Milk

232 Morrison St, Edinburgh EH3 8EA, UK

Editor's Review

The first thing you need to know is that you're not lost. You'll think you are, shuffling down a small residential street in Newhaven, having not seen anything resembling a high street for a good while, but you are on the right track. Fitting for a café built into a sculpture workshop that it should look a little bit like an art installation at first. Really, it's one of Edinburgh's best kept secrets.

Walk down the concrete steps beside the Water of Leith, into a sunken, almost industrial looking square, and that's where you'll find Café Milk. Its interior is in keeping with the exterior — stone floors, bench seats, and large windows sucking the light in. Deliberately minimalist, with no pretension — you feel like it enjoys that it's a place you need to seek out.

The menu is simple, but interesting nonetheless — a small brunch offering, which gives way to a sandwich selection post 11.30am, and a good amount of vegan and gluten free options. A selection of cakes and pastries from Edinburgh favourites like Au Gourmand and The Herbivore Kitchen line the counter too. Feeling so far away from the rest of Edinburgh, Milk can act as a bit of a time capsule — you go there for a quick coffee, and all of a sudden an hour or two has zipped by. Nobody's complaining though — just pray that not too many people find out about it.

Reviewed by Harry Harris