Moo Cafeteria

Seems to have closed down — closed when we visited with a big home-​printed ‘restaurant for lease’ sign in the window :(

My favourite place to go for breakfast!
It’s a quirky place with very friendly staff, I’ve never had bad service there once. Their breakfasts are consistently good and they make fab fresh juices and milkshakes.
The breakfast menu is varied, definitely something for all tastes and appetites! Lunch menu looks good too and I always like the sound of their soup of the day.
Very reasonably priced I’d happily go every day if I could!

Went there last Sunday after a quick check out on Unilocal for a cooked breakfast with my friend Jon. We wanted some egg and bacon but fancied escaping the South and West of Edinburgh, where we both stay.
The place is neat and the location is really nice, just a short stroll away from the Royal Botanic Gardens and New Town. If it hadn’t been for the pesky rain we would have probably enjoyed a nearby park after eating.
Big teapot with enough milk to my liking. Breakfast ingredients looked fresh and seemed of a good quality. The only downer was that I’m not a huge fan of Scottish breakfast containing haggis and black pudding (giblets in general), I much prefer the more English variant with mushrooms or tomatoes. Still filling though.
Free wifi, and you can pay by card.

All the other reviews for Moo seem positive so maybe we just caught them on a bad day, but safe to say we shall not be going back! We’d decided against Circle further down the street as all the condensation on the windows made it look a bit sweaty but with hindsight, condensation = lots of people = popular. Anyway, I digress.
So we ended up in Moo which has slightly quirky decoration; the highlight (or should that be lowlight?) was a perspex box with a display made from children’s farm animals (‘Moo’ — I get it!) which may have been hilariously ironic when placed there but over the years has become dusty and just a bit grubby. A couple of sad little cows have also bitten the dust so it’s actually just a box with some jumbled toys in it.
Anyway, we only wanted drinks and I ordered hot chocolate. We’d been out for a walk and it was freezing so I was really looking forward to a steaming mug with, hopefully, some whipped cream and possibly even a marshmallow or three. I was gutted when not only did I not get any of these hot chocolate accessories but my ‘hot’ chocolate was more like ‘luke warm at best’ chocolate. My friend ordered milkshake and was excited by the fact that Moo proclaimed on the menu that it was made with Luca’s ice cream. How could it fail?! By grinding ice cubes into it, not ice cream, that’s how. Meanwhile, the boyfriend and friend No2 sat sipping tea and looking smug as we exclaimed with dismay over each fresh disappointment.

Brunch at Moo is one of my favourite weekend pastimes — with a great selection from scrambled egg and smoked salmon to a cooked vegetable snack that would make any meat-​eater consider converting to vegetarianism. The smoothies are refreshing and filling, and the staff are always smiling. I’ve taken friends, family and even in-​laws (!) there and they’ve all been delighted.
Their BYOB burger night is also a great one for hungry tummies looking for good quality grub and fab flavour combinations!

The breakfast here is mooooovelous! no?.it was worth a shot. Anyways, it’s so beautifully decorated and mega child friendly. There’s loads to look at. I especially love the retro computer they have up on the way to the loos. They’re cooked breakfasts are great and their scrambled egg is sooo good! Highly recommend for a café that stands out from the rest (for all the right reasons!)

At first I was a little underimpressed with Moo Cafeteria. Upon showing up on an oddly glorious Saturday afternoon, we wanted to sit outside, and after some persuasion, the four of us were allowed to take 2 of the indoor chairs outside while the manager wasn’t looking. Not sure if that is the lady who came out to take our order, but man, she seemed really annoyed at having to deal with us. With me being the odd one out by ordering falafel, and the rest cake (oh damn you, diet! The glee to which the cakes were ordered was NOT FAIR). The falafel came out a little later than the rest of the order, and when they came out, my oh my, in the spirit of ACDC, I had big balls (of falafel, that is).
The only problem is, they were too big, and raw in the centre, which I slowly worked out as I tucked into them. So into the café I trotted, plate in hand. The waitress immediately apologised and took my plate back into the kitchen. Now here is the kicker of a good café — do they scrape off the offending part of the meal, or provide an entire new dish? Well, Moo gave me the latter, with smaller balls, which had clearly been checked before being sent out to me. I like that — it makes me feel happy that the chef didn’t intend the same mistake to happen twice.
Where I wouldn’t say wow, they were the best falafel in the world, they were tasty bites, freshly made and the plate overall was nicely presented. Despite one of the ladies who served us original ill-​humour, she was lovely when my plate was returned to me and full of apology. I would definitely go back, and most importantly when I can test out their cake range.

