Cafe Portrait in Edinburgh, City of

The woman did not even explain what is it that came with the meal, which was also not explained in any signage. A small coffee and snack we wanted turned out to be 38 pounds and the woman was VERY rude about us being confused and blamed it all on us for “telling her we wanted the salad”. Horrible, rude service. Would not recommend for a snack. Plus, burnt quiche.

The menu and cakes can be a bit odd for my liking. The staff starts to close off tables 2 hours before closing time!! Great location though and big space for sitting. Hot drinks are normal.

I like the building and café area. The coffees are OK and the cakes a little better. But be aware that their closing times are not quite correct. The café closing time is 16:30 but that is last orders for coffee and cake. Arriving at just before 15:00 we found all the hot food had been packed away and the kitchen closed. Yes, coffee and cakes were being sold up to 16:30 but cleaning starts before 16:00. Tables and chairs are scrapped on the floor, then lifted and banged down. It seemed that the staff went out of their way to make as much noise as possible, hinting to the customs that the were not welcomed.

This is one of my favourite cafes in Edinburgh. It is quiet. No annoying background music. Minor issue is the lack of notable local or Scottish produce. Maybe there is but there is no way to tell.

I checked the website and noted that last orders at the café were at 4:30. Arriving at 3:00 we found all the hot food cleared and display cabinets being cleaned. Cakes only. Oh well. We ordered flat whites and a courgette, pistachio & ginger cake. The cake was a bit pricey but was good. Whilst it lacked the taste of ginger, the top was enjoyable. The coffees so so. I like the dining room. The feel, the look, the buzz. But I was put off by the floors being swept and tables cleaned down at 4:00. Why, if a café’s last orders are at 4:30, do they start cleaning at 3:00 ??? The cleaner is sweeping around the tables, scraping chairs, buckets being dropped on the floor. It really doesn’t help the customer feel welcomed. You have a good product and a nice room. Please don’t spoil it.

Went here after meaning to go for a long time, and it was worth it. The café is in a large well lit room with comfortable seats and many tables. The café is in the National Portrait Gallery and serves salads, baked savoury and sweet goods, together with hot and cold drinks. The salads are excellent, and can be eaten with sandwiches, pasties or sausage rolls. There is a good choice of cakes for later with tea, coffee or alcoholic drinks. Prices are not cheap, but the quality of the food and drinks is very good. Service is also brisk and efficient.

Not great ! Almost no vegan options .. a couple of uninspiring salads only. No hot food. And very expensive for mediocre and small portions of the salad. Most places these days have at least a couple of vegan options that non vegans can also enjoy. Won’t be back.

Comfortable place to catch up with friends. Spacious venue with plenty of tables to enjoy the varied selection of meals, snacks and drinks.

I love how creative they are with their desserts! Vegan options always available. Great space and variety of teas. Coffee is good as well. Staff are always friendly. Child friendly- lots of space for buggy/pram with an optional buggy park - accessible.

Great food nice service good atmosphere 👍

From the atmosphere to the tastes and the staff, this place is so good. It’s a very good stop when you need a break for a coffee. They have very good pastries. It’s a self service place where you’ll need to get yourself a tray when choosing what to eat. Pro tip: they also have lockers that work with a coin of £1 inside

Delicious food, and plenty of choices. Service at lunchtime was really quick, and staff were all friendly and helpful. The cafe itself is in a lovely part of the museum, and it was nice to eat and take in the artwork and architecture

Enjoyed my visit .Good food and coffee

Very good brunch. Friendly staff in a lovely big and airy restaurant

Today, I ventured into the cafe for the first time. Despite the bustling atmosphere, the counter brimmed with tempting food and cakes. I savored a delightful soup with cheese mustard scones, a steal at £8. The friendly staff made the experience even better. I'll definitely be back for more!

Delicious lunch, pastries and cafes. We ate a great salad, soup, freshly made sandwiches and cakes. Food in Scottish museums is just excellent.

All very delicious but quite expensive.

Can't say I was impressed. Overpriced. Nearly £23 for two cakes , a coffee and a bottle of juice. Service was chaotic at best.

This place should be called Viper's Club, and unless you wanna get poisoned, I wouldn't eat here. The General Manager should get more training as the people working there are not "slaves" as she called them and shouldn't be used as such.

I was there for lunch and the soup had a bit of a funny taste, like 2 soups were mixed into one and very watery. The scones look like they were tossed through flour as they were so covered in it, which could cause serious digestive problems. The coffee could also be better. The staff here needs serious training

I didn't like that much the coffee they were serving (it was still good) but the pastry and the atmosphere were excellent !

