We saw the Mountain Cafe mentioned in our travel book (Fodor's Travel Scotland, 2016), which said that it's "famed locally" and won a national award in 2014, so we had huge expectations and WE WERE NOT DISAPPOINTED!!! First: we had to wait 15 minutes, but were given a buzzer for when our table was ready--per the hostess, we were able to go as far as the grocery store in town. We didn't mind the wait, as it gave us time to pop into the tourist shop and buy postcards and stamps. The wait was worth it! I had a coffee, one of the best coffees I've ever had, and we sat enjoying the view of the mountains and the view of the pastries, piled in tantalizing piles on the far end of the shop. We each had a roll, mine w fried egg, bacon, and hash brown; hubby the same with sausage instead of bacon. The food was hot, fresh, and the ingredients locally sourced, and tasted so damn good. Every dish that made its way to neighboring tables looked ridiculously good too, and I kept saying I want to try that, and that, and that!! On our way out we bought a chocolate raspberry brownie and a macadamia bar, both items are rich and flavorful, and large enough that hubby and I have been enjoying them all day!! I seldom visit the same restaurant twice while on vacation, but while eating we both agreed that we're going back tomorrow for another amazing meal (and more pastries, I hope!!) before we had out of lovely Aviemore! read more

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WOW (is this a way to start a review, not sure but) Wow. This may be one of the best places I've eaten in Scotland, no joke... and there's some great food in this country. My wife and I came here after an exhausting weekend away with teenagers... we were a bit sceptic as to whether or not there was decent food in Aviemore. Don't get me wrong, we figured we would find some ok food, but didn't expect it to be this good. We were told that we would need to get there as early as possible because of the wait... and we were like, this is an outdoor shop's cafe, it couldn't be that good. Well it is THAT good. As I said, you will more than likely have to wait (got this advice from a local)... and you could end up waiting for at least half an hour as we did. We finally got seated and were impressed with the menu thinking that the food couldn't be as good as it seems on the menu. But it was THAT good. I had a red bean burger (if I'm correct) that was SOOO tasty. They make the burgers here (not frozen like veggie burgers at other places). It may have easily been one of the best veggie burgers I've had in Scotland. It came with chips, which I wish I could've had more of but wouldn't have had the room for. To top it off, I had a pot of Eteaket tea with Red Velvet cake. So... a lot of places in Scotland try to do a great Red Velvet cake and end up with an OK red velvet cake. Mountain Cafe did an excellent red velvet. Both moist and dense. Sweet and SOOO filling. In the end, my wife had to roll me out the door and down the stair sideways. I was super full with excellent food. It may have cost a bit more than I would've normally paid for lunch, drink and a cake... but seriously I didn't care. Why isn't Aviemore closer? read more

