PULSE PlantBased HomeCooking — Restaurant in City of Edinburgh

How on earth has this place been flying under the radar for the last year or so? Pulse is a revelation of colour, flavour and good vibes. It's situated within an old church building on the corner of Lothian road and Princes Street and when you come inside it is such a relaxing contrast to the maddening crowds. It feels like you could be entering some underground Parisian bistro with it's beautiful stone arches and the eclectic jazzy music. The menu is completely plant based and has a healthy ethos so there's very little sugar, nothing fried, nothing processed, yet they manage this without compromising on taste. Each dish is bursting with multiple flavours - here is a place you you can meet your 30 different plants a week recommendation in just one sitting! Everything we ate was just divine, but especially impressed with the vegan cakes. So light and delicious, but with no eggs or butter which was almost unbelievable.

The menu is pleasingly succinct and updated regularly, with fresh seasonal organic ingredients. We enjoyed our food here even more than in a very fancy gourmet restaurant a few weeks ago, yet the prices at Pulse are incredibly reasonable for their high standard of fare.

We also very much enjoyed chatting to one of the owners Mark who was so warm and engaging. His effusive passion for sustainable, delicious plant based food was really inspiring and he also generously gave us some cake to take home too. Thank you Mark! We didn't get a chance to meet his wife Ayshe who does all the incredible cooking but we are hoping to do one of her cooking classes that they...

Oh I so wanted to give this five stars! The concept is great, the place could be absolutely amazing but sadly our experience was a little underwhelming. First off the ladies who served us were super friendly and attentive and deserve so much credit for keeping the energy of the place up. Sadly the sweet, and friendly man whose wife does the cooking, was buzzing around looking quite stressed most of our visit and this brought the positive energy down a fair bit. Added to which, what I really wanted to eat was tofu scramble but the menu had this down as being served on sourdough which sadly wasn't an option for my gluten-intolerant self. When I asked if there were gluten-free alternatives, I was told that yes, there were oatcakes but they couldn't serve these with the tofu as the texture would be all wrong. I TOTALLY get that as a chef, the person who created the dish didn't want to deviate from what it SHOULD taste like. However, as a customer, I would like the option to have a potentially sub-par version of the meal I REALLY wanted, rather than having to settle for something else. It's a real shame as I can see from other reviews that it's a beloved spot...

This place is such a joy and my new go-to vegan place whenever I'm in Edinburgh. It's nestled in nicely near the church at the bottom of Princes Street, and the café is hard to spot if you're not sure what you're looking for. But if you are looking for it, it's going to be so worth it. Every single member of staff was so welcoming, forthcoming, and kind, I would just go back for this reason alone. But the interior and exterior seating is also beautifully decorated and made to feel really homely. Now to the important part: the food. Two words: mind. blowing. Someone recommended Pulse, saying they don't normally enjoy eating out because their home-cooked food tastes better than the vegan cuisine in most restaurants - with Pulse as the exception. And boy, were they correct! I had coffee and cake, and later some salad and delicious bread with the tastiest spread I've ever had. My friend's soup and salad was equally delicious. And just look at the presentation! I'd give more than 5 stars if I could, and I'm already excited for my next...