Oh my goodness! The Strawberry Maple Bacon waffles were sublime. I ll the waffles were light and…read morecrispy. The sweet and salty blended together perfectly. It's a small cozy wonderful place for breakfast brunch or lunch.

Amazing food and great service... We are in Edinburgh for a couple of days and are so lucky to have…read morefound this for breakfast. Waffles with banana & bacon were superB

I stumbled across this gem while exploring central Edinburgh. The food is absolutely amazing. Truly…read moreauthentic Greek dishes with plenty of menu options, along with daily specials. The place is spotless, the pricing is quite good and the employees very friendly. I've been eating here everyday since discovering it and plan to keep doing so until I head back home in a couple of weeks.

Great little Mediterranean restaurant. Food is delicious and reasonable. People are super nice…read more Cold wine. Highly recommend, but it's small so book ahead.

We had the loveliest meal at Meze Meze on Rose Street. There were four of us and we ordered the…read morefeast, and every single dish was delicious and fresh. The veggies were the show stopper. The sweetest man, who I assume was the owner, brought our kiddos two Turkish delights on the house. I only regret not ordering dessert. Alcohol selection was great, and the table was comfy.

We stumbled on this find for lunch. The food was great, especially their take on a tzatziki sauce.read more

I've been back maybe 30 times (yes that is not an exaggeration) since the first review and the…read moreservice, food and overall experience has never been less than 5 stars. There are about only 3 places I eat in Edinburgh. Scran and Scallie (they allow dogs), Imperial Palace (dim sum cravings) and here at Ola Kala. My standard order now is maybe the feta cheese dip, a pita, the potatoes with kefalortiri, main course of gyros and a green greek coke. Oh also you have to try the square baklava. Is made with walnuts and cinnamon. Some of the best I have ever tried. Also they have tables outside for summer. TLDR - Still the best kebab (gyros) in Edinburgh if not Scotland.

Ola Kala was a nice find. We had the chicken wrap and a salad. Service was provided by the owner…read more(most likely). He helped answer questions about the menu. Good prices for a decent gyro. The salad was amazing.

My friends wanted a change of pace one night and took me to their favorite Greek restaurant. It's…read moresmall enough to be considered cozy without feeling crowded. The menu is strictly meze style where you order a bunch of individual dishes and share them family style. It's a fun format and the most of the dishes were excellent. The house red wine was absolutely fine, but we didn't make room for dessert.

I love going here when in Edinburgh. The owners and servers have always been friendly and welcoming…read more/ willing to share their recommendations. Makes the experience very homely. Everything on menu is worth giving a try! Fun place to go to share dishes!

We all enjoyed our food here , tasty , not too expensive . Good service . Fish & chips were ok …read more Majority of us ordered Mediterranean food and we were not disappointed.

Best Mediterranean food I've ever had! Lots of options to share, perfect for groups. We loved the…read morefalafel, the mixed grill, and stuffed mushrooms. Definitely get a side of tzatziki while you're at it. This isn't a place you want to miss out on!

I LOVE Yeni's. It's a go-to lunch choice with their bargain of 3 tapas dishes for £10.50. The decor…read moreon the inside is subtle and stylish, the colourful posters and shelves with vintage Turkish crockery brighten the space. The food is flavoursome and fresh, while the service is quick and friendly. I go to Yeni's with my friends and my family, everyone is catered for with the inclusion of vegetarian, vegan, dairy-free and gluten-free options. The dishes are extremely reasonable in price, and midday is always quiet, if not completely deserted! Of course, dinnertime is busier if you're looking for more of an atmosphere. Lunchtime, however, is my favourite time for Yeni's. The deserts are absolutely delicious, the ice cream flavours are unique and garnished with fresh mint. Yeni's is located centrally, with excellent transport options. I have to say, I love a bit of Yeni's.

