The Beach House in Edinburgh, City of

We were walking around Portobello, and this café caught our eye thanks to its beautiful display of delicacies. We did well to follow our instinct! We had a blast! Soft, tasty... wonderful :) little bonus beautiful view of the sea! Go for it !

Nice cafe on the prom with great views out to sea. Food is decent, not cheapest but not silly prices. Staff training could be improved- the sight of a young waitress serving my coffee over my 2yr old grandsons head was shocking.

Nice little breakfast spot by the sea :) the cafe and cakes were really tasty too!

my mother and I went here and the bacon and ham were cold when we ate. my mother had to wait 25 minutes to get her poached egg on toast when mine came out in about 5, we had tea with our meal but for an entire pot there was only 1 teabag, we asked for another but they charged us another £3.50.

Perfect for a rainy seaside afternoon hot cuppa and cake

A very disappointing visit today. Ordered Club sandwich, chicken was cold with brown bits that I had to cut off. Bacon was also cold and poor quality, very fatty and horrible to eat. Salad was very basic and going brown at the edges, one slice of tomato. Very overpriced for poor quality. After sitting for 15mins I was informed they'd run out of smoothies - one of the reasons I went although very overpriced too. Service is quite slow but staff are generally friendly. Lovely location but I feel very let down today and reluctant to go back again.

Beautiful view of the beach even in the rain. Lovely staff helpful. Tasty fresh produce..

Noticeable drop in quality and menu choices, and hike in prices since our last visit. Bit disappointed as this was a must-visit in the past.

Stopped of gor some cake and coffee. The cake came to the table but had a 20-minute wait for the coffee. The head man was very rude to his customers and stressed. Plus, he overcharged us on our bill. He wasn't happy when we pointed it out to him. Refunded the difference. No apology. Beautiful cafe on Portobello promenade pity this grumpy man spoilt our experience.

Wonderful scones . The exact texture and taste I like . Crispy on the outside, soft on the inside. I should have bought more to go (took just one). Good price. Great view on the sea. Less fan of scrambled eggs. Too small for the price .

Very nice atmosphere, perfect for a little stop for coffee and cake. However, the “real” meals tend to be in the expensive price segment. The brunch was a bit small, but the taste was still very good.

They have definitely let their standards slip. No wifi is a very restricted menu, and the service left a lot to be desired. We won't be back sadly.

Lovely scone and cuppa by Porty beach....brilliant location so busy. Only downside.....no cream except 'squirty' cream for my scone!! Will still return.

It was a place where I was pleasantly surprised by the friendliness of the staff. The food is delicious, and it's a place where you can have a light meal while looking at the sea.

Beautiful food with a varied and tasty brunch menu, some lovely cakes and traybakes and selection of drinks. Staff were lovely, nothing seemed too much trouble and a wonderful view of the beach and sea. Would highly recommend.

Great food and fantastic service. Ishbel was super friendly and gave us recommendations on what to order!

Ordered drink, didn't arrive. Asked waiter when food came, got arsey response that the machine had other people using it and to wait my turn. Drink never came.

I don't get the hype of this place. I guess, it's the first eating place most people see when getting to the beach following a map from the city (for tourist, this is likely the case) i made a mistake of not turning to my left and checked that there are plenty of places on the other side. Expensive and food is not really tasty. Burnt shakshuka and well done egg for 14 quid! Not really sure If they know how should a shakshuka be cooked. Staff are friendly though but would be nice to eat something nice.

Don't believe the hype, the service is practically non-existent. Once you eventually get inside (not the staff's fault) you enter into a struggle to get anything ordered which you have to wait an eternity for once you do order it. Hugely overpriced and reliant on the location.

Nice location, food ok, service AWFUL. pan-faced staff looking like they'd rather be anywhere but there Host/manager had the worst passive aggressive attitude when simply asked if we come in to order or wait at the table. £60 for brunch for 2 I expect not to be made to feel like I'm a burden on the staff by visiting. I can see by reading down I'm not alone in my experience, sadly.

Nice cakes and coffee. Large portions.

Over priced and no customer service skills whatsoever, waited longer than reasonable for 2 panini's, when I asked for an update it was clearly my fault for being unreasonable in asking, as the kitchen is "under pressure". They did arrive eventually with a thud and no eye contact.

