Meanwhile Cafe

This used to be I Heart Café, and it was my absolute favourite café in Edinburgh. I would frequently come in for breakfast, stay for lunch, drinking lots of wonderful coffee and tea and eating way too many amazing pastries in between. It has enough tables that even when it’s busy, it’s seldom crowded, and between that and the free wifi it was a fantastic place to study — you wouldn’t be taking up a space they could fill with higher paying customers, and everything was so delicious it was no problem to keep paying rent on your table anyway.
It was taken over by new management a few months ago. It is still a perfectly fine café, but all the things that made it really stand out are gone. The recently redesigned menu is missing their amazing American pancakes with bacon and golden syrup. (Who would have thought of that combination? It’s delicious!) The music selection has been downgraded from a great eclectic mix of Buddy Holly and indie pop to generic soft-​rock muzak. They seem to have implemented a new policy of not clearing away your plate while you’re still there, I can only assume to discourage lingering, even though there is still plenty of space. Even the great battling «Batman or Superman? Puppies or Kittens?» tip jars I used to always put money into are gone. The food that’s there is still great, but there’s much less of it — no more pastry case overflowing with three quiche options, two types of cake, traybakes, scones, weird salads…
The coffee is still good. The staff are still friendly. The location is still lovely, and they still don’t yell at you if you accidentally doze off on the couch for a couple minutes. There is still cake and there is still quiche, and they do a pretty good veggie breakfast, although it just doesn’t measure up to their American pancakes.
So, still a nice place to grab a coffee with friends, but no personality any more, and nothing really outstanding. Sadly, not a great place to sit and spend £30 over the day on delicious munchies and coffee while studying any more. I guess I’m off to Starbucks…

You’re enjoying your perfect flat white, freaking out over the deliciousness of your eggs benedict, meanwhile…
…your eyes look out of the giant windows at the passers-​by on leith walk. You could sit here all day, listening to the buzz in the background, the cosy music, sinking deep into the dark red leather cushions of the vintage sofa… but wait! You might become hungry over all this daydreaming? There is a solution: Mouth-​watering cake is awaiting you at the counter, right next to the very healthy-​beasty looking salads.
After the cake, you’ll feel happy, happy, happy, and maybe a bit guilty, because you know you’ll come here for more. More cake, more coffee and lemonade (Fentimans). This is at least how I feel, living way to far away right now to get there in time for breakfast but I can only recommend you go there and find out for yourself — it’s magic.

Okay. I feel highly conflicted on my four star rating here – I’m almost tempted to give the Meanwhile full five treatment, but because I only very briefly visited the Meanwhile Café just before it closed for the day, I feel further investigation is due before fully committing.
That’s not to say that when I was there the Meanwhile didn’t charm my pants right off, though! I’ve seen the café several times now in passing, always thinking, «I have got to check out that stinkin’ place!» just based on its huge windows and vintage-​cute vibe. Today I finally managed to squeak in a visit, although I was dismayed to find they didn’t close at five like I’d hoped, but at four.
Of course, in the brief interlude I did have there I managed to poke my nose in as many corners as I could without looking a total Unilocal doofus to the remaining customers. What I hadn’t realized before is that the Meanwhile Café has a serious Superman shtick, as evidenced by chalkboard depictions of the hero, and several portraits in a comfy lounge area: and that’s when the name clicked! I totally dig a good comic book reference, and that coupled with a café in a way that actually makes sense… yeah, it’s safe to say I dig it!
I managed to pester the poor barista into making me a flat white to go and grabbed a veggie sausage pastry along with that to take out. Right, so that said I didn’t actually have to pester him at all. Points for that: a girl shows up 15 minutes before closing, as you’re in the process of cleaning up, and you’re not a grump about serving her? Having been a waitress myself and closing up shops many times before, I totally get it. And yet our hero was perfectly nice and welcoming. Word!
So let’s break it down: my flat white was just about perfect (I love a good flat white!). My veggie sausage pastry: 4 stars, definitely would have been 5 if I hadn’t scarfed it down cold (it was still great!). The display window proffered gluten free and gluten-​full delicacies alike, which I’d obviously like to try next time. Not to mention there was a breakfast menu floating around offering other reasonably priced meals for dining in. The interior was clean, cute, and full of sprawling old sofas. Oh, and the two gigantic windows serve as excellent people-​watching positions for those interested in the lives of the denizens of Leith.
Summary: this place is CUTE. I’m totally coming back. Why oh why, though, does it have to be all the way across town from me? Bummer!