Roseleaf Bar Cafe Review - wherever I lay my hat that’s my home from home

Our friend Zara, practising sceptic and curmudgeon, is the barometer, mostly set at gloomy, by which we gauge the success of a night, or day, out. In other words can we free her from the shackles of doom that often cloud her judgement.

Today, we give the Roseleaf Bar and Café, situated prettily in the Port of Leith, a chance to shine. It’s Saturday lunchtime and with no prior reservation we learn later that we were fortunate to find a space.

The Roseleaf has garnered many glittering reviews since opening in July 2007 and falls just short of five stars on Facebook and TripAdvisor

Settling in we order some fresh fruit juices - had it been later in the day we may have chosen some of their Pot-Tails (cocktails in teapots). ‘The Coconut Crunch’ juice, which combined pineapple, coconut water and apple was a hit. The menu described one of this drink’s health benefits as ‘great for soothing nausea’ – an ideal choice for our companion who often complains of feeling sickly.

The bar, which is open all daily from 10am until 1am, has a few drinkers sampling the venue’s extensive range of beers.

It has eclectic decor with sturdy, old fashioned furniture and objects that they describe on their website as ‘random treasure which continues to blossom with new curiosities that we find along the way’.

An assortment of vintage hats hang on the wall stands which visitors can choose to wear during their stay. A group at the table next to us wear some of them and we question whether we have stumbled into a bygone era.

Below the hanging hats are art work from artists and photographers who are free to use the bar as a temporary gallery.

We order some brunch from menus folded into the middle of dated editions of National Geographic magazines, and a friendly staff member kindly helps me to choose between two vegetarian dishes.

We look at some of the photographs on display from Javier Ternero, of Seville, who has captured stunning portraits of people and landscapes from around the globe from the Andes in South America, Segovia in Spain and even a few from Edinburgh.

'On The Road' photograph by Javier Ternero as displayed at The Roseleaf. Credit: www.facebook.com/Roseleaf.Bar.Cafe.

These are interspersed with oil paintings by the Scottish painter, Charly Murray, who has drawn attractive scenes of Edinburgh and various pieces whilst on his travels.

When the food arrives, Zara and all three of her guests, each believe that their meal was the top choice on the menu and everyone can’t be right.

Zara’s recommended ‘The Roseleafer’ vegetarian breakfast and was most impressed with her ‘award winning vegetarian haggis’. The kitchen source produce from local suppliers and cook everything from scratch. Beans, roasted tomatoes, their home-made tattie scone and bread, a flat cap mushroom, wilted spinach and eggs accompanied it. Zara greedily mopped it all up.

I enjoyed the pleasant flavour of their spicy risotto dish called the ‘Rice and Spice’. Its gallimaufry of ingredients included rice, mixed beans and herbs with a fried egg, sliced avocado and tortilla crisps placed carefully on top.

Brunch was both tasty and affordable - with everyone in our group spending less than £15 for a main course and drink. The quirky décor, thoughtful touches and friendly staff provide much of the venue’s charm. Zara left with flickerings of joy on her lips. Not a bad result given that those gorgeous sounding Pot-tails will need to be sampled at a later date.

The SCAMPI Test 26/30

Service: 5

Cooking: 4

Atmosphere: 5

Music: 3

Price: 5

Inspiration: 4

To find out more information visit their website at www.roseleaf.co.uk.