IN ASSOCIATION WITH STUDENT GUIDE | EAT & DRINK
BEST CAFES
We pick out some of Glasgow and Edinburgh’s best spots for a coffee, cake and for working in
Saramago Saraamago
GLASGOW W ith a wide range of independent cafés across the city, you’ll never need to spend money in Starbucks again. Instead save your pennies for Glasgow’s West End branch of Artisan Roast, which offers great coffee in its quirky, chilled-out Gibson Street venue. Or pop next door and sink into the deep comfy couches of Offshore; a perfect studying alternative to the library, with great snacks and free wii .
Then again, you could head round to Byres Road and try Avenue G’s top-quality coffee and locally sourced food, before wandering along to test Smile Café’s award-winning marocchinos. Let’s not forget about Great Western Road’s Papercup Coffee Company (pictured above, left), which roasts only the i nest beans on the market, and Cottonrake, which only has a few seats but provides delicious baked goods. Moving into the city centre, Riverhill Coffee Bar is an easy-to-miss gem, with some of the best cakes in the city and a variety of coffees and hot chocolates. Or walk along to Duke Street, where the stripped back McCune Smith Café offers stimulation for the mind as well as the taste buds – each sandwich is inspired by a i gure of the Scottish Enlightenment.
Over the river in Glasgow’s Southside, Tapa Coffeehouse’s focus on the local, organic and ethical will allow you to feel good about tucking into a bacon and eggs breakfast. There’s also No Way Back, owned by DJ Kenny Grieve, which serves a range of tacos, sandwiches and drinks, including coffee from local roasters Dear Green. (Claire Flynn)
EDINBURGH W herever you go in Edinburgh, its cafés and coffee shops are i lled with dreamy nooks and crannies for reading, working or just cosying-up. In the Old Town, you’ll i nd long-standing student favourite Black Medicine on Drummond Street; grab a window seat for the perfect people-watching spot. Across the road, BrewLab is the local coffee connoisseur’s choice. Look out for its cold brew coffee on a hot day too.
Wander a little further south and you’ll i nd Kilimanjaro, another longtime student haunt; there’s a wide-choice of excellent teas here, so it’s a great café for non-coffee drinkers too. Nearby, the relatively new and already much-loved Filament Coffee keeps it simple, with a small menu that’s divided into Coffee and Not Coffee.
Over in the New Town, Edinburgh’s own branch of Artisan Roast on Broughton Street does good coffee in relaxed surroundings – but there’s no wii here, so leave your laptop at home. Further west, the Caffeine Drip on Melville Place offers affordable coffee too, with an excellent South African-inl uenced food menu. And near Haymarket, Milk is an excellent choice for coffee in bright, fresh surroundings. Looking for something sweet on the side? West Port’s Lovecrumbs offers some of the city’s i nest coffee and cake, with cosy window seats for lone readers and large tables for big groups. And on the few occasions that the sun appears, get in line at Mary’s Milk Bar for some i rst-rate gelato. They also do a mean line in hot chocolate, so you’ll win there at any time of year. (Yasmin Sulaiman)
3 Sep–5 Nov 2015 THE LIST 101