Food good but service very poor taken long time and forgetful of part of order

Service is AWFUL. Waited 15mins outside for a table and were not told until we were sat, that we would have to wait a further 30 minutes for food. Tried to catch a staff member’s attention for 10 minutes and were then told we couldn’t order yet and the wait time was 30 minutes… once ordering?!?! (It wasn’t even that busy). Never experienced such terrible management. Absolute lack of clarity and care about customers, don’t waste your time.

Excellent location. Queue to get in, looked a bit chaotic. Took ages to get served, had to ask after 25 mins, others seemed more fortunate so not sure what was going on. 'Plating up' came the reply and sure enough food did arrive on plates 10 minutes later! £9 for one slice of Bruschetta, £11.50 for a club sandwich which represents poor VFM IMHO. Not many other eating options available though along the beach front.

Very nice by the sea. But a shame not to have fresh seafood in this type of country restaurant. The clothing of some servers could have been cleaner at the start of service at lunchtime. Otherwise nothing to complain about.

This place would be lovely but is let down a bit by the service. I've been in quite a few times and my experience has often been not being greeted or acknowledged. You'd understand if staff were busy serving other customers but often they will chat and banter amongst themselves while you wait for 10 mins for someone to acknowledge you standing there. It's not a case of being understaffed, which you could sympathise with. There's heaps of them, they're just more interested in chatting to each other than interacting with you.

A great café at probably the best location along the beach. They have a range of brunch and sandwiches you can pick. I'm giving 4 stars because the service is very slow. I get the feeling that they take their customers for granted given their location. Overall, it is a really nice place but it could be so much more.

After a second visit, it unfortunately seems like this is the kind of place that simply relies on its location. The service is non-existent! You have to wait for ages to get anything. I had to get up twice to go and find someone so that we could order and also to pay. The coffee as well as the food is really good but I wouldn’t go back because of the frustration experienced with the service. Unfortunate but true!

Visited here around noon today. We had our dog so queuing for picnic bench outside only option. After still waiting for bench 25min later and no obvious certainty about when we might get a table, we asked manager how long after we'd get a table we would then have to wait for food. "Oh possibly a further 25mins". We cut our losses and left. Why when we arrived wasn't it explained that we might have to wait an hour for food? "Oh, but we might be able to serve you quicker"....If there's a risk of having to wait an hour or more, wouldn't it have been common courtesy to be told that up front, to give us a choice of either continuing to wait or go somewhere else? This isn't the first time we've had poor service here. I certainly won't be back.

Excellent spot for brunch/lunch. Great beach views, delicious food and coffee, and friendly service

Great coffee and fantastic cake selection. Brilliant location for sitting and watching the world go by.

Ci abbiamo pranzato una domenica mattina, dopo una lunga e rilassante passeggiata lungo la spiaggia di Portobello. Il locale è molto carino e ben arredato, dispone di tavoli fuori. Cameriera davvero gentilissima. Abbiamo preso una wrap con felafel, una omelette al salmone e una fetta di carrot cake buonissima. Conto nella media.

I don’t recommend if you have plans to get to after… it takes AGES to get served, for food and for the bill. Had to go inside and ask to pay because I couldn’t wait any longer for the bill to arrive! Also.. £12 for two ice coffees… really?

A bit disappointed with the service actually, place wasnt full , quite a few inside tables available and had to ask to have our order taken after sitting about 20 minutes. There was 5 of us and 2 of our choices from the menu were unavailable, which was surprising as it was only 12pm. As mine was one of the unavailable, i chose sourdough toast with poached egg, again waiting an age for the food only to be brought 1 small slice of sourdough with 2 small eggs, i would have said something but didnt want to wait another age for the food. Probably wont return which is a shame as Portobello is a beautiful place to visit.

If you don’t like working in service and hotel business please don’t do it! The waiter was horrible She was so rude You should hire more compatible people

Friendly staff and fast service, excellent sea view, the dishes are very good (a little expensive). A must-see restaurant on this beach.

I had a pancake and coffee outside. It was a very pleasant day to be outside. Rather expensive but friendly place. I bought a quiche home and it was superb.

Perfect Food, nice Staff, great coffee and so much cakes…!