Yeni's is a real diamond in Edinburgh's food scene. The service is wonderful and the food is…read moresublime!! I come here with my mum whenever she visits as it's her all time favourite. We order practically everything on the menu and savour every morsel (and this is a woman who is the epitome of self restraint when it comes to food). You never feel rushed so you can sit back and wade through the delectable assortment of dishes at your own pace, and it's all served with piping hot pitta bread to mop up the scrumptious juices. My personal favourites are the meze sausage, calamari, mixed roast vegetables and the lamb kebabs with that authentic Turkish rice that takes me back to a particularly magnificent holiday in Istanbul. Finished off with their Baklava and a cup of steaming apple tea. Perfection. Give Yeni's a try, you will not be disappointed. Lauren x

This place was such a delight today!! My friends had been there before thrice so it came with high…read moreexpectations, and it did live up to those!! The waiter was excellent: friendly, attentive, courteous, helpful! The nan breads could be cooked a bit more, and their kitchen extractor fan was loud (we shouldn't have sit so close to the kitchen entrance) . The baklava was nothing special - just like the ones bought from shops. Apart from the above minor points, the food was Really Really good!! I was so jealous I couldn't try the lamb chops (trying a meat-free month for a while) but my friend assured me they were delicious and cooked perfectly, soft and proper charcoal cooked! The lamb dish with the vegetables and the tomato sauce was massive and well cooked too! I tried the spinach with chickpeas, herbs and rice as a side. Delicious! As a drink I chose the yoghurt drink: they add a bit of salt, helps digestion too :-) I even tried their mint tea: they do have fresh mint leaves which they add apart from the standard peppermint bag. You should definitely try it if you're into Kurdish / Middle Easter cuisine!

Set the wayback machine to November of 2013. I am on a two-week journey in Edinburgh for reasons…read moreunrelated to food. However, being a food blogger, I made a point to have at least one restaurant experience each day for the purposes of my reviews. I figured that considering the amount of walking I'd been doing, I shouldn't have had any problem keeping my weight down. By the end of the two weeks, I had gained ten pounds. I blame restaurants like Nawroz for that. Is this a critical review? Not in the slightest. I'm only saying that with nearly every restaurant I've been in, I've never seen more generosity in service and portions than businesses specializing in Middle Eastern cuisine. Okay, perhaps I would put them on a tie with the Greeks, but I would much prefer large portions of Middle Eastern cuisine than of Greek. Yeah, I know, I'm going to get murdered for that one. I'm not saying that Middle Eastern cuisine is better than Greek cuisine. I'm saying that Middle Eastern cuisine is...clearly better, how can anyone argue with that? I've said that certain cuisines become gateways to other cuisines; they stimulate your culinary curiosity while others are gastronomic thunderdomes. Which would I put in the latter category? Obviously American and westernized Chinese. Even sushi is starting to fall into that category. But gateway cuisines? Indian definitely, French and maybe Dutch to lesser degrees, they all open our minds to new ideas, leading to other possibilities. From Indian, you may try Nepalese, Persian, or Moroccan. Of course, if one is talking technicalities, these countries are only lines on a map, and when addressing nutritional anthropology, what you get are hundreds of tribes migrating through history across Africa and Asia, sharing their ideas and techniques. Comprehending that, suddenly calling a certain cuisine Indian makes no sense, as what classifies as Indian food is actually several different culinary methods which happen to occupy that region. What classifies as Indian changes depending on where in India you are? In fact, naming a cuisine not after a country but a people should be more appropriate. Kurdish cuisine encompasses Iran, Iraq, Syria, and Turkey. With that, there are quite a few foods which the average curioso will recognize. You'll find falafels, humus, flatbreads, baklava, and shawarma. So what should you do when given such variety? You order it all. Wait, what? Nawroz offers various dishes but one is a mixed collection of various starters. So the five of us ended up getting large mixed plates of starters with only two mains, allowing us to share in the traditional Middle Eastern fashion. You don't order a main and lift from it selfishly. You order a mountainous bowl of food and open the plates of the table to share. This is what you do. Nawroz should be experienced each time as a gathering of friends and family. Invent a celebration if you have to. Someone's birthday? A wedding? Christmas (which they celebrate at Nawroz ironically), or how about the traditional Iranian new year...which is actually called Nawroz. So the restaurant is named after one of the most boisterous events in all the Middle East; why wouldn't you take that opportunity? It's like a restaurant that celebrates Christmas all year round. The décor is perfect with what it attempts to convey: culture and tradition with mild compromises to operate as a functional restaurant. Red and black chairs over a tiled floor, raw brick on the walls with hanging rugs, tapestries, and paintings. Various regional iconographies rest upon the bar. I can feel the pride of the owners in their culture by the décor of the restaurant and the quality of their food. Even the hummus is molded into a fan, topped with olives. The flatbread is fried, a new first and favorite. The mixed starters ranged from contemporary to intimidating and I devoured each and every one. Even though we had ordered mixed starters for five with only two mains, we couldn't squeeze another plate of food onto our table. Everything was good and we still had dessert waiting for us--three types of baklava with Turkish delight. I'll reiterate my previous point. The various cultures of the Middle East know how to make people welcome and this is reflected in their restaurants. Their food is munificent, huge portions at reasonable prices. With Shezan and Nawroz being so close to each other (walking distance) I know that any future domiciles in Edinburgh would have to be in close proximity to this region so when I entertain visitors, I always have a place to go. I am happy that my small home town has a Persian restaurant--so at least my absence from this cuisine would be short. DECOR: 9 PLATING: 8 SERVICE: 8 FOOD: 9 VALUE: 10 OVERALL: 8.8 out of 10

