It’s the meal that sets you up for the day, especially when you have hours of sightseeing ahead of you. I am in my home town of Edinburgh and my breakfast of choice would usually be a longed-for Scottish morning roll filled with “proper” bacon from the butcher’s — Ayrshire cut, dry cured and cooked crispy.
But imagine my surprise (and delight) to discover one of my other favourite breakfasts on the menu in a tiny cafe in Canonmills, a 10-minute stroll from the city centre.
Based on the traditional kopitiams found in the Lion City, Singapore Coffee House dishes up authentic Singaporean food incorporating a fusion of Malay, Indian, Chinese and British flavours.
When I say the cafe is tiny, I mean it. There are only four tables of two in a very tight space. When my husband and two daughters arrive it’s full, so we queue in the street until a table becomes available.
Soon, the waiter tells us one table is free. I ask if we can wait until they can fit all four of us in. The reply is yes, but if someone wants the free table before us, they will have to give it away.
The girls graciously offer Andrew and I the free table and it’s not too long before they are ushered inside.
I’m amused by the list of house rules on the wall. Many are as you would expect in any restaurant — no running; no smoking; no littering. Some you would not be surprised to see in Singapore — no chewing gum; no durian. And some would be taken as read (and presumably written with tongue firmly in cheek) — no opium; no singing in public; no swinging of cats.
There are so many of my favourite dishes on the menu, it’s tough to pick just one. Nasi lemak, mutton keema and murtabak are tempting, and it’s hard for me to go past kaya toast and soft egg, but roti canai wins in the end.
And it’s a worthy winner. Two buttery twists of flatbread with the perfect amount of chew, flake and char, served with bowls of fragrant, spicy curry sauce and Nyonya archer — a spicy, sweet and sour pickled vegetable salad that brings great texture and zing to the dish.
I had expected Andrew to order the full cooked breakfast which features one of his favourite Scottish treats — haggis — as well as Indian accents of sambal chilli tomato, spiced potato dumplings, house masala beans and roti prata, alongside the usual bacon, sausage, mushrooms and fried egg. But he too has been swayed by the roti canai.
We are partial to a curry puff when we visit Singapore, and are excited to see a potato, paneer & pea version on the menu. They are obviously popular. As we place our order, we are told today’s curry puffs are almost sold out (they are freshly baked every day, available from 9am, and it’s now 10.30am). There is only one left.
We share, but the crispy spiral pastry, fragrantly spiced filling and generous accompaniment of mango chutney leaves us wishing we had one each.
A perfectly pulled teh tarik tops off an unexpected foray into South-East Asia, and we are now ready for a morning mooching around the Scottish capital.
The Edinburgh Royal Botanic Garden is just round the corner, and despite it being the depths of winter, it’s still worthy of a wander. There are pops of pink in some winter-blooming roses and rhododendrons, and bushes abundant with red berries will give the garden’s many squirrels a tasty treat. The Queen Mother’s Memorial Garden is mostly bare at this time of year, but the Shell House at the end of the garden, which was erected in 2006 to honour the late Queen Mother, is as pretty as ever.
We leave the gardens via the West Gate and make our way through Stockbridge, one of the capital’s best neighbourhoods. There’s a great selection of cafes and independent shops here. We pop into Independent Zebra which stocks interesting gifts, art, jewellery and homewares from artists and makers from across the UK.
Bookworms will love a browse in Rare Birds. The bookshop is dedicated entirely to women’s writing and we find a vast array of genres here.
Singh Street Cha is a lovely spot for morning tea — but don’t expect bog-standard tea at this family-run business. It specialises in authentic Punjabi-style cha brewed with fresh spices. We order Punjabi masala cha which is rich and aromatic with fennel, cardamom, ginger, clove and cinnamon. Anya tries the chocolate version, which is just as flavourful. There is also a Kashmiri saffron rose cha on the menu. We are still full after our breakfast, but there are some impressive-looking sweet treats in the cabinet and a selection of sweet and savoury samosas that sound delicious.
I.J. Mellis is an Edinburgh institution. The cheesemonger has been selling farmhouse and artisan cheese for over 30 years. The store on Bakers Place is one of three in the city, and you will most likely smell it before you see it. The selection of cheeses on offer has to be seen to be believed. On a summer’s day, it would be the perfect place to pick up some goodies for a sophisticated picnic.
Look up Edinburgh on Instagram or TikTok and I can guarantee Circus Lane will be on nearly every “must-do” post you find. The curved cobbled street was originally used to house the horses and carriages of the wealthy owners of the grand Georgian homes nearby. It is picturesque, especially in the summer when the converted mews houses are laden with colourful floral hanging baskets. And it is a nice diversion to make on your way up into the city centre. However, be prepared to vie for space with the rest of the tourists.
Every one of those Edinburgh guides would tell us to make our way down into the Dean Village next. I personally think it’s overrated, but I lived here for 40 years, so maybe I’m jaded. Don’t completely discount it.
We are headed towards the east end of Princes Street, so instead, we meander through the New Town, admiring its neoclassic, Georgian sandstone architecture. Built in stages, between 1767 and 1850, the New Town was created to alleviate overcrowding within the city walls of the Old Town, which had become crime and disease-ridden.
A competition was held for a design to expand the city beyond the medieval walls, so that those with the means could move into grander properties on the other side of what is now Princes Street Gardens.
The winner was an unknown 23-year-old architect called James Craig. He envisaged a grid system of three broad streets running east to west — bisected by smaller streets running north to south — with grand squares at either end. Although it is a common design in modern planning, his creative approach was the first example of co-ordinated town planning in the UK.
Renowned architects Robert Adam and William Playfair were instrumental in designing many of the New Town’s buildings. You can see one of Adam’s best examples in Charlotte Square. The terrace of houses fronted by a symmetrical, neoclassical palace facade would have been one of the city’s most prestigious addresses.
And it still is today. No.6 Charlotte Square is where Scotland’s First Minister resides. No.7 is a restored Georgian dwelling owned by the National Trust for Scotland. The Georgian House is currently undergoing conservation work but will be open to the public later in the year. The property gives insights into the lifestyles of those who worked and lived here in the late 18th and early 19th centuries.
As well as an impressive list of New Town houses and monuments, Playfair designed St Stephen’s Church which we passed as we left Circus Lane. And we are making our way towards one of his most recognisable monuments next.
The Dugald Stewart monument, which pays tribute to one of the leading figures of the 18th century Scottish Enlightenment, sits at the top of Calton Hill. It’s one of my favourite places to take in the city’s skyline.
After a short, easy walk up the hill from Waterloo Place we are rewarded with panoramic views across the Old and New Towns, towards Arthur Seat and Edinburgh Castle, and out over the Firth of Forth towards Fife.
After all this walking, it might be time to start thinking about lunch.
Try some of these excellent city centre lunch spots
Modern British
Howies (Waterloo Place and Victoria Street)
The Ivy on the Square (St Andrew’s Square)
Seafood
Fishers in the City (Thistle Street)
Cadiz (George Street)
Indian
Mowgli (Hanover Street)
Dishoom (St Andrew Square)
Thai
Ka Pao (St James Quarter)
Nok’s Kitchen on Stockbridge (Gloucester Street)
Italian
Contini (George Street)
Vittoria on the Bridge (George IV Bridge)
French
Cafe Marlayne (Thistle Street)
Petit Paris (Grassmarket)