Oh dear. Went for cake and coffee mid afternoon. The very young staff were all congregated around the till making suggestions to each other, We were finally noticed, which was ok as we had time to contemplate which delicious cake to choose. On sitting down, we were given menus; thus far so good. We sat there for 25 mins..... Twice a server approached with another tables food. Other tables claimed their order. No one even looked at us so we couldn't even try and get any attention. After 35 mins we left. Very disappointing.

Summer days outside on a terrace are amazing! Great location with plenty of seating inside too. The broad menu offers delicious options, and the homemade goodies and smoothies are absolutely beautiful. Choosing a cake was tough with so many yummy options. Although the service can be a bit chaotic due to how busy they are, we probably had the best waitress looking after us. Overall, a great experience with every visit. ☀️

Food was good, but the portions were on the small side. The price is ridiculous though. £14 for eggs Benedict and the same for mushrooms/avocado on toast. I don’t understand how that’s justified even with local ingredients.

Delicious food, beautiful location

fab place when the sun is shining and its not too windy . great cakes and yummy hot chocolates

Great food however ridiculous waiting time. We waited an hour after ordering to receive the food.

Really relaxing, beautiful spot, quick and kind service

We stopped by this place because they offered a few vegan options that looked good. The view from the tables that are on the promenade is stunning and the indoor sitting area looked very mice as well. The vegan food we tried was very good. We went for the vegan haggis roll, which was actually similar to a burger (I would recommend adding some toppings to it, as otherwise it's a bit dry). We also went for the buddah bowl and the salad, and they were both quite good and healthy; just make sure you ask the server to swap the halloumi for vegan feta cheese. They had some vegan desserts, which looked yummy, but we didn't try them.

Freshly made pastries and cakes. Super friendly staff, they were so welcoming. We were going there twice a day. Didn't have something I didn't like

Great service nice and cozy place.

Great location, good food and good service.

Popped in just for coffee and some snack, we were really happy with everything! Highly recommended

Really nice place, nice staff, great coffee and toast ❤️

We popped in here for a mid-afternoon snack. The staff were welcoming and helpful. One member went to the trouble of providing a detailed list of the content of individual dishes and cakes. We would certainly go again.

Came a few times and never disappointed. The cafe is lovely, with a charming view of Portobello Beach and delicious coffees and cakes. Will be back again!

I understand it's a very busy period but despite waiting in the queue to be seated for quite a while none of the staff even glanced in my direction even if just to tell "Sorry for the wait, there's no free tables at the moment", so I left after a while of just waisting my time without any info (didn't measure exact time it took but was at least 15 mins)

We stopped here for breakfast. Fantastic food and really friendly service!

Long wait for getting food, offered something different from what I ordered and charged me even more. Could easily be a scam.

Decided to give this another go as usually head to Miros , ordered the beach club sandwich gluten free .It wasn’t nice . Bread was soggy where the tomato had soaked into it which isn’t good for gf bread as it turns into mulch, no garlic mayo as per menu the streaky bacon was just bits of fat. My husband had the normal version also missing garlic mayo and he said it didn’t taste of much either . Very disappointed . Expensive for such a poor product . Back to Miros we go as the food is so much better !

Right on the beach. Views, even on a wet/rainy day are amazing. Food and beverages were good.

After we got scolded at the next door ice cream place (miros), we discovered we had passed a gem here for years! More flavours of ice cream, the possibility for a baby scoop, friendly staff, i saw fresh strawberries,... looking forward to discover more one of these weeks when eating out with my little princesses.

Perfect place for breakfast by the sea! 😍 The lavender strawberries were delightful, and very nice friendly and welcoming staff!

Gave up waiting to order, sat for 15 minutes at a table outside. Staff walked to and fro with things to other tables but didn't ask/check/enable me to order. This isn't the first time I've found the service to be poor but I just gave up today and went elsewhere. As others have said it pretty pricey now too and certainly service doesn't justify this!

Very nice and fairly busy café located on the promenade at Portobello beach. View is cathartic. Very relaxing. No wonder it's so busy. The service could be a tad more organised especially in busy moments when it can be quite loud.

I've lost count of all the times I've been to The Beach House! My go to place when in Porty. The food and service doesn't disappoint and of course the view.

