Roseleaf Bar Cafe
I absolutely LOVE the Roseleaf Bar Cafe in Sandport Place. It’s cute, it’s kitsch, it’s quirky and best of all the service and food outstanding.
I made the good decision of reserving a table for Saturday lunch, this place can get very busy at the weekends, with good reason !
I have eaten here plenty of times before, but my dining partner looked perplexed as she was handed a copy of National Geographic, but it has the food menu inside it. The drinks menu comes within a small book.
Drinks Menu
As we were deciding on what to have, we watched in amazement at the creations coming out of the kitchen onto neighbouring diners’ plates. Fantastic breakfast selection such as eggs benedict and the plate of nacho’s looked extremely appetising. I really doubt anyone is disappointed with what they choose here.
My dining partner opted for Mrs McNally’s Mac & Cheese at £6.95 which is goold old fashioned macaroni cheese in wonderfully creamy smoked applewood sauce, accompanied by fresh salad. I tasted some and it was fantastic.
Mrs McNally's Mac & Cheese
I opted for the lemon chicken ciabatta with guacamole, rocket and tomato which came with a choice of salad or crisps – Big Al’s Big Sarnie, £6.50.
Lemon chicken & guacamole ciabatta
The chicken had just the right amount of lemon zest which complimented the tangy guacamole perfectly. The salad was dressed well and the ciabatta perfectly warm. A real tasty combination (in addition to mouthfuls of macaroni cheese !)
For dessert we had the scone with home made berry jam and the chocolate fudge brownie, which today was honey and vodka flavoured. I can’t say I specifically pickes out the honey vodka taste, but the brownie really was a melt in your mouth experience. I even kindly helped my dining partner finish off her freshly baked warm scone.
Scone and homemade jam
Warm honey vodka chocolate brownie
After dessert, we opted for a pot of Jasmine tea which came in a fantastic teapot and we were advised on how long to let the tea brew for.
Jasmine Tea
The girls who work in this place are friendly and have good menu knowledge and happy to make suggestions. It’s run seamlessly with food being delivered, dishes smoothly cleared and presented with the menu again.
There was a whole mixture of people in on the Saturday I did this review, a lovely atmosphere about the place. Some people having late breakfasts, some people starting early on their fabulous range of cocktails and some people kicking back with a drink reading the complimentary papers.
Old Fashioned Money Container
The bill came in a very old fashioned stone money container (I remember the plastic ones from C&A) which is a cute way to collect the money.
Our bill for all our drinks and 2 courses each was £28 which is reasonable for the quality and quantity + tip.
Further details – 23/24 Sandport Place, Edinburgh, EH6 6EW Tel 0131 476 5268 info@roseleaf.co.uk
Suitable for disabled ? Yes the whole place is on the ground floor as are the toilets, with a fully accessible separate disabled toilet.
BONUS REVIEW
I wouldn’t normally get excited about a set of toilets, but the Roseleaf’s are extremely cute.
Roseleaf's Toilet
The actual toilet cubicles themselves have swing doors and a blackboard you can leave a message on with chalk which is left in a hanging tea cup.
There are funny signs and reminders all over the bar, but I liked this one on display
Toilet Wall Sign
Make sure you pop into have a look !
Map of this location
Tags: bar, cafe, cute, Edinburgh, Leith, quirky, recommended, review, Roseleaf
Friendly staff, good service, great food and an excellent booze selection. Loved it.
A real gem of a place. Friendly staff, excellent food and service.One of the best wee bars in Leith.
Top marks.
Brilliant wee pub/eatery with a great vibe about it.
The best little place in Leith! Totally barry banter from the staff.. ..awesome food and drink!
Great place to have a quiet arvo and a bite to eat!!
warm and welcoming at all times
Really like this place even though some members of the bar staff must remember sarcasm is not becoming!
Rose Leaf is very hit and miss – the owners have clearly put a lot of effort and attention to detail into creating a pleasant environment, the decor is imaginative and charming, and most of the staff are extremely charming too but, when guests at my hotel ask for bar recommendations, I tend to suggest Sofi’s because it is a safer bet, a couple of the Rose Leaf staff are spectacularly rude and, if visitors are only in Edinburgh for a few nights, it is not worth running the risk of ruining an entire night. One specific barman has come up a lot in the feedback I was getting, so, we had no choice but to remove Rose Leaf from our list.
Again, the vast majority of the Rose Leaf staff are extremely nice but there are a couple who just don’t get it and, as someone with a lot of experience in the hospitality industry, I would guess that this is because the owners are not paying attention to the experience that customers are having when they, the owners, are not on the premises.
This is a very common mistake in new businesses; it is tricky to stop younger male staff going off on power trips and inexperienced owners tend to make the mistake of thinking that staff always act as they do in front of you. It takes a certain amount of guile to work out which of your staff are spoiling your reputation and, then, a lot of effort to help inexperienced bar staff to understand that customers are easily offended and unlikely to return if you humiliate them, even slightly.
For now, Rose Leaf has a lot of potential, but they are haemorrhaging a lot of good will, I would love to see the owners pay a little more attention to the customer experience, particularly at night, I think they are really onto something but they need to pay more attention, small details like this can destroy a business.
I have eaten here twice and I will return many more times. The food and service are excellent and the ambience is superb. I am vegetarian and, although there isn’t a huge selection of veggie dishes, everything that they do have is excellent and beautifully presented. I have eaten in many supposedly upmarket restaurants in Edinburgh and this place would put most of them to shame.
I was here last night for a friends 30th Birthday Party and it was an excellent experience. We chose the Madhatters Tea Party, which includes cocktails in teapots and a beautiful selection of sandwiches and tasty cakes and savouries. It was a very unusual, pleasant experience and I am already planning my next visit!! Highly recommended!