Central Cafe in East Lothian - Phone Number, Reservations, Reviews

Best chippy sauce and excellent fish and chips.

Went because we read they have gluten free options. Queue was large as the other place was closed. Queued for 30 mins to get in the door and eventually decided to walk to the front and ask - turns out they “do, but they have nobody to fry it today”. So it was worth all the angry looks to realize that queuing another hour inside would have been wasted time. Despite a refurbishment this place has been the same for the 10 years I have lived here. They only take the orders when you get to the front of the queue, so they cook everything one by one. The scuttles are never used. Anywhere else you go into will have 10 fish, 5 chicken, a few smoked sausage etc kept hot in the scuttles ready. They’ll cook 3-4 chip loads at once if it is getting busy. And it will take about 30 seconds to put a meal together and ring it up. The only delays are at quiet times when they are cooking to order. This place is the opposite. They cook to order when it is busy despite there being 40 customers waiting. The law of averages suggests there will be 100 meals and 60 of these will be fish, so chuck a load of fish on! Or ask, asking and queuing up your orders in bulk doesn’t take long. But instead of doing these things and having two people wrapping so it takes 20-25 minutes to clear a big queue like this, this place runs each order laboriously from order to fry to packing and sauces to til and only then looks to the next person in line to find out what they could possibly want in a fish and chip shop. Then the whole process starts again….”2 fish and chips? OK we will cook just two fishes and no more. I hope the next person doesn’t want fish again.” The whole thing is accompanied by an air of repressed anger. Not only is each order a fresh surprise (fish and chips??), but an insult to the employees family that is met with dark fury (fish and chips!!). 30 minutes to get in the door and I asked someone and they’d been an hour inside. I heard the boss lady tell someone “I can’t just pull fish out of my arse”. They had presumably been asked something along the lines of “why don’t you at least cook a load of fish now even if you’re not going to take the orders?”. So again, I just left. I’ll try again in another 10 years. It would be quicker to drive to Haddington and get food. It would be quicker if the staff drove to Haddington to get each order one by one! Then they could probably save a lot of money by turning off the unused fryers and scuttles.

The food was quite good, not the best came as a family of five went in the chippy 1st and asked if it was OK to sit in and was greeted with 'aye over there'. Sat down and it was a really dull atmosphere the lady who served us just seemed fed up and uninterested.

Very good food, very nice staff, good prices.

Food was lovely and good value for money compared to others we have visited. Was great they accommodated having a separate fryer with vegetable oil so my daughter could enjoy fish and chips as she doesn't eat meat. Service was good considering how busy it was they were and done their best. Will be back

Was told that they were closed at 19.40 just wanted a bag of chips on Sunday

We visit regularly and the food is excellent. The staff are very professional. Toilets could do with a spruce up though.

My partner and I were looking for a chippy as our usual one was closed so we decided to get food from Central Cafe instead. We called to place an order for collected, we called twice with no answer, when they eventually did pick up the women was very rude over the phone. When I went to pick it up they were very busy so I dismissed the phone call as all the workers looked stressed. I work in hospitality myself so I understand. However when I had received my order and was patiently waiting to pay, the same women from the phone was rude to me again shouted at me asking “what I wanting for?” In hindsight I should of just taken the food without paying because on top of that the food was barely edible, we asked for two pizza crunches with a side of curry sauce, one was as hard as plastic and impossible to chew, the chips looked like mashed potatoes in the box and the curry sauce was tiny and had something green inside of it. My partner was very ill afterwards. Absolutely horrible chippy. I would advise anyone not to go there.

My partner and I were looking for a chippy as our usual one was closed so we decided to get food from Central Cafe instead. We called to place an order for collected, we called twice with no answer, when they eventually did pick up the women was very rude over the phone. When I went to pick it up they were very busy so I dismissed the phone call as all the workers looked stressed. I work in hospitality myself so I understand. However when I had received my order and was patiently waiting to pay, the same women from the phone was rude to me again shouted at me asking “what I wanting for?” In hindsight I should of just taken the food with paying because on top of that the food was barely edible, we asked for two pizza crunches with a side of curry sauce, one was as hard as plastic and impossible to chew, the chips looked like mashed potatoes in the box and the curry sauce was tiny and had something green inside of it. My partner was very ill afterwards. Absolutely horrible chippy. I would advise anyone not to go there.

Tasty, reasonable price, lots of options, prompt service from heaving, crowds out door busy chippy. Top marks deserved

Chips cold, fish and batter greasy. Fish malformed like an aquatic Quasimodo. Staff unkempt in appearance and one member out on street smoking.