The location is beautiful and the interior design very nice. The coffee is good but the cakes we had were unenjoyable because they were too sweet. The taste might have been good but it was overpowered by the sugary taste. Sad because otherwise the place is great!

Thr Beach House was a family favorite for years but after today's visit I won't be back. I had a stingy bacon roll on not the freshest of bread, an orange juice and a black coffee for £17.00! Really disappointing 😞

Very nice for a quiet breakfast! Great food and service. Just expensive!

Ordered coffee and scone for two. The scone arrived 15 minutes before the coffee. Both the cappuccinos and scone were very tasty but very overpriced £15.50. Long delay with order and not overly busy. The setting is good on the promenade but a busy thoroughfare.

Wonderful place with quick service and plenty of gluten-free options. The view is magnificent. Suggestion: please add allergies such as gluten to the menu.

Had a lovely pot of tea and pastries with a wonderful view of the beach.

Went to the Fabulous Beach house yesterday with my niece! Came all the way from Cork, Ireland to try out❤️ Amazing setting with great food and drink! But the staff made it for us, thank you so much to Chloe and Jack for looking after us so well! Will definitely be back.

Fantastic beach front location with incredible cakes and some great milkshakes and hot chocolate with ice cream. Highly recommend if you can get a seat!

Just popped in with my children for some ice creams. Jack served us and really couldn’t have been nicer or more helpful. This chap should train people on what excellent customer service looks like. The ice creams were exceptional too! Thanks Jack, you made our day! X

Consistently great cafe. Takeaway cakes coffee and ice cream and sit in for drinks lunch etc. Tables on the prom outside and inside It can get busy so prepare for a wait or takeaway during busy times.

The Beach House is a lovely location but prices are fairly high for what it is. I had a what was advertised as a smoothie though in reality it was just juice, IMO. It was tasty enough but at £6.50 for around 350mls it seemed overpriced. My roll with sausage was nice and good on the Beach House for using free range produce, but I would’ve really liked my roll much better with some butter on both sides. This might sound petty but for £6.50 I would’ve expected better. Staff were friendly and pleasant. I understand that the location of this place means high rent and energy prices are high and I sympathise with this but £13.00 for a breakfast roll and a juice seems steep to me. I will end this review on a positive though - the cakes and ice cream from the Beach House are consistently very good quality.

The food was fine but was ridiculously overpriced. £16 for a starter sized salmon Caesar salad, £14 for a "baguette" which was obviously one of these part-baked bought in things, £9 for a smallish panini with a garnish rather than side salad. I had the shakshuka which was tasty but again overpriced considering the very basic ingredients needed to make it. Cakes looked amazing but was unwilling to part with any more money to try them out.

Great location . However the length of time to get the food and the food quality was not good at all , especially for the price .

My wife and I took 5 of our grandchildren to the beach and popped into The Beach House for some drinks. It was very busy, but staff were very friendly and helpful.

Hate to complain but my egg on my shalshuka came in some form of leather on top, I couldn’t even rip it in half and the under neath was so undercooked it was see through. The staff are all lovely and really accommodating but the food was terrible

While eating breakfast, you can admire the beach and the bay. Something beautiful. Food very good. It is worth stopping here after a walk and relaxing with a coffee. I recommend it to everyone.

Came here one rainy lunch time with friends and the cafe was very busy, however, the staff managed to fit us in quite quickly. Delicious home made soup (carrot and cauliflower) as well as toasted sandwich of goats cheese and beetroot and a vegetarian wrap. We cleared our plates. Staff very friendly and helpful. Would definitely recommend.

