The Old Spence Café — Restaurant in City of Edinburgh

2022 Update; star upgrade as the quality of the food is much improved. It wasn't bad before, it was good, but now it's better. Menu larger too.

I was really pleased to see The Hideout Café arrive on the corner of Charlotte Street and Constitution Street. The location looked like a good one, a corner of a busy intersection and not too far from Leith Links at all but for as long as I had lived in the area the building had been left empty and was approach ruin.

The Hideaway Café swept in, tided the place up and transformed the corner spot into the sweet little nook it should be.

The big attraction of the Hideaway Café is the opposite of what you might expect. The Hideaway is actually a fantastic lookout spot. It has huge windows which are easy to sit near. If you’ve got the time you can sit, drink your tea and watch busy Leith go by.

While the tables aren’t huge and the seats are mainly those old wooden frame jobs the café is actually quite cosy. It would be a tempting place to go sit and read for a bit (and some people do) but it gets a little too busy for me.

While The Hideout Café as a fair range of drinks at sensible prices I find the food menu keeps me from coming back more often. The menu updates every day but isn’t very large. I can’t head out of work, aiming to have lunch at the Café, confident in the knowledge I’ll find something there I’d want to eat. Once we sat down at a table, just after 12, picked something from the blackboard menu only to watch as it was wiped clean and updated with less appetising food. On that occasion we had to abandon the visit and go elsewhere.

“Elsewhere” is a problem for café as although it has a nice spot it is just across the road from the Compass which is very good for food and just up the road from Printworks Coffee and Rocksalt. I think those two alternatives catch more of the workers drifting up from the Shore for a breakfast or lunch. On the flip that, that helps to ensure the Hideaway isn’t overly packed too often (as can sometimes happen at Rocksalt).

There’s a touch of “lifestyle café” to the Hideout but I don’t think that’s a bad thing. It’s not my favourite venue in the area but it’s certainly a consideration.

[June 22 - Place keeps getting better. I noticed it has no shortage...

I left my mum here to have a coffee while I was in a meeting. She ordered a lemon polenta cake and a soy latte. My mum has a serious allergy to gluten and dairy. She asked if they have any gluten-free, vegan cakes to which they said the lemon polenta cake. After my meeting was finished I came back and we left to go to St James Centre. When we arrived she started to feel seriously unwell and she knew that something wasn’t right. We spent around 2.5 hours in the toilet, with her vomiting excessively, lying on the bathroom floor because she could barely stand. This was a horrible day and I felt powerless. I knew she wouldn’t be able to get on the train. I had to ask my friend to come and pick us up, we don’t live locally so it took him well over an hour to arrive. We had to get someone to pick her car up from the train station and drive it to our house so it wasn’t left there over night. What an ordeal. My mum contacted the cafe to tell them what happened and they said they would look into this and call us back, this was about 1.5 months ago. They are definitely not calling back. Avoid if you have...

Cute cafe in Leith! This cafe has some character with the old stereos on display and plenty of seating. I ordered a chai latte and my hubby, an Americano. I got the avocado egg on toast and he got a much yummier chicken avocado wrap. I'd have rated higher had my bacon not been missed and the design on my second latte been a dollop of a mess! They also assumed I'd like a regular size, which was too small and why I got a another in large! Great little place with good service. It appears to be busy on a weekend but is a quaint spot to meet up with friends or do a bit of work.

Update : I've been back and we had some fresh juices. Mine was apple/pear. The size was quite small and so-so (not spectacular). There are a couple outdoor tables and it was nice to some get fresh air! It would have otherwise been like an oven inside sitting my the windows! Won't knock any stars until I've sampled more food! Staff seem friendly and check on...