The Beach House

This is a great place right next to the beach, I’m surprised that it took me so long to pay s visit.
I like this place as there is plenty of seating outside from when it’s busy inside, on the morning that l came in it was a very cold and frosty morning and I needed a cup of tea to warm me up, l already ate my sandwiches that l bought with me as l thought this place did teas & cakes, if l had known that l could gave got a breakfast filled roll here l would have probably saved my sandwiches for later.
Light lunches served here with freshly made soup of the day, plenty of staff to serve, this place has that café vibe & feel to it.

Lovely beachside café regardless of the weather. Great for people watching, reading a book or catching up on work.
Excellent menu, good coffee & has wifi. Friendly helpful service even though this place is always busy.

Voici un lieu très très agréable proposant des tables de 2 ou des grandes tables à partager. Ambiance très Newport beach bleue et blanc puis bois blanchi. Pour ma part étant seule j’ai bénéficié du comptoir devant la fenêtre face à la mer. Je pense que c’est l’endroit le plus agréable pour savourer un café et laissant voguer son imagination. Le cappuccino est bon et proposé en 2 tailles small ou regular (le regular est vraiment large). Les tarifs sont corrects pour l’emplacement environ 3£ pour un capu

Popped in for some tea and scones (I like scones, you might have noticed) after an afternoon on Portobello beach. Everything tasted really good, and the staff were friendly and helpful. The place seems popular with all kinds of people, of all ages, and the atmosphere was nice.

Bei schlechtem Wetter empfiehlt es sich einen Platz in den geschützten Räumlichkeiten zu wählen, die gefragt sind. Hier flitzen die Bedienungen zwischen Tischen und Theke hin und her. Gäste kommen und gehen, Kinderstimmen melden sich dazwischen und überhaupt herrscht hier Leben. Etwas beschaulicher geht es mitunter auf den Sitzplätzen im Freien zu, inklusive des weitläufigen Meerblicks.
Allerdings gilt es für die Wahl Letzterer zu bedenken, dass die Bestellungen dann bitte in Eigenregie im Inneren des Cafés aufgegeben und dort auch direkt bezahlt werden sollten. Dafür wird das Georderte dann auch nach draußen an den Platz gebracht.
Der Tee ist herrlich, das Wasser schön weich und das Aroma der Teesorte unverfälscht. Das ausgewählte Erdbeer-​Tartelette entpuppt sich als echte Überraschung. Wollten meine Begleitung und ich es uns eigentlich teilen, darf ich mich schlussendlich über das gesamte Stück freuen. Unter den Erdbeeren findet sich nämlich eine Vanillecreme, die an Pudding erinnert und nicht den Geschmack meiner Begleitung trifft. Geschmacklich war es gut abgerundet, wenngleich der Boden etwas trocken und hart geraten war.
Vielleicht bin ich nicht so einfach zufrieden zu stellen. Möglicherweise mag ich es aber auch nur nicht, wenn Bestellungen zum einen erst falsch aufgenommen werden und zum anderen dann auch noch eine scheinbar endlos lange Zeit benötigen, um serviert zu werden. Das, in Kombination mit den aus deutscher Sicht leicht gehobenen Preisen, führt dazu, dass meine gute Urlaubsstimmung gleich um einige Punkte sinkt.

Busy, family-​oriented café with below average service.
I don’t want to be too negative about my experience at The Beach House, but I have to say, for as busy as the place was –and it was really crowded inside and out –the food and service were not that impressive. If you have kids however, this must be the best place at Portobello Beach because it seems more geared for people with small children.
I stopped in with a couple of friends on a rare sunny day in Edinburgh, which definitely means going to Portobello Beach to hang out. The inside was completely full with people waiting to get a seat inside. We stalked out the outdoor section until someone left and then we quickly sprung into action and snatched up a table for ourselves.
Upon seeing us, our server only gave us two menus and took quite a while to come back and take our orders. Clearly they were super busy on this day, but we were customers also and deserve to be taken care of. The food was fine, I had a meat panini and milkshake. The food was nothing too special, although the mint shake was good.
Our server never came back after this. 30 minutes after eating, we had to go inside, wait in line for 10 minutes, and deal with an overwhelmed cashier who was upset that we split our check and wanted to pay with cards. And their card reader wasn’t working well either, forcing me to try twice before it was successful.
I hate it when everyone else has a great experience somewhere and I have to review a place and give it a poor review. But, I have to be honest to other Unilocalers out there and be upfront about my personal experiences at place. Sorry folks, this place didn’t cut it for me. The wait, the poor service, the cashier. It was all enough together for me to decide that I won’t be back.
Other random observations to note: No alcohol, loud inside the café, good selection of cakes.

My one rule for agreeing to a cycle ride on saturdays is that there is a cake stop along the way. a few saturdays ago we agree our route to go via portobello so we could make a stop at The Beach House to sample so of their large and scrumptious cake collection.
the weather wasn’t great, but we managed to stop there during a fairly sunny bit of the day so opted to sit outside as the resaurant was fairly busy and we were wearing our fancy sporty bike gear. the tables are set up along the promenade and it must be really lovely on a warm sunny day. our day while sunny was also rather windy and we ended up running inside for the last ten minutes when the rain started again.
outside setting aside, inside there is a serious collection of amazing cakes on offer. the temptation is large with about three different kinds of chocolate cake, a few brownie types, tarts, and some of the standard cakes like a victoria sponge. i went for the sticky toffee cake that looked amazing and tasted even better. it was moist and entirely moreish with an incredibly delicious but not overly sweet cinnamon frosting. i tried to eat my whole slice but unfortunately i was defeated by the size and only wish i’d thought to take the remaining bit home with me.
for a quick cake stop i think The Beach House really hits the spot. i’ve been for food once before which was nice but i can see that having to wait for a table on a busy day may be a draw back. also for those less of the child minded, this is serious buggy central with loads of families and kids running about. however on a rare glorious summer day, this would be the perfect place for a cuppa and cake while sat outside on the promenade watching the sea :)

Home baking and fab coffee with the most wonderful views on a sunny morning. What is not to love?

Scones and Tea mmmmm. Always good when I am here. Really a great place and wonderful people that run this place. Always nice to everyone. Food is awesome and you can look out the windows to the beach.

The Beach House is a really cute café right on the Portobello promenade. It has a few outdoor tables for the sunny days, and a surprisingly large interior for the other 360 days of the year.
The Man and I stopped here for lunch a couple of months ago and, despite being mid-​week, it was still bustling. I’d put that down to it’s definite yummy mummy appeal, though my favourite was the guy who sent his kids to play in the sand (3 feet away) while he chilled out and enjoyed himself.
So — great location, good concept. Unfortunately the service and quality of the offerings let it down a bit. We were very surprised at how long it took to get someone to take our order and even more surprised at HOW LONG it took for our food to arrive. While we waited we watched the waitress bring a table full of incorrect food to the people sitting next to us, made even crazier by the bowl of hot soup that was put in front of the toddler, and craziest of all when considering how long it took for them to take away the incorrect food and eventually bring out the right order.
After the drama, our food arrived and it was good, but not gloriously tasty amazingness that I was expecting from the menu. It was fine, but nothing to get excited over.
All in all not a bad experience but I guess not quite as good as I was expecting.
If you’re here on a sunny day though, it’s worth it for the location.

I’ve been here a few times now as it’s become a bit of semi-​local.
Good points
— Location. It’s on the promenade with views out to the sea. Pretty and inviting, especially if the weather is a bit lacklustre! They also have outdoor seating with blankets for when it gets a bit chilly.
— Food