Think they forgot my order was ready customer that came in after me got there order then I was asked had i put in a order

Fish was cooked perfectly , great service, friendly helpful staff, really good value for the regular fish supper.

Had a lovely Scottish breakfast and staff were very friendly, thank you 👍

£12.50 for a small fish, hardly enough chips to feed my 12 year old and the fish tasted like the oil was needing changed, left a bad after taste, certainly wouldn’t go back or recommend at all to anyone visiting Dunbar

Went for chips but too early. Had a pot of tea and ice-cream for the grandson. Staff very friendly.

Good fish & chips with down to earth service - will go here again.

Steak Pie or Gristle Pie? This was about a third of the meat in the pie. It was inedible. The other 2 bits were less gristly, just!

The food was excellent freshly cooked and was extremely hot just what you expected was taken away definitely worth a visit if in Dunbar staff friendly and welcoming.

Excellent experience throughout the day

2nd worse fish and chips ever , waited ages , soggy raw batter under the fish. Fish undercooked, chips poor quality, spicy haggis really tasty. Waste of £12, the seagulls supper.

Huge portions. But fish was tasteless chips were nice

Very disappointing fish and chips. Maybe cos we aren’t local and the fish coating is different around these parts? But I’ve never had anything like it at a ‘fish and chip shop’. Chips were poor too. My order came with the wrong side. Service poor. Woman obviously didn’t want to be there, and we felt like an inconvenience.

I had the special! Lasagne, salad and chips. The Lasagne is the worst Lasagne I have ever had. Was certainly not fresh, very stodgy, soogy and overcooked pasta. Just a mushy mess. Stale salad, chips were OK. I complained and was not charged. Member of staff, trying to justify the Lasagne. "Well, we don't actually make the Lasagne, it's bought in" I told them it's their responsibility, to insure the food they serve is of a decent standard. This Lasagne was a shocker!

Large portion of fish with weak fries. Fortunately, I saw the enormous amounts of salt they sprinkled over it at a customer in front of me and I was able to stop it somewhat.

Had a large Haddock tea, fish was Magnificent, fabulous portion of chips, staff very friendly, 10/10.👍

nice place but the chips and fish were soaked with old cooking oil and not really fresh. The burger was terrible (the cheapest possible burger meat coated and fried) I don't recommend it.

Didn't like the food..black pudding I got had no batter on it at all

Truly awful. Chips were terrible - looked and tasted like reheats. Had a panini and couldn't finish it. Not exactly cheap either for food this poor.

Excellent service from young lady, India, visited with our autistic son, made to feel very welcome, nothing too much trouble but significantly, India, picked up very quickly on the disability and was most accomodating, offering to make adjustments and attentive to service around our sons and his needs, we did not expect that in the high street chippy, full marks from us. Food was very good, served prompto and kids loved the ice cream selection. Worth a visit....well done India, your mother must be so proud of you!!

Ordered two medium fish high teas and a kids fish and chips.the fish was on the brink of going off with a smell if ammonia and was definitely not fresh. There was absolutely no fish taste and the colour looked odd so clearly the fish had seen better days.the amount of chips was abysmal ,literally 10 chips. The batter for the fish was not even crispy and was full of grease.the butter or margarine used in the two slices of bread had been kept at room temperature and tasted odd so I left most of it.seriously why people go here is a mystery to me.the only good thing was that the service was ok. Avoid at all costs unless you want awful fish and chips and potentially get food poisoning.

Delicious fish and chips, we stop in here any time we are surfing near Dunbar. Real small local business feel, and any time we have been we have had our fish freshly cooked.

£18 for 4 chip rolls and a jar a muscles, chips were disgusting, even my kids wouldn't eat them, cooked about 3 times 🤮 seriously avoid any time after tea cos you'll get served disgusting leftover chips, wouldn't serve these to a dog.

Staff were friendly and efficient. Coffee was fine however the cheese scones were a disappointment being both heavy and tough.

Amazing food, brilliant customer service. Would highly recommend

We are happy we've had our fish and chips & Mac and cheese meals here. Felt homely. Thank you!

Fab crunchy half pizza supper with mushy peas. Great fast service

If you give them 30 minutes notice they fire up the dedicated gluten free fryer. Take away or sit in. Great fish and chips, my husband said he thought mine was even better than his normal fish supper. Not the cheapest but good quality and nice staff.

Very friendly staff and the fish tea was excellent

Fish and chips were delicious! And large was really large! Thank you

We like to visit here when we come to Dunbar.

Had tea here last night and it was really lovely. Service is great too. Will definitely be back

Pretty much ordered the whole menu with my mates. Everything was perfect! Great staff as well.