This weekend I was put in charge of finding a Friday night dinner venue for 8 people. Requirements: Hearty food, on a budget + veggie options.
A number of my favourite haunts made the short-​list, but in the end I opted for Moo & I’m very glad I did!
Every Friday evening, Moo hold a burger night and it’s BYOB (with no corkage fee!). The restaurant advertises the night as running from 6pm ’til 9pm, but on booking, the owner was happy to agree that we could use the venue after this time. Our table reservation was for 8pm and we stayed until just after 10pm. The staff didn’t rush us at all & we had an excellent time.
The food:
The burger night portions at Moo are very generous and we were full to the brim on leaving. The menu offers a choice of no-​fuss starters (garlic bread, soup, onion rings, garlic mushrooms, coleslaw & salad) and a selection of five main course burger toppings that can be served with a beef, chicken or bean burger. All main courses are served with salad, coleslaw and a portion of seriously tasty hand-​cut, homemade chips.
I opted for a chicken burger, topped with bacon & Mull of Kintyre cheddar — it was absolutely delicious. The only disappointment was that the bread was rather ordinary. Tasty rolls from a local Edinburgh bakery would bump my rating up to 5 stars.
The service:
The owners and other staff at Moo are friendly, helpful and attentive.
Originally, I’d booked our table for 8.30pm, but moved our reservation to 8pm at quite short notice — the restaurant had no issue at all with this.
The Moo website had unfortunately been hacked and the burger menu was unavailable to download (issue now resolved), but within a few minutes of coming off the phone, the owner had emailed a copy to me, so that I could share it with friends.
We brought along a selection of prosecco, white wine & red wine (from the wonderful Cornelius on Easter Road) and as Moo charge no corkage fee this made a massive difference to the total bill; a very pocket-​friendly £8 per head!
For hearty food on a budget, I highly recommend burger nights at Moo Cafeteria.
Moo can be reached by bus on the #23, #27 and #8 routes and is well-​placed for after dinner drinks in Canonmills, Broughton Street & Stockbridge.

All round ok…7 outa 10 coffee (& they do a flat white!) agreeable food (basic, but well prepared and served) and smiling staff happy to oblige wee ones. Meals however are perhaps £1– £2 per dish overpriced.

This quirky little café down in Canonmills is great fun — the interior is one of my favourites in the city. Quirky patterns and colourful walls really contrast against the shiny white shop-​front.
I love all day breakfasts but these days not even Little Chef can give you something satisfying (thanks for nothing, Heston). Generous portions of fried, but not weighty, food that made my hangover vanish. It was good quality cooking with good quality ingredients. It must be hard work sorting out the daily-​changing menu for creative husband and wife combo but it hasn’t yet seemed to have compromised any of the little details.

As this place has opened for business on a site that’s already been an Indian restaurant and, most recently and for only about 6 months, an Egyptian steak house + it has similar established competition to the left and an offshoot of the Urban Angel «empire» along the road to the right I’m glad I’ve finally managed to get in and check it out as none of the above boded well for it I thought yet it’s clear form going past on the bus that it’s a bright and freshly decorated establishment that always looks welcoming.
That said I’ve never seen it very busy but on having finally stepped across the threshold I can’t actually see any reason why this should be the case — the staff are friendly, the background music is well chosen and at a decent level and they clearly cater to families and customers of all ages with a small but no nonsense menu.
If I’d paid more attention upon entering I’d not have been surprised that my rabbit and carrot pie was of the Scotch variety rather than the cottage (they have them clearly displayed in a case on the counter). That aside it was packed to bursting with meat so no complaints there. The handmade chips were delicious but could have been slightly crisper (there were more on the plate to begin with than are shown in the photo as I’d tucked in before it occurred to me to take the pic). They operate a system whereby you choose your dish and then the price of that covers the addition of the side order you choose to accompany it. £6 for my pie and chips was I felt very reasonable. Just over two cups of tea in a pot at £1.70 and a reasonable flapjack (could have been just a tad moister) at £1.20 rounded things off.
I’d happily go back again and have only hedged at 3 stars as I didn’t check out the bathroom facilities.