After taking a 30 minute bus ride out to Portobello from Edinburgh, we walked to the esplanade & noticed what appeared to be a busy, attractive cafe with a number of tables overlooking the beach. Although the hot drinks menu looked rather expensive (£3.50 for breakfast tea) the number of customers present suggested that the experience would be worth paying for & so we decided to chance our arm there. Noting that there were no prices on the ice cream counter or cake cabinet should have been a red flag, as should have been the embarrassingly long wait for a waitress to come along to take our order - Perhaps foolishly I ordered a slice of almond tart & asked if I could have ice cream or cream on it, not realising until too late that I would end up paying £8 for this privilege! Most of the staff are young & carefree & seem completely oblivious to the need to deliver the impeccable customer service which the exorbitant prices here would suggest are on offer. Instead, the service is completely chaotic - My cake was delivered before my wife's soup & bread. We had to ask for butter for the bread. That was delivered without a knife to spread it. Several minutes later, my tea arrived - without milk. Another 5 minutes passed & then I had a miniature glass bottle of milk brought to me. The single teabag in the pot was completely overwhelmed by the amount if hot water that had been added to it. The tomato & basil soup was OK, excepting that it had appreciably cooled by the time the accompanying bread & butter were assembled. As our bus back to the city centre was due, I went to the till to pay rather than wait for a member of staff to eventually offer to take our money. Even then, I was left standing for several minutes whilst 2 young staff continued their conversation in the kitchen area. The price of 1 pot of tea, 1 almond tart with ice cream & 1 soup came to £18! I'm afraid next time we visit Portobello beach it will be with a flask of tea & a picnic....

Pricey and not as many veggie options as I would hope

Racist staff, mediocre food. Steer well clear.

Lovely looking cakes, nice coffee with nice views

Always happy here. Maybe it's cause I've usually been just in the sea and am stoked to be in the warmth with a coffee or maybe it's because the food is excellent, the vibes are chill and the staff are friendly (in addition to heat and good coffee). Best for brunch I'd say - so many brunch options beyond just the usual (including the Turkish eggs which are a winner). They also just do a really good filled roll AND they can put veggie haggis in it praise the lord.

Lovely café/restaurant by the beach. Good range of pastries, cakes, breakfast items and other options. Great coffee too. We had the shakshuka and the Turkish eggs.

Didn't have anything to eat, very busy but seemed to have a good atmosphere

Lovely location on Portobello prom with spectacular sea views. Unfortunately all the waitress could offer me was bread and jam with vegan spread as I am gluten, dairy and soya free. My friends enjoyed gluten and dairy free sweet potato soup which they said was delicious but unfortunately I couldn't have it as the stock contained soya. They also had gluten free carrot cake. There seemed to be a few gluten free cakes on display on the way in so I was disappointed there was nothing suitable. My friend was treating me to lunch so was rather embarrassed that all they could offer was a jam sandwich. I asked if they could at least do me a salad and all I got was lettuce with two slices of cold white bread. I had asked if they could warm it in the microwave. I did enjoy my freshly squeezed orange juice. I won't be rushing back. I've included a pic of my friend's carrot cake which she said was delicious. I loved the wee heart on her coffee.

Great food in the nice location. Met friend there for brunch and we had plenty of time to eat, have a couple of coffees and catch up.

What is there not to like...good food, the service, atmosphere and sea views. Always packed and I can see why 😀. I keep visiting on a regular basis and I am never disappointed 😊

Had us standing waiting on a table although there where tables free. Asked for a window seat, but got told its only for 3 people, the got offered a bigger table for 4 which was confusing. Then the person that was supposed to be in charge was rude to us so we left. Not even bothered about it.

Nice place but extortionate. It's probably the most expensive cafe I've been in.. £14 for an eggs Benedict is taking it too far.. not worth it

I found a wee hair on my food, apart from that everything was great

Really lovely lunch, delicious food and hot drinks and a great selection of cakes, including lots of vegan and gluten free cakes. Space for buggy, clean a d bright and friendly staff. Will definitely be back!

The “Porto smash” is excellent, and the servers are really nice and friendly

Beautiful views out across the forth. Very calming and cool place to visit. Good for the soul.

Had club sandwiches, cakes, teas and coffee, I wouldn't order their club sandwiches ever again, as a matter of fact they have no idea of what club sandwiches look like. The service was patchy and slow. This place isn't properly ventilated, and very noisy, hardly changed since my visit last earlier last year.

Always brilliant friendly service with delicious food. Whilst not the cheapest it's worth every penny. Be prepared to queue sometimes.

I love the Beach House in Portobello. It was a great vibe, lovely happy beach theme decor and overlooks the beach. It's ALWAYS busy here especially at weekends, no matter the weather but the queue outside is worth it and it usually moves fairly quickly. They also have seating outside on the prom, right on the beach side - just wrap up warm in the winter as you'll get plenty of blasts of cold fresh air. The food here is excellent as are the coffees. We love the Breakfast rolls. This place is popular with locals and tourists alike.