Nice place to chill out. The ballet was very good, and the banana split I had was greenish. I'm going back tomorrow and on Thursday for the hell of it.

Not too bad. Decaf coffee potable.

My visit to the cafe was truly exceptional. The inviting ambiance, coupled with the warm and friendly service, created a perfect setting. The food surpassed all expectations – each dish was a delightful symphony of flavors. This cafe has certainly earned a top spot on my list for future culinary adventures!

The cafe is a really frustrating place to visit as the size of the hot food portions are so inconsistent. They can generous, but more often than not they are miniscule to the point of being insulting, particularly given the price. I won't be rushing back as placing an order for hot food is like spinning a roulette wheel to see how lucky or unlucky you'll be.

Tasty food, but a bit pricey (as you'd expect here in the capital). Very crowded at lunchtime.

Afternoon tea was fantastic. The gluten free platter that Riley created was scrumptious. The gluten free scones were the best I've ever had. Whole experience and the gluten and gluten free selection was well thought out.

Reasonable food but the staff seemed a bit vacant, I suggest it needs better management.

Good selection of hot dishes, salad (the Galleries cafes all do amazing salads, sorry no photos!) and a wide range of cakes. This cafe is quite large so it's easier to get a table than at Modern One, and the location close to St James Quarter makes it an easy meeting point even if you're not visiting the gallery itself.

Nice food but takes forever to get any. The queue at the counter doesn't move at all. The venue is really nice, beautiful tall windows and lots of light. The service needs improvement. The tables are not cleared promptly, so customers have to shift dirty crockery to find a seat.

Beautifully cooked food - lovely quiche with great pastry and a fresh, tasty salad. That was great but the Apple and cinnamon pie was the best I’ve tasted for a long time,

Lovely place to visit and plenty to see and a nice canteen.

A bit of a log jam at tills but staff pleasant enough. Salad fresh, colourful and delicious.

Hemos comido bien, un menú de sopa y bocadillo a un precio razonable

You get to enjoy the art gallery with a great space. Best hot chocolate I tasted in my trip and prices are reasonable

I had the best hot chocolate in Edinburgh here😍😭

Came here for an afternoon tea with a friend and her baby. Plenty of room to manoeuvre a pram in and around cafe. Allergies and diet requirements were perfectly catered for. Afternoon tea was impressive with 4 savoury items, soup, 2 scones, and 4 sweet treats to try, per person. Bring an appetite! Food was lovely and atmosphere was great. Staff were attentive and accommodating.

I like it .. the coffee and chocolate 🍫 cake was delicious

We booked an afternoon tea in advance for our trip to Edinburgh. We had to make the reservation through email, and the process went smoothly. They asked about food allergies and accommodated what they could and explained what they could not. The food was great, the service was great, and we all enjoyed the experience.

Food was brilliant and quick although the soup was a bit pricy for what I could see on the cup.

Though a little on the expensive side, high quality cafe food and a very welcoming atmosphere for all. Good for little people as they have entertainment for the galleries you can use (pencils, paper, etc) to keep them distracted!

Love this cafe. Fantastic choice of sandwiches and salads for lunch AND a hugely tempting array of delicious cakes.

The café is located on the ground floor of the National Portrait Gallery. We took a much-needed coffee break whilst visiting the gallery. The coffee was good quality, two flat whites cost £6.20.

Excellent food, wide choice, beautiful environment and building, good coffee

Been coming to this lovely cafe for many years and never been disappointed, the quality of food as always been excellent from the salads to the hot food, good luck to Jay in his new job

Quality coffee ....not!£3.10 for a badly made coffee is not acceptable these days. Also cafe feels like they don't have to tell the customers they are purchasing a vegan cake/muffin(nothing mention vegan, gf or any dietary restrictions). Service was brutally slow. Waited 15mins at the counter for 2 flat whites, had 2 lattes ahead of me, after the 15mins of standing waiting finally had to sit down and ask to call me when coffees were ready...finally got the coffee, very disappointing. Fruit scone was good though.

De las mejores pastelerías que probé en Edinburgo. Además los precios son excelentes. Recomiendo visitar el museo y terminar con un té y algo rico.

Generally I like the atmosphere of this cafe. But the soup I had was the worst soup I have ever eaten. It was over priced, watery and weak. I reccon they need to change their soup recipes. I see that I am not the only person noticed this while scrolling through the comments.

Coffee, good. Cakes and scones, good. But the soup, watery, not very tasty. Will stick to the sweets in future.