Oh how I love the Mountain Cafe. We go north a couple of times a year and every time I happily schedule journeys and routes around needing a meal break at Aviemore. This time we were staying just outside Aviemore so no planning was required and at the first opportunity g and I took advantage of staying with the extended family, abandoned the kids and had lunch together. With g working shifts and babysitting woes we don't actually get out just us very often so this felt like a real treat of a way to spend a Friday afternoon. The ground floor of the building is taken up with an outdoorsy shop and the Mountain cafe takes up the first floor. This place is popular so expect to queue on the staircase - deal with it, it is well worth the wait. We didn't have a long wait at all this visit and got a good seat beside a window, near the stove. This place is decorated simply but well, lots of wood, a cast iron stove and beautiful brightly coloured photography and paintings, that are also for sale. The furniture is mismatched and all the better for it. But you don't come to the Mountain Cafe for the decor you come for the food. The menu offers lots of choice and everything is made on the premises and always looks amazing. This place isn't actually a great location for a date afternoon, I may have spent far more time checking out all the amazing dishes coming out the kitchen than actually trying to make conversation with my husband, oops! We ordered a minute steak flatbread for me and a burger for g. The food took a while to arrive, but I'm happy to wait for freshly prepared deliciousness. It was worth the wait. Melty, buttery steak, perfectly seasoned and accompanied by spicy piping hot chips and really tasty homemade coleslaw. Needless to say our table was very quiet while we cleared our plates. We were both utterly satisfied and very full. But the table of wonder (yeah it's just me that calls the cake table this, so what?) was calling and I know from previous stupidity how upset I would be later on in the afternoon if I didn't sample something. Cleverly the staff left us for a wee while to help us prepare our tummies for cake and we used this time to actually talk to one another, it was a bit strange at first. Conversation uninterrupted by having to apologise for a toddler throwing something or answering crazy questions about what noise pandas make from the 9 year old. I had a lovely time and it only got better with cake! I ordered a flat white at the table and we went up to the table of wonder to choose. The selection is immense and we asked for some recommendations from the staff and went with their suggestions of a slice of hummingbird cake and a passion melting moment. The waitress who came with our goodies started to apologise for bringing too big a slice of the hummingbird cake. They had cut it wrong and didn't want to half it again as that would have been too small. Silly lassie, there is no such thing as too big a slice of cake - mind you g and I split the portion and I wouldn't have thought that half of the slice we received was stingy - winning! The hummingbird cake was delicious, a moist carrot cake with extras including pineapple and a lovely cream cheese frosting that was perfect in its not too sweetness. However, the stand out for me was the passion melting moment, an amazing biscuit sandwiched with a creamy filling with subtle passion fruit flavours - perfection. We left with incredibly full tummies, passing a queue of people on the stairs who I always want to tell to stay strong, the wait is well worth it and leave room for cake! read more

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This has to be one of the places i go almost everytime i trek up to aviemore, whilst visiting my Gran. Everything i've ate here has always been delicious. the coffee has always been hot and tasty too! On this visit, my Mum and i shared a rather large slice of the hummingbird cake - which was DELICIOUS! It was so moist and morish! Not recommended for wheel chairs and it's all upstairs :( My lovely Gran couldn't get up these stairs. But it's good coelics as the do gluten free cakes and look very yummy indeed! Warning! It can get very busy and a queue can go right down the stairs!! So please be patient or reserve a table to be on the safe side!! read more

Mountain Cafe - Mmmmm cake! - Coffee & Tea Near Me - Aviemore, HLD

Lovely little cafe above the outdoor gear store. They offer a variety of yummy, fresh baked goods with a variety of flavors and dietary needs fulfilled. They also offer a menu with choices of simple sandwiches, corn fritters, veggies burgers and salads. Everything we got was soooo good and tasty. It also offers some amazing views of the mountains as well. Definitely worth a stop. read more

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Seriously impressed with this place! Stumbled upon it whilst on holiday in Scotland. As a Coeliac it was a joy to discover that virtually everything on the menu was available with a gluten free option. They also cater for vegan, vegetarian, dairy free and wheat free diets! Highly recommended although should be in restuarant category. read more

Amazing food! Gourmet tasting and laid out so beautifully! I feel like this is one of the best meals I've eaten in months!!! And the desserts! Loads of cakes and tray bakes to choose from (really like 20 difference choices !) I got the amazing Kiwi sweet corn fritter stack! Full of veg and deliciousness ! Most dishes u can get GF,DF,or V! A lot of the desserts had those Dietary options as well!! Got a wonderful moist and delicious carrot cake with a lemon frosting ! And Eteaket tea!!! Yummy! Wish Aviemore was closer to where I love! I'd be here every weekend! Now to have a little sit before the next walk, because I'm Sooooooo full (did I mention huge portions! There was a smaller option for the stack I would have gotten that in retrospect!) ! Amazing food !!! read more

