Edinburgh Fringe Festival visitors like see as many shows as possible during their stay, sometimes three or even four in a day. Who wants to waste valuable time waiting in line for lunch or sitting in restaurants waiting to be served?
But you've got to eat And if you're renting a festival flat or a house share, as many do, you have to stock your larder with the bare necessities. These are some of the best and most popular suppliers of quick, nutritious (and portable) food and drink in Edinburgh. So whether you are packing a backpack for a picnic or day-long sustenance, or stocking the fridge with breakfast things, here's where to find what you need.
The Best Cupcakes in Edinburgh
Cuckoos Bakery Cupcake Shop and Tea Room sells amazing and creative cupcakes to eat in or takeaway. They do a Belgian chocolate and cheesecake combo that we've heard is to die for. Or how about the "Elvis" - a banana and chocolate chip sponge cake with peanut butter frosting(available only Tuesdays and Fridays). If you have a sweet tooth, this is the place. And if you don't you can drop in for a salad or a light meal. But it's the cupcake menu that draws the plaudits. And they'll even deliver within Edinburgh.
- Where: 150 Dundas Street, Edinburgh, EH3 5DQ
- Contact: +44 (0)131 556 6224
- Check their cupcake menu online.
Best Bread and Baked Goods in Edinburgh
The Manna House Bakery and Patisserie does 20 different kinds of artisanal breads and roles - wheat, rye and spelt, as well as butter croissants, danish pastries and Aberdonian butteries or rowies - a kind of salty, flat and buttery breakfast bread. There's also fresh Italian and French bread pizza, quiches and tarts. And if you can't be bothered to make your own sandwiches, they'll make them for you, for eat in or takeaway.
- Where:22-24 Easter Road, Edinburgh, EH7 5RG
- Contact: +44 (0)131 652 2349
- Visit their website.
Best Cheesemonger in Edinburgh
I.J. Mellis started out with a dark and damp shop in Victoria Street in Edinburgh center in 1993. It was the perfect atmosphere for storing and ripening farmhouse cheeses and now there are several branches in Edinburgh and Glasgow, including the small, damp shop on Victoria. The shops stock cheeses from France,Italy and Spain as well as England, Ireland and Scotland. While you are in Scotland, you should try some crowdie or the distinctive Strathdon Blue. And sample how a Somerset Cheddar recipe becomes a completely different cheese when made on the Isle of Mull.
- Where:30A Victoria St, Edinburgh, EH1 2JW
- Contact: +44 (0)131 226 6215
- Visit their website.
Best Deli in Edinburgh
Valvona & Crolla not only lays claim to being the best Italian deli in Scotland, but since winning an award from olive oil makers Bertolli, have escalated that to the best deli in the entire UK. The food critics from a slew of papers, including A.A. Gill of the Sunday Times, agree. And the Wall Street Journal went as far as calling them "arguably the best Italian delicatessen north of the Alps." With credits like that, you've got to put them to the test. They sell cheese, meats breads, and a raft of deli produce as well as whisky (Scottish, Irish and American) and wine (they were named Scottish Wine Merchant of the Year for 2011-2012. This is a one-stop shop for all things foodie and they have several cafes where you can sample the goodies as well.
- Where:19 Elm Row, Edinburgh, EH7 4AA
- Contact: +44 (0)131 556 6066
- Visit their website. where you can shop online as well.
Best Chocolates in Edinburgh
The Chocolate Tree specialises in yummy handmade artisanal chocolates using ethically sourced and grown organic chocolates wherever possible. Chocolates are made in small batches, often mixing in fruits, nuts and spices. Some of the more unusual are their ginger Buddhas and their Absinthe Masks, described as a "slightly mind bending."
- Where:123 Bruntsfield Place, Edinburgh, EH10 4EQ
- Contact: +44 (0)131 228 3144
- See the range and shop online.
Best Smoothies and Juices in Edinburgh
Hula Juice Bar may not be much of a looker but festival cognoscenti know that this is where to find the most imaginative smoothies and blended juices to drink in or takeaway. The Blue Hawaiian mixes blueberries, strawberries, apple and banana while the Whirling Dervish is a combination of strawberries, blueberries, mango and orange. Refreshing juice combos include the Pink Lady, a mixture of apple, lemon, lime and ginger. They also do a range of toasted, stuffed bagels and wraps with soup, Scottish oatmeal porridge with, sweet, fruity or spicy add-ins, and a selection of tonics and boosters from Acai berry to lemon powder and beetroot (Yum).
- Where:103-105 West Bow, Edinburgh EH1 2JP
- Contact: +44 (0)131 220 1121
- Visit their website.
Best Market in Edinburgh
Edinburgh Farmers' Market is the place to go for just about everything else on your shopping list. The market is held beneath Edinburgh Castle every Saturday from 9am to 2pm,with between 50 and 60 producers selling meat, game, poultry, cheese, eggs, fruit, vegetables and dairy producs as well as prepared dishes, honey, chocolates and chutneys. The free-range eggs include large duck eggs, and besides organic beef, chicken, lamb and pork, specialties include locally reared venison and water buffalo. If you are renting a holiday flat, here's where to fill the fridge or to buy some goodies to take home.
- Where:Castle Terrace, under Edinburgh Castle
- Contact: +44 (0)131 220 8580
- Visit their website.