Love it here. Fabulous gallery, bright and quite spacious cafe, and great food (especially for vegetarians too).

We were visiting the Scottish National Portrait Gallery, and popped in for a hot drink after being caught in the rain. With the pot of tea, we also ordered the two types of scones, including one with fruits. The scones came with butter but not with clotted cream. They were pretty fresh, and a nice size - looked craggy like Ben Nevis. Tastewise, they were okay. They do serve high tea from 230 pm, and I was told reservations might be needed especially on the weekends.

We were visiting the Scottish National Portrait Gallery, and popped in for a hot drink after being caught in the rain. With the pot of tea, we also ordered the two types of scones, including one with fruits. The scones came with butter but not with clotted cream. They were pretty fresh, and a nice size - looked craggy like Ben Nevis. Tastewise, they were okay.

Had not visitedCafe Portrait for a while but had a very enjoyable lunch with friends Had sweet potato salad very tasty and the salad very fresh finished with coffee and cakes the butternut squash cake was lovely and attractively decorated. The girls behind the counter we’re as usual very friendly and as always very helpful. Will be back again soon

Food was bland and when my friend asked what sandwiches there where she was bluntly told “there’s a sign” only good thing was the coffee. The cafe let down the experience big time. If I knew my staff where speaking to customers like this I would not be happy.

Disappointing that those who cannot eat/do not like spice, herbs or other ingredients being added to scones or sweet items (often on the dry side - stale?) What is wrong with providing a croissant with butter/jam or a plain biscuit? Very disappointing as this is a good venue for meeting up with friends.

Terrific high tea. Not a fancy setting, but about 20 pounds instead of 40. Amazing scones, excellent tea. A bit confusing when you arrive. Book on line, but then just go to the cashier on the cafe line and tell them you reserved high tea. Recommend exploring the gallery with audio tour beforehand.

Nice place to eat lunch, good food at a nice price. A bit noisy place because of the acoustics of the building. Free entrance to the national gallery which is located in the same building.

**UPDATED REVIEW** I have reached out to the cafe manager via email and was met with a sincere apology and the promise of a complimentary visit. We appreciate that they owned up to their mistake of putting us down on the wrong date and were actively trying to compensate for our disappointing experience. Made several email exchanges to book afternoon tea with a friend who loves art and museum. Arrived at the cafe and showed staffs the confirmation email. Was told that my name was not on the system and they couldn't do anything about it. No apologies and was simply offered to book for another day. My friend who was leaving Edinburgh the next day was thoroughly disappointed....

Food looked amazing although Victoria sandwich extremely dry. It was the rude staff we couldn’t get over, unfortunately ladies who think themselves so important. Dictating about the queue although she had previously stated’ anyone for just drinks’ when I bypassed the others getting main meals she made a scene. I did point out she had invited people up the line and she wasn’t actually doing anything. We only stopped there to waste some time before our train, shame they had such an unfriendly attitude as nice cafe.

Cafetería del museo. Lugar limpio, con rico café y scones

Lovely cafe - plenty of space and good choice of food.

We go to this cafe for the good food and atmosphere, but dearly wish they would change their coffee supplier. The coffee is bitter and certainly the worst we have tasted in Edinburgh. Our friends agree.

Wonderful selection of fab cakes etc. Nice to natter after the museum.

Afternoon tea delicioso en una salita tranquila y personal encantador todo el rato pendientes de nosotros. Excelente calidad/ precio.

Good service and nice people . Big plate of yummie things

Beautiful room. Staff friendly and helpful. Coffee and scone fresh and tasty.

I came here for afternoon tea with my friends. The food was great and the staff were very friendly and helpful in advising my friend on her dietary requirements. I would definitely recommend this to others.

It serves coffee, and is a nice place to sir.

Date slice. Good size and heat coffees. Spacious. Clean. Portraits. Ambience.

Lovely food, the salad bar is good value for money with a tempting selection of dishes. Good service from polite, helpful staff.

Coffee slightly cold. Good range of eats. Service slow. Pleasant atmosphere.

We booked an afternoon tea between four of us (one vegetarian) and can safely say this is one of the best cream teas we have ever had. The service was outstanding, the food fresh and tasty and there were nice local touches with the food itself. Fantastic experience, would definitely go again.

Food was alright when it finally arrived. Afternoon tea had been booked but staff didn't know so food took a while to come. Waitress split milk over the table (accidents happen) but took a while to come and clean it, then took a while to bring us a new cup and milk. The milk did spill on my friend's jacket and it will now need washed. I felt we should've been given some money off the bill as the service and food is NOT worth £27.50 per person. Staff were friendly enough but the place is obviously not organised.

