The Place to Eat in Edinburgh, City of

As a student, it’s always challenging to find affordable and spacious study spaces but John Lewis has pulled through! Good food and coffee, but also amazing staff, especially the red headed woman who greeted you with a smile and made me and my friend very comfortable working here. Would 100% come back just because of her!

Pleasant place for a quick bite to eat, with the main high point being the excellent views across the city from the window seats. Service was pleasant and functional. The breakfast rolls we had were quite decent and the cakes looked good too. The coffee from the barista is reasonable however I’d definitely avoid the coffee from the automatic machines as it was pretty poor.

Godawful espresso and dirty tables for miles. Only worth it for the view

Coffee was lovely but ordered a Thai curry with coleslaw. The vegetables looked really bad, almost like rotten.

Very good stopping over for lunch after shopping.

The Place to Eat is a great place to take a rest after going round the shops. They have incredibly big slices of cake if you have a sweet tooth!

Friendly staff and beautiful coffee from the barista stand

Decent cafe, in department store. Only real downside is it can be a mummy's meeting place, with consequent prams/babies/overindulged children.

New cafe in cramped roof space with skeleton staff. Overly sweet millionaire shortbread & pumpkin cake that tasted of curry. Very weird. Tables covered in dirty dishes. What a shame about the new cafe in John Lewis, Edinburgh. The light airy cafe, stylish angled windows and friendly efficient staff are gone.

Great views of Edinburgh. Decent coffee ( despite coming from a machine)

Coffe was awful but service great

We popped in for a coffee and a scone during a shopping trip yesterday. The cheese scones were lovely however the coffees could have been stronger! A pleasant place to have a rest before returning to the fray!

Cake dry,mocha didn't taste as if any chocolate in it.

Great views as well as a good selection of food and drink.

Great 5th floor cafe with good hot drinks, cakes, soups and daily hot dishes. The views across Edinburgh and beyond are stunning.

TRULY SCRUMPTIOUS charming cafe with great staff.

Very busy .Good food and coffee

Delicious drinks in a great environment with awesome views on Edinburgh

Lovely views if you are lucky enough to get a window seat. Food is average. Overpriced for what it is, with a small selection of food. A small roll is £4.95. Cakes are good, though. We went there on a busy weekend. Most of the tables were taken, and the few available ones had dirty dishes on them. There is room for improvement on the service. Overall, excellent location and a good place to stop for cake and coffee when shopping at John Lewis.

Not a lot of veggie options only quiche, but nice crispy chips. Quite busy so gave up on getting a made coffee and just went for the machine. Not nearly as good as it used to be.

Very busy today but tables were cleared & cleaned very quickly.

10 out of 10 excellent place to eat

Great views but way to expensive..will not be back again

I liked the old restaurant better than The Place to Eat. There used to be a far bigger variety of sandwiches, filled rolls etc. I went in around 12.45 and there were no sandwiches and about 5 rolls, baguettes etc. There was a BIG selection of cakes, tray bakes etc. I was really very disappointed ☹️

Breakfast was cold never go there again..

Lovely restaurant with a fantastic view. Lucky enough to get a window table. Caesar salad with chicken and bacon and rhubarb and custard cake were both every bit as good as they look in the photos.

Hidden gem in Edinburgh. Top floor of the John Lewis building with the best views of Edinburgh across the forth. Food and cakes are great. Coffee is still barista made.

Lovely views across the water to Fife.

Had a very enjoyable afternoon tea with superb views. Very relaxing.

Decent cake, decent views and honestly a good break from shopping

Harrissa grain and pomegranate bowl (but no pomegranate) rendered tasteless. Brocolli quiche anaemic and tepid. Don’t bother queuing Overpriced disappointing lunch for £25 !!

What a great view from the cafe in JL! Good selection of pastries and cakes to enjoy after shopping.

We had an awful breakfast this morning. The rolls, the bacon were dry. Nothing was appetising. Plus, the Americanos were just kind of filter coffee. We won't go back.

Went first thing on a weekend morning - managed to get seats near the windows to enjoy the great view. Was also impressed with the proactive, warm and welcoming staff.

Good food and drinks and great views.

Around 3pm on a Sunday, the place was busy and seemed very understaffed. I waited in the hot food queue, only to find out that half of the menu was not available (there was nothing to suggest this on the printed menu). My partner waited about 15 minutes to get hot drinks, including a turmeric latte (which was on the menu). The staff member made him a regular latte, and when he pointed out the mistake, they said that they did not how to make a turmeric latte and therefore he could not order it. Then, we had to wait in another queue to pay for the hot food. The experience was terrible, we will not be coming back.

Great view and delicious cakes!