Mountain Cafe - Kiwi corn fritter stack - Coffee & Tea Near Me - Aviemore, HLD

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Not surprised others (well, ok, 1) person yelped this place before I did as it really is fab. As I don't eat meat, I tend to end up having a lot of egg sandwiches when out and about for breakfast as a full veggie breakfast is found few and far between. But in the hippie, dippie, outdoor enthusiast world of Aviemore, I found freedom in the shape of mountain cafe. What splendiforous meals they do provide; a kiwi fusion with scot - veggie sausages, stir-fried veggies (with seeds!) served with egg and beans in a colourful breakfast tower that you disassemble, layer by glorious layer. I tumbled out full as a barrel, but happy and not feeling like I was covered with a layer of grease. Did I mention it is served with a chive laid delicately over a lightly fried egg? The meatier full English looked equally impressive - in this tower lay locally made sausages, black pudding, bacon, hash brown, egg and beans, and heartily received by it's consumer. And then we move onto the cakes... honestly my hips didn't really need the Anzac cookie, or the vegan flapjack (that raspberry layer was DEE-LI-CIOUSSSSS), or the pistacio and chocolate brownie (texture closer to tiffin than brownie)... or coffee cake, or carrot cake. We did a lot of walking, ok, and more walking purely just to work off yet another delicious cake. Mountain Cafe not only gets cooking right, but it gets it perfect in my eyes. read more

This cafe -- opened by a female chef originally from New Zealand -- offers up really innovative eats for tourists just passing through Aviemore while exploring the Cairngorms. We ordered the corn cakes that were stuffed with great veggies and topped with ham, as well as a tomatillo (I think?) salsa. The fish chowder was delicious as well, and came with a lovely savory scone. The dessert selection was boundless -- everything looked delicious and the beetroot chocolate cake (which is what we ended up painfully settling on) was incredible -- moist and sweet without being cloying. I highly recommend stopping by this cafe if you have time! read more

I love this place, it's quirky, slick, professional, upbeat, has friendly staff, a great view and most importantly great food. Every time I go to Aviemore now I go here. I used to just get the breakfasts as I couldn't be bothered waiting in the queue for lunch, but this time I persevered and wasn't disappointed. The main chef chef is from New Zealand and places emphasis on healthy, nutritious food (vegans, veggie's and caeliac's are well catered for) but not at the expense of taste and don't worry if you're a meat eater as there's plenty to choose from too. A quick selection of the dishes I had this time, a beautiful veggie breakfast, kiwi pancakes with bacon, berries and salted caramel sauce, a lentil burger with straight out the best chips I've had in Scotland ever (that includes fish and chip shops.) I could go on at length describing each of the dishes I ate here, but the real point is that the devil is in the detail. It's the little things that 99% of places in Scotland would think wasn't important (I'm not talking about high end places just you're average cafe\pub/restaurant) such as the fennel seeds (?) in the potato rosti that just give it that extra sophistication and depth, the full length chives that sit on top of many dishes, the toasted sunflower seeds, the TOASTED walnuts on top of the goats cheese in the goats cheese salad. The quality of the ingredients is fresh and top notch, (I think most it locally sourced too). Obviously it's not perfect, nowhere is, there was slightly ordinary toast that came with the breakfast (and butter out of those small plastic pots) which would be fine everywhere else but here I expected a bit more here. But go and have some lovely food. I t's better than any cafe I've been to in my hometown Edinburgh. Be prepared to wait for a table at lunch though it's not exactly a secret that this place is good. read more

Great breakfast in a great setting. The full Scottish breakfast plate is fabulous and the staff are very friendly and attentive. This is a worthwhile stop in Aviemore. read more

Good coffee and a place that actually serves good vegetarian food with more than one vegetable! A welcome break from the limited vegetarian options along the Speyside Way hike. Service is a bit slow, but for us, it was worth the wait. Free wi-fi in some parts of the restaurant. The cafe is upstairs; downstairs is a sporting goods store. Incredible views from the cafe. read more