Very friendly staff. Lovely food

Lovely and clean, never greasy, great chips and service, a go to for a day trip

We had a delicious fish tea and lovely panini, staff were very helpful and friendly. Will definitely be back when in Dunbar again.

Awesome little reasonably-priced cafe. Friendly staff.

Nostalgia brings me here every time I come back to Sunny Dunny. Can't beat the Haggis supper.

It's been a couple of months but I finally went back to Dunbar and it only means one thing... fish supper! It's my favourite place to go to when am there! The fish suppers are the best!! This time of going to took my youngs Cat Starrie it was here first time there since I normal take her brother there he been there about 10times now. Thats what great about there that they are pet friendly! The safe where welcoming and happy to see me and meet starrie, We will be soon!! Fish tea 10/10

This takeaway was really friendly and helpful! I ordered a haddock supper and for my grandson a crunchy pizza!! The batter on the fish was amazing, I am not a lover of batter,but this batter was so crisp and crunchy! Probably the best I have ever had! Chips were also very good, my Grandson loved his crunchy pizza! The young lad and lass on the till were really nice, when visiting Dunbar this will be my go to place 😊

TERRIBLE FISH. Had to give one star only because needed to be able to review. Asked for cod, so waited longer than others which was ok. ordered a large portion of chips with 2 cod. On opening the box, fish looked good, chips looked and tasted ok but portion was very small considering it was a 'large' bag of chips not enough for 2 people with small appetites, batter looked crispy on outside but inside, both fish were a soggy mess, could see what looked like water, fish barely cooked and not the best quality fish, made me wonder if it was frozen fish. Stripped batter and mess away and put them in microwave to cook. Also like on other comments the portion of fish was smaller than it looked, with 2" of just batter at the end, so when opening the box it looked like a decent size portion. Expensive for portions and quality.

Breakfasts are very good and great price these arebdefinitely worth sitting in a having 🍳🥓😋. Fish suppers are 🐟🍟 not the best though unfortunately plus very expensive for the suppers at &13.50 for a large supper and only 1 slice of fish. Could cut out the peas, tea, coffee and bread to reduce the price which would help more people sit in.

Breakfasts are very good and great price these arebdefinitely worth sitting in a having 🍳🥓😋. Fish suppers are 🐟🍟 not the best though unfortunately plus very expensive for the suppers at &13.50 for a large supper and only 1 slice of fish. Could cut out the peas, tea, coffee and bread to reduce the price which would help more people sit in.

Sad to say this place has gone way downhill, seems to be since its been under new management. Food was passable at best, smoked sausage had been cooked and left so long almost a third was just hard and inedible, the sauce is now just very vinegary and isnt pleasant, the chips were ok but not great. Real shame as this used to one of the best chippy's on the East Coast

Pretty awful unfortunately.. Came in with my 5 year old daughter for takeaway and was aggressively told “You’ll have to wait - we’re not serving anyone!!!” by the hostile server with very few teeth as she turned her back and walked away. Was then waiting for 10 mins as they argued amongst themselves behind the counter about someone putting the orders on when they can’t do any more ..or something…!? All really awkward to be around..! And loads of aggression between the staff! Really bizarre! The shop wasn’t busy.. there were 3 customers infront of me and a few in the restaurant. My normal chippy sometimes has about 40 people in the queue and it runs like clockwork. Anyway, at this point, I was thinking “if the food is great, I will write this off as a bit of unbelievably bad service but quite a funny story..” Unfortunately, when I got served, the bizarre rudeness continued.. aggressively asking me ‘what d’u want!?!’ and I was charged £17 for a single scampi and a medium fish supper - which seemed pretty steep. She dumped our food in front of us after wrapping it, and went on to do something else, at which point, I said, “is it ready to go?” She completely ignored me and kept doing what she was doing… anyway, I had a wee laugh to myself and my daughter and walked out loudly saying “THANK YOOOUU!!” I was still optimistically thinking along the lines I was earlier - hopefully just great food, laughably awful service 🤞🏼 Unfortunately, when we sat down to eat our dinner, the fish was probably the worst I’ve had anywhere.. they had somehow managed to have parts of the batter still raw while other parts were burnt - all of it tasted pretty gross and was as thick as a slice of bread! I completely de-battered my fish (batter straight in the bin) and ate the greasy innards, which weren’t very pleasant. My daughter and I ate a few chips which were okay - and the scampi was actually quite nice.. but just pre-bought breaded scampi.. Anyway, I’ve been here plenty of times in the past over the years and actually rated it 4 stars at some point. Unfortunately, now I would avoid and definitely drive to the next town as there’s plenty of great chippies at the top of their game nearby! 👎🏼

