a little antsy after 10 minutes. There is a sign to say that drinks are made to order but I didn’t appreciate the to-​goers getting served before me. Once my drink arrived the waitress did apologise for the wait.
The coffee was delicious! I could easily sit there all day drinking coffee after coffee and with free wifi this is probably soon to be a reality. If I go missing you know where to find me!
Cheers! x

Half mad, unbrushed hair, eyes darting up and down the street… What an amazing place to have discovered when having caffeine withdrawals.
They offer interesting espresso concoctions like a coke-​lemon-​espresso drink that is delightful. I haven’t had a milkshake but stare enviously at other customers as I let the caffeine pulse into my veins. And the food comes in huge proportions, piled high with meat and sauces. They have gluten free bread which is so yummy I eat more of it than I intend. Also, if you do take-​away things are like 30% cheaper. Makes me a bit envious of those doing it, but then I remember I get to chill and relax and read while I eat and I think it’s worth a couple pounds. So I came here for coffee, and I keep coming back for the food. I get coffee too, but I could get coffee many places. This spot, man on man, is about the food.
The counter is downstairs, as are many seats, but I think there’s an upstairs seating area as well. Haven’t needed to venture that far, and with the madness setting in it’s good for me to sit still and wait for coffee before doing something as dangerous as climbing stairs. Love the people and everything I’ve ordered so far.

As pleasant a post for prandium as any in the centre of town.
Entering the establishment you are met with a small upper seating area and a staircase down, lined with coffee bean bags. Downstairs is decked with a shack like vibe. There you will find more seating and welcoming greetings from the staff.
The Caffeine Drip offers a broad menu, with all the usual suspects you would expect to find: sandwiches, panini, bagels etc. They are made fresh and well, with good quality ingredients and some delicious flavour combination. Fresh soup is made daily and put on a board on the wall (not the soup itself as that would be ridiculous and difficult, but specifically what it is in them). The cakes look irresistibly appealing and are sinfully rich.
This brings me to their coffee. Aside from the usual, they have a wonderful selection of hot chocolate, which can be made caffeinated upon request. I am quite partial to a white mocha, and the Caffeine Drip’s is exemplary. Made with actual white chocolate and not syrup you will struggle to find better in Edinburgh, and believe me I have looked.
A definite stop for any hungry lunchers wandering in search of somewhere to dine.

This is a long overdue updated review for The Caffeine Drip, as it has become my regular ‘lunch with the boyfriend’ spot when he meets me from work and given we return here time and time again, it deserves the bump up in rating.
Caffeine Drip isn’t cheap, sandwiches/​bagels/​panini are around the £6−7 mark, but they’re also huge! And you could always go for a soup and a half-​sandwich/​bagel/​panino instead for about the same price. Actually, I’d advise this, as it’s much more achievable in terms of being able to finish your lunch! There are many, many options to choose from too, a wide variety of fillings at your disposal. Today I had chicken mayo and avocado, Kip had pork, gherkins and peppers (he wasn’t convinced it worked, but hey ho, it’s good to try something new). Plus as commented on in other reviews, because the Drip is South African you can get Biltong and some day I’m going to go for one of the Boerie rolls.
The coffees are good, much improved upon since my first review, and the range of hot chocolates is fantastic (peanut butter, hell yes!), including a vegan option and Milo. Talking of vegan, the Drip have loads of cakes/​tray bakes and several are free-​from. I recently took a vegan friend here who commented that whilst Glasgow might come top of Peta’s list for veggie/​vegan restaurants, Edinburgh has a much better selection of places to eat that aren’t ‘vegetarian’, but instead cater to everyone. She was very impressed by her chocolate fudge cake.
Not surprisingly it gets very busy at lunchtime with local office workers, including myself, so you’re maybe best avoiding the rush and popping by a little later in the day. It’s definitely worth a visit though, if only to marvel at how you can get a phone signal in a basement café! And half my office raves about it, so it must be good.

This place is great! It is an underground little place with wood tables, simple décor and funky low level music playing. The staff are really friendly, the menu has loads of choice and they are cool if you don’t want to order more drink over and above the litre of free tap water they provide.
They do take away and have a great range of flap jams and cakes.
But on to proper food … The salads are sensational, full of interesting things an HUGE! The Boerewors Rolls are epic with great choice of fillings and there are loads of choice for baguette, sandwiches, panini and bagel.
Even though I think soup is pointless food, I am tempted to try some from here!
As a lunch time café … It gets 5 stars!

I went there with a few friends for brunch after reading really good reviews for this place, and they were not wrong, this place is amazing.
It had a very cozy environment and enough room that we could sit around, chat and order more coffee as time went on. The breakfast selection was really good, and from the other customers around me, their more heavier lunch selections looked pretty delicious as well (or at least it smells amazing). The servers were very friendly and attentive while still being able to run the very full café.
I was very happy with the drinks selection and the way they brewed their coffee. Their soy latter was very good, as was the vegan chocolate mocha I ordered later. I wanted to highlight that one in particular, since after my server realised I couldn’t take milk, he came up with different chocolate substitute options for me to pick, which I appreciated. From what my friends had, their hot chocolate looks amazing and were apparently delicious, as were the smoothies they offered.
Overall, it was a really good café with a wide range of choices for both drinks and food at a reasonably affordable price, I would definitely like to go there again! :D

This morning I had a job interview. Dun dun DUN! What better way to relax prior to said interview than sipping a nice cup of coffee?
The café is below street level and there is another floor above street level. The entrance is kind of cool and edgy. No one would expect it to be cosy on the interior! The café is not pretentious but has a large choice in terms of cakes and cookies. There is wifi and strangely my phone had reception even downstairs.
I had heard that The Caffeine Drip offers vegan cake. Turns out it also has almond milk as an alternative to the regular soya… Being a cappuccino kind of girl I opted for soya milk, I don’t think almond milk froths too well. I got a slice of the vegan chocolate and mandarin slice though there was also a vegan flapjack.
The coffee was good-​no pretty design though so minus points for that. Coffee art has become the expected thing. The cake was tasty and moist. Both cake and coffee came to £4.95.
Service was friendly and attentive, there is a loyalty card which is a nice incentive to make regulars keep coming back. I didn’t really take note of the savoury food they did as I was in for the cake. Newspapes are available.
I will be back!