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yeap this place is really good and you should visit it if you are in the area... I was told about it from a colleague that she is from Australia (the owner is from New Zealand as well). The place is on the top floor of a building that looks like a chalet and they have a clothing/sport gear shop on the ground floor. It is quite small so you might have to wait on the stairs to be sitted...a lot of posters will make you time pass by while you are waiting and you might find an interesting activity to do after lunch as well... Food portions were really good and we were full in the end. We had a beef burger, two chicken salads (with pears, apples, walnuts, blue cheese and chicken), a panini (chicken, brie and cranberry), a Scottish beer, a kopparberg cider, a banana chocolate milkshake, a huge piece of cheesake (fresh!) and a biscuit with jam and chocolate, all for 52£. Not bad at all, if you consider the size of the portions. Toilets were clean, but not that clean, at the time of our visit. They were mixed sex as well (female and male together). It is a very busy place and I did not like the fact that they do not take bookings. So we had to do a two hours drive to Avienmore, and I was still not sure if we will get sitted...I would prefer to know that I will have a table for sure when there. There is a shop with syrups, and baking stuff on site as well. There is wi-fi, and outdoor sitting if you wish, but depends on the weather might not allow you to sit outside as they will not have enough room to accommodate you if it starts raining for example.. Really nice place; highly recommended. read more

Had breakfast here. Generous portions. Good coffee. Service can feel a little slow if you're in a rush. Definitely a good stop. read more

Mountain Cafe - Coffee & Tea Near Me - Aviemore, HLD

I really wanted to love this place, I even waited until I'd been three times before writing this review. On my first visit I was put in a corner and completely forgotten about for more than 40 minutes. When I finally managed to get a waitress's attention it took 15 minutes for my drink to arrive. Another twenty minutes later I asked when my food would be coming and it turned out they had no record of my order. So I finally got my meal after being sat down for nearly 90 minutes. I spoke to the head waitress and was given a polite shrug of the shoulders, no apology or offer of recompense. On my second visit the main dish was missing three of the accompaniments listed on the menu If they didn't have them for some reason, that's OK, but they should have told me when ordering and offered me alternatives or the opportunity to pick something else. On my third visit they brought the wrong drinks and again the main dishes were missing accompaniments. Perhaps I have been exceedingly unlucky, but poor service on three successive visits in both on and off season is a bad show. On all three visits the staff were pleasant, though ineffectual at times, and the food delicious, if not what I had actually ordered. I fear that this place has become a victim of its own success; They always have people queuing out the door for tables so can loose a few patrons to poor standards of service. The food is good and the views lovely, the decor is appropriate for the history of the area and there are one or two local items on the menu. But none of this can make up for poor service. read more

Without a doubt the best place for coffee and cake in Aviemore. The breakfast options are great and it's hard to resist their fantastic selection of cakes and baking read more

Simply the best place to go in Aviemore for breakfast, brunch, lunch, afternoon tea... There's often a queue but well worth waiting for. Food, service, atmosphere all amazing. read more

Has potential but is let down by exorbitant prices - £5 for 2 pancakes on the kids menu - still looking for a good cafe in Aviemore!

Awesome spot! Extremely GF friendly. The food and staff are both lovely! That is the GF ham and Brie sandwich with pistachio and apricot chutney read more

The mountain cafe is always my favourite place to stop in aviemore. upstairs from one of the many outdoor shops, it had a good range of tasty and well prepared food; sandwitches, burgers, soups etc. You'll find cheaper food nearby but the quality and atmosphere in the cafe is worth the price! read more

Victim of its own success as its so often very busy. Don't be surprised if you have to wait for a table. Food is generally excellent quality, and generous portions. Good coffee too but avoid the Afghan biscuits. read more

Breakfasts are fantastic. Sandwiches are unusual and really tasty with great combinations of flavours. Cakes to die for! You must visit the Mountain Cafe if you visit Aviemore! read more

Finest coffee in all the land! A cake display that screams "EAT ME!" Fantastic breakfast and lunch menu with a good but not oversized selection. Prices pretty good as portions generous. Friendly attentive staff and good atmosphere. Popular place so be prepared to wait for a table. Well worth the wait though! :-) read more

this place is great. got there on a wednesday morning and it was packed, but well worth the wait. service was excellent along with the food. i would rate their vegetarian breakfast as the best i have ever had. one of my friends had a pizza here and said it was the best he has ever eaten. read more