Had a really lovely afternoon tea with friends yesterday. The venue was very pleasant and the food and service excellent. Hadn’t thought of this as an afternoon tea recommendation before I went but I have to say this was the nicest afternoon tea that I have had. The enthusiastic discussion of the merits of local tea was a great touch

Lovely to be back here drinking great coffee and eating scones beneath some wonderful portraits.It has changed a bit to accommodate some distancing. Areas constantly cleaned by the lovely staff.Christmas cards and baubles in the shop on the way out.

Good quality food and service. Always consistent. Reasonably priced for what you get.

The best thing about this experience- portrait gallery - was the café. First they gave us a token for the lockers so we didn't need to carry our suitcase with us but then produced the food at the end. Service was slow until the lady called for reinforcements but then all was great. I went for jacket potato with cheddar cheese and leek and had salad leaves and beetroot and plum salad divine! Wife had same but parsnip and plum salad. Too heavy on parsnip for me but she loved it. Excellent value.

Lovely food and nice roomy dining area

Tasty food in an excellent place. The portrait gallery is also a fantastic visit.

The food was nice enough but there were other issues that took away from the experience. First the booking form asks for any dietary requirements where I specified some of the party are vegetarian. You would think that the catering industry of all people would...

Unfortunately I am having to write this review because of lack of response to an incident.My wife and I visited two weeks ago for afternoon tea one of which was gluten free as my wife is coeliac this was to be a treat for her.The...

Beautiful building, art and cafe with luscious food.

오늘 이곳에서 디카페인티 2잔과 핫초코 1잔, 스콘 2개, 초코브라우니 1개를 주문했습니다. 티를 마시려고보니 직원이 필터를 주지않아 다시 가서 요청했고, 스콘을 먹는데 식었고 딱딱했습니다. 영국에서 이렇게 맛없는 스콘은 처음이었습니다. 디카페인티를 요청했는데 머리가 아픈걸로 봐서는 디카페인티도 맞게 주었는지 잘 모르겠습니다.

Good place to visit after wandering round the gallery. Good prices for food and drinks with reasonably comfortable seating options.

A nice cafe with a good selection of food but completely overpriced. It was £5 for a bowl of soup which was mostly water and half a slice of bread. You won't find a cake for less than £3 and they're tiny. It's a shame because it's got lots fo tables and is set beautifully in the portrait gallery but it's just not good value at all.

It's OK but the cafe is not as pretty as it looks in pictures. It's just a regular cafe.

Expensive drinks for what it was they even forgot the milk for the tea

Clean bright and offering a pleasant mixture of food and refreshments. Service is very good. Easy off the street access for mums/grannies buggy pushing. Good clean toilets.

Lovely central place to meet friends for coffee

1st time visit to NPG , coffee n cake excellent under the stare of Iain Banks+ Muriel Spark 😊🏴󠁧󠁢󠁳󠁣󠁴󠁿

Lovely to be back. Tasty sandwiches and tray bakes. Tables well spaced out, very clean and airy.

Perfect space. Delicious eats.

A spacious room. The salads looked tempting, but alas I was only there for a coffee.

Lovely cafe with good covid precautions, food was ok, desserts were delicious, plus a really great range of options. 1 thing is the options for food are pretty limited, most of the options include double salad options? A wider range of more mix and match options would be really make it feel more well rounded.

We didn't have anything in the cafe sa we had trouble trying to enter in our test and trace details. There weren't anybody else before or behind us in the queue but the staff saw us struggling and didn't bother to help us. So we went to Contin on George Street and the staff there were very helpful.

Beautiful building and art. A trip of history through the ones who lived it. The variety of styles and art period ensures that there's something for everyone. The cafe is also a great place to sit down and enjoy good food with good tea. One of my favourite galleries in the city

Amazing food and gorgeous surroundings

Today I visited the gallery and met up with a friend whom I haven’t seen in months in the cafe . The cafe was very well laid out and had well routed safety measures in place. All staff were wearing masks and were friendly and...

I read in the Rick Steve's travel guide on Edinburgh that Cafe Portrait was a must-visit when at the Scottish National Portrait Gallery. He was right! It was a very good meal, though a bit expensive for what you are getting. A nice croissant sandwich...

What's not to like? A venue full of some of the finest art in Scotland. A buzzy somewhat quirky clientele drawn from the douthy denizens of Edinburgh. People watching at its finest with pricy but quality well served food while overlooked by some highly watchable portraiture and occasionally one of the artists themselves having a quick paint spattered lunch. Usually busy at lunch.