Qupi cafe is a cosy, unusual little cafe situated in the part of Leith that is a bit devoid of…read morecultural offerings (sorry, it has to be said). So this place shines out like a wee gem! Always crowded but not overrun, the constant custom stands as a testament to how popular Qupi is amongst locals and passers by. It sells some delicious Greek food, not to mention the usual cafe and afternoon tea offerings. Food is served up piping hot and brimming with goodness. There is definitely a rustic but also continental feel to this cafe, and I got the impression everything in here was homemade on the day since it was so fresh. For the quality of the food, the prices are surprisingly low. The staff are very friendly, attentive and sharp, so you're not lingering about waiting to be served for ages. On the contrary, I felt well looked after. This is the kind of place I delight in bringing a book to and setting myself up for an afternoon of reading. No matter how busy it is there is something relaxed about this homely, quirky cafe and it has a charming appeal that will see me coming back next time I'm in this neck of the woods!

I had no idea that Qupi was actually a Greek cafe - I would have probably popped in sooner had I…read moreknown. Oh well, better late than never! It was lunch time and I wanted a feta cheese and spinach pie AKA spanakopita. A friendly gentleman took my order and the pie was heated up in a large oven. It was accompanied by a little side salad. Really enjoyed the spanakopita - very tasty feta spinach filling inside filo pastry. Just how it should be! When you step inside Qupi, the place is a bit more bigger than what it seems from outside. Few tables in the back. The menu also has Croques e.g. Croque Monsiuer etc.. Nice, as this is not a regular item in many cafes.

Getting out of Princess Street and onto Leith Walk is almost a humbling journey. Cafes down this…read moreway spend less time showing off with expensive decor and more time on the food. The Spicy Pot is like a Mediterranean Subway, very healthy sized portions of your favorite sandwich or wrap combos. But that's also the biggest problem with this place, the menu options are limited. This is a real shame because they put me together a very nice Club, made exactly how I wanted it and it tasted divine. They are more than capable than producing excellent Med food, I hope they take a chance an expand the menu!

The Spicy Pot is such a good idea, every town should have one!…read more Like Stuart said, the best way to describe it is a Med Subway, with ciabattas, baguettes and wraps filled with delicious fillings like chorizo, roast chicken, Mediterranean roasted veggies, feta and spinach. It's just a bit different from the norm, and they even do tasty salad boxes filled with meat or veggie options, for around £3. Nothing is very expensive and almost everything is under the £3 mark, with options to sit in or take-away. They have a small selection of cakes and home made pies, which finish off a healthy lunch perfectly!