Small fish supper is good value and you get plenty. Fish chips peas, mushy or garden, bread and butter, tea or coffee £9.70. Clean, quick service and excellent staff

We have been getting takeout from here for over 20 years. This fish and chip shop used to be so good. Now it is not. The fish used to be really fresh but now it's grey and overcooked. Chips are OK. The staff are pleasant enough but the ordering system is all over the place and takes longer than it should. Maybe if the fish was not overcooked it would speed things up. We ordered large fish. There seemed to be no difference between fish sizes and someone after us ordered medium and got larger than ours. And was served first. I think the fair trade people should take a look. Don't pay the extra two pounds. It's such a shame. It uses to be a brilliant chip shop. We could forgive all of the above if the fish was well cooked and fresh.

Good traditional street food. Dog tolerant.

Warm welcome and amazing food, little dog also invited in. Loved it!

Appalling service. Arrived 8.03 pm to be told we couldn’t order table service as they stopped at 8.00. I referred them to their website which informed service was till 9pm. Was told we could order a takeaway till 9pm and sit in the window! Again asked couldn’t we sit at a table where a number of people were part way through eating. Told no. Left, found Adriano’s who served excellent fish light batter and asked at nearby pub (Black Agnes / Bull?) if we could eat our takeaway with them which they readily agreed. Great evening there good beer, met some very friendly locals (unlike the Cafe Central) and excellent service.

Really friendly staff who always make you feel welcome. Really efficient system and omg was the fish and chips just perfect. Really delicious, the perfect chips and the fish was awesome. Properly cooked on the inside with the perfect crispy batter on the outside. Easily the best chippy I've ever visited.

Paid for fish supper, single black pudding and 2 buttered rolls. Was given watery tasteless bone filled fish, reasonable at best black pudding and 2 dry rolls. The chips were ok. Service was friendly enough. Such a shame as this chippy used to be great but been really poor last few visits. Im afraid today was Central Cafe last chance. Won't be back.

This place use to be good. Dunno what's happened. Food portions are miserly, staff attitude is grim, service is sad beyond words. My medium fish & chips was served on the same plate and same portion size as a small portion. I did raise this with the waitress who then offered to bring more chips. No love, the fish is where it's at. It was a miserable attempt at making it right, but still charging more for the larger portion. Husbands very sad looking pie supper was all hard pastry. Honestly dont bother. Word to management, clean the fly nest on the inside window at the sit down area. You'll see it when you look up trust me. Vile. Glasses brought to the table was filthy, told the waitress we would drink from the cans so she could remove them. Cutlery is also dull and hardly appealing. Dirty dirty lazy place. When we left the queue for the chippy on the high street was queuing outside far down the street. We clearly made a mistake in our choice. We know better now!!!!

Used to be good but somethings changed? Portions were smaller, only thing not overcooked were the chips. Hardly a scrape of butter on the bread. Teapot for 2 had enough for barely 2 small cups along with a tiny jug of milk. The heat in the seating area makes it very uncomfortable too. I doubt will visit again.

Service good but a bit rushed - they were very busy! Fish n chips excellent: batter crispy, chips tasty, condiments all provided. Tea in pot - lid wouldnt shut (that's usual) tiny wee cups! Take away adjacent. We'll be going again. xx

I had the best rainbow trout and chips ever I highly recommend it the food is well worth the wait

Best breakfast I've had in a long time, excellent service. Highly recommended.

This place is now renamed Corriere cafe and under new ownership. Completely different since the change over. Back to the quality we used to get here. Plus they now do gluten free fish in batter which is very good. Tho you need to give them 15 minutes as it’s cooked in a separate fryer. Reasonable prices and smaller portions available if required. Great to have a good chippie back again.

One of the best sit down fish and chip meals with mushy peas yet

Have been coming to dunbar for years and always have fish and chips. We are a big family so need value for money, always go to Cafe Central but after our visit this year we wont be going back, the prices have gone up (fare enough and to be expected) but the portion sizes have reduced drastically, the large fish was no bigger than the regular and the large chips was a joke for £3.60!! It wasnt worth it and we most definitely wont be back, we went to Andrianos in the High Street and it was much larger portions and cheaper. Go to Adrianos or go hungry!

Ordered a small fish, which came with tea, mushy peas and slice of buttered bread. The chips were nice and fresh. The batter was light and crispy. The only let down was the fish was rather thin, portion of chips.

Fantastic fish and chips. Portion wasn't big but fish cooked to perfection. Chips very decent

Great food crispy batter and best chips. Bread and butter and tea. Great sausage and gravy for the kids. excellent service staff very friendly. Also excellentl I’ve cream.

15.50 for a large fish and chips ? Nearly had a heart attack

Stopped for food on way to haven with gran and 2 kids. We had fish teas and kid’s sausage, all the food was excellent and the staff were very friendly. Finished our lunch with ice creams which were lovely 🥰

We had a supper here...lots on chip shop menu...food was okay had better. We will try the other chip shop in Dunbar next time.

Great fish and chips - worth calling in if you're near Dunbar.

This afternoon tried for a table for 3 and 2 high chairs and was told one table with no high chair space was available. The twins are 2 years old and we tried the table to no avail and had to leave. Lady who I dealt with was clearly not interested in accommodating us and when we got up to leave I said table didn’t work out. She didn’t even look at us and feel her attitude was disgusting. 😡

Was deceived by the ‘ fresh orange ‘ it’s just fridge carton juice. The service was poor we were ignored and blanked. The cod and chips was average at best and didn’t provide mushy peas and the gravy was incredibly watery. They had the audacity to charge me extra for some packet tartar sauce. However the ice cream is very good.

Take away food was freshly cooked and very tasty. Staff super friendly, would definitely recommend

Only gave 3 stars for atmosphere as it was only take away chippy open at the time,great chips thou.

Massive plates of food! Ate in, but the shop was sweltering hot! Fish and chips were good, but the prawn cocktail seemed to be made with incredibly small, frozen prawns. The staff was welcoming and fast and prices were excellent!

My final destination on my home from holiday was a quick pit stop into Dunbar where we visited Cafe Central. Service was excellent. Lady who served me was friendly and engaging. Used the takeaway option. Great sized portion. Food was fresh and tasty. Very reasonably priced. Place was busy but got served pretty much right away. Got that sense of community spirit from this place right away which was excellent and everyone was chatting away. Quality of our food was very good. No complaints from me and I will revisit the next time I am back down this way.

Called into the café for breakfast/lunch. The food was really nice and the café was lovely and clean. Friendly and helpful staff and reasonably priced food. Wouldn't hesitate to go back.

Large haddock fish tea, superb and great value for money. Dog friendly also 👍🏻

Went to the central cafe today for lunch, no the best. The fish wasn’t caught yesterday and batter was soft. They need to improve.

Lovely and friendly, good menu and well priced

We heard a rumour the new owners were offering gluten free fish in batter and went in for our Tea. They use a separate fryer and it takes 20 minutes to heat up and cook but it was worth the wait. You can phone ahead to place an order which I'll do next time for take away. Whilst the batter could have been a bit crispier for my likeing it was still very nice and the haddock tasted delicious. The Fish Tea includes chips, mushy peas, bread and butter plus a pot of tea. I forgot to ask if they did gluten free bread. They don't charge extra for gluten free which is a bonus. We will be back!

Got two cod and chips from here this evening, hands down the worse fish and chips I have ever had , plus it cost £17. The fish was very small and can only be described as dry and well overcooked , the potion of chip was again small and really not very nice. Considering Dunbar is a fishing port I am amazed that the fish served at Central cafe is so bad . If your after good fish and chips please save your money and don't eat here. Very disappointing.

It would've been a 5 but putting the Fish Tea up to £12.50 and making the portion smaller is just going to irritate customers. It was only 2 years ago that it was a filling portion but it seems a bit of joke. Potatoes aren't that expensive. That is a medium Fish Tea in the photo, so i am curious to see how many chips are in a small... It is a chip shop cafe remember, not a gourmet restaurant.

Great friendly service , excellent food

Great food and friendly service, reasonably priced too. Would highly recommend

I got a single hamburger too crispy my partner got the fish batter really crispy found a bone there was more batter on the fish than there was fish pretty poor

Nice fish and chips in Dunbar, with a seated restaurant to keep out of the cold. Nice child options with baby changing facilities. Staff friendly and welcoming.

1 large fish and chips 2 regular fish and chips. Large looked amazing Regular was tiny with very few chips. Had bigger pensioners Very disappointing

Had medium fish and chips with mushy peas and a coffee. Friendly staff

Not as good value as it used to be. Nice food and staff.

We have been going to this cafe for years and everything used to be great food,staff went on Saturday and learned that it had been taken over by new management . What a let down chip steak was very greasy prices have rocketed and staff...

July 2022 we had a break from the wet weather at Cafe Central. Busy, homey and tasty fish and chips.

Nice friendly staff . Great fish supper steak pie perfect. Only 1 sausage in the supper but very fresh .definitely would use again.