Natural Food Kafe — Restaurant in City of Edinburgh

A lot of people complaining about the owner being a racist and the devil incarnate , apparently don't understand what real racism is. Then again that's modern society looking at neutering petty offences and showing off about them on social media. This would just be another boring middle class cafe for the health conscious brigade of Edinburgh , were it not for the entertaining character of the owner. They have more herbal teas then you fill a green house shelf with and for a coffee or tea its a perfect place its fine. I've never seen so many brands of Yogi tea as I have when coming into this place. Granted the owner might not be to everyone's taste but the bloke should be a local legend by now not to mention his championing of the arts , every year they stage free fringe shows down in the basement , have what looks like the united nation in and even let them wait in the cafe section without pressing for a buy. Does not sound like a racist or a aggressive business owner to me , in fact sounds like a bloke who cares about his city. What happened to people just using the exit if they are offended by someone I can't understand why people would wait around and give him their time and money if he was not to their taste or he was chatting rubbish to them , two words and a quick turn would end their plight. I have lived and worked over in England and had to put up with worse remarks then some of the English customers on here used to accuse him of being a racist. I have never had any issue with the owner in the half dozen times I have been here granted perhaps I was not the right target or just caught him on a good day , but I can only take as I find. In fact I only like to be served by the owner since the rest of the staff are pretty grumpy looking. This man and his business are a breath of fresh air in a street dominated by sour faced business owners and a lot who can barely answer a simple enquiry in English nevermind Scotch. I've experience much more rudeness in other Edinburgh shops usually where the owner or worker thinks they can get away with it because they are from another country or talk badly about the clients in their native tongue. People need to wake up to the fact that this is what small business's are independently owned and controlled entities run by real people not an Apple PC doctrine. I think the reason this old guy has got so many negative reviews and provoked such anger from the Edinburgh clique , is the fact that he is the rare thing in a Clerk Street business owner , apparently a Scottish Working class guy running a local business in a age of gentrification and vanilla behaviour. I'd much rather deal with the owners bluntness and Alf Garnet with a left leaning kilt then the usual stuck up or grubby service you get in other Edinburgh business's most of the time. The man's unique and natural character should be enjoyed and appreciated before the PC Police take his away. Most shops and cafe's in this part of Edinburgh are staffed by bored rich kid's who just swear at you under their breath that's the future...

I decided to have lunch here based on the name and atmosphere of the cafe; however, the experience was very disappointing and upsetting due to the way the father of the cafe owner spoke about people, including me. He is clearly prejudiced, racist, Nationalist, speaking against Africans, "Democrats (US politics)", black Americans, and from reading the reviews here, others as well. I should have walked out from the start, but unfortunately I stayed, resulting in a bad feeling for the last six hours. I've been wondering why his son is letting his father operate his business. If you read this, Finlay, I hope you strongly consider replacing him with someone else and discussing his malicious and offensive words and views of other human beings, if you haven't already. Finally, I noticed a sign telling customers that if they give the cafe five stars on Google, they can have a coffee for free, which is clearly coercion, and I can imagine the ratings are so high due to this or because they never met...

I ate here today and the experience was amazing. I was only looking for a quick bite to eat before I went to a meeting, and as an international student I am looking to find local small scale restaurants.

I was absolutely blown away by the very kind staff, the man working behind the register who took my order specifically. I told him I was an international student and he even recommended some events to take part in to become acclimated to the city.

I suppose more importantly, in terms of a restaurant, the food was astounding. I tried their meal of the day, a chili chicken salad. Probably one of the best, if not the best salad I have ever had, and definitely one of the best meals I have had in Edinburgh. All for a little under 5 pounds, I was absolutely blown away. The portions were big, the meal was creative and well done.

I can absolutely see myself becoming a regular here. The overall vibe I received was very friendly and welcoming. I'm excited to go back and try another...