Krem Karamel Cafe & More — Restaurant in City of Edinburgh

I had a great time at Krem Karamel, was well looked after and had some delightfully delicious food.

However, an important caveat is that I'm writing this review after only one visit, and I generally try not to. I'm breaking that best practice as Krem Karamel is brand new, and customer write-ups are beneficial in these early days. It means I'm judging the bookshop and cafe before it's really practised in the running day to day business and also when its own aspirations are high.

In fact, I visited on the busy lunch hour on day two of operation. It may have been their first lunch rush, and it was busy, with a queue out the door (albeit briefly) on one occasion. You could tell that the friendly team where under pressure, with orders coming in more swiftly than Krem Karamel would like to deal with them. You could also see that the owner was at the front lines, helping out, and all the staff were doing their best to make sure customers were being looked after.

I suspect I waited longer than management would like, but I didn't mind. The cafe is bright, with windows out on Inverleith Row, comfortable seats, and a pleasant atmosphere.

Tip: You can pop in for a coffee or tea takeaway, and you can provide your own reusable mug.

I think Krem Karamel's background as a business is in cakes, so I ordered a soup with bread, a black coffee and a Victoria Sponge. I'm so glad I did! The Victoria Sponge was outstanding! So light, so fluffy, so perfectly balanced. It will be a struggle not to order it the next time I return because it was that good. It meant not going for the cheesecake, Red Velvet Cake, or any baked goods. So, yeah, I'll try and resist the lure of the sponge and test these other options.

I plan to go back. I'm already eyeing my calendar to see when I can next swing buy. I'll update this review if necessary, but my sense is that Krem Karamel will only get better.

I ordered soup without asking what it was (I was really going for the low-calorie option to help justify eating the sponge) and it was also delicious. It turned out to be a lentil soup but with a Turkish influence! That's a less robust lentil soup than I'm used to. It's smoother, with a pleasant after kick, and the bread it came with had been warmed! Warmed soup and lentil soup! My goodness, why don't more places do this?

Turning up on what might be the first lunch rush the cafe experienced might also be judging the staff and venue on their worst day ever. It may never get more stressful for the team there than today - and they did really well, even if there was a bit of a wait. You could argue that I'm writing this review early, but I counter I've tested Krem Karamel in the crucible and seen it succeed with aplomb!

I didn't, however, get a chance to check out their book selection. Krem Karamel does have "bookshop" in their title. The opening week options included a well-stocked bookcase, but only a bookcase, and it'll be interesting to see how this evolves.

I think you should check out this Inverleith newcomer, and it's close to East Gate to the Botanical Gardens, absolutely a venue to consider on your way to or from there.

May 22 update: It's even better now

[January 23 update] A few more tables squeezed in as the cafe is often busy at lunch

[March 23 update] Operational improvements noticed.

[May 23 update] Rearranged tables inside helps slightly larger groups

[August 23 update] New jar cakes are superb!

[December 23 update] Lovely Christmas cakes and vibe!

[January 24 update] Now on Squid

[March 25 update] Improved internal...

I had got a slice of one of their honey cakes from a cafe local to myself and I gave it to my friend to try as she was newly engaged and she and her now husband love the honey cake and it’s very particular to make. My friend tried the cake and fell in love so when it was coming up to the wedding, I knew what I had to do. I went to the cafe and explained that this will be the wedding cake and that I would like to collect it the day before the wedding (the wedding was the 26th, I was to collect the cake on the 25th), I had also prepaid the cake in full to secure the booking. Days before the wedding I checked to see when the cafe would be open and to my surprise they don’t open on Mondays which is strange as I was meant to collect the cake on Monday but wasn’t informed of the cafe being closed on that day. I was obviously stressed and panicking as this was a surprise for my friend. I reached out to them on Facebook messenger but there was no answer, I tried calling them but no answer and I physically went there in the hopes the baker would be there making up the cakes but sadly no. On the morning of the wedding, I called them and thankfully I got through to someone, who, after some time, did tell me that the cake was there for me to collect - there was no apology given despite me mentioning that I was to collect it the day before however was unable to due to them being closed and this closure not being communicated to me. When we went to collect the cake (myself, another guest, the bride and the groom) there was a misunderstanding as to if I had paid for the cake or not. We ended up getting the cake after the assistant called who I can only imagine was her boss. The cake itself was delightful and everyone loved it however the service provided left a bitter taste in my mouth. When I first went in to discuss preordering the cake, I wasn’t made to feel welcomed, if anything there was a bit of a standoffish attitude towards me. I just shook it off and didn’t think much of it as again, this was for a wedding so I’ll put my personal feelings to the side. The cake was great but the communication left much to be desired. I’d consider other places to consider for important occasions as I wouldn’t want anyone else to feel like how I felt over the...

Overall - Krem Karamel is a lovely little corner cafe! Polite and very accommodating staff. Beautifully decorated with a nice selection of books to read should you so choose. The atmosphere is relaxed and ambient very nice to sit in and take a load off after a nice walk. Breakdown Coffee - Decent, though a little bitter and sharp tasting (having worked in the coffee industry for 7 years I have developed a nose for it) I wouldn't recommend an espresso or anything black if you don't usually add sugar to your drink but a dash of hot milk to cut through or perhaps a Flat White would be perfect. Food - So we only ordered one thing and that was the Basque Cheesecake! Oh my goodness I don't think I could rave about this cake more!! This was so well prepared and perfectly baked. Whoever made it should be incredibly proud. Even my husband (who loathes cheesecake) was blown away by it and ended up eating more of than me 😅 It is definitely a reason to want to come back again with my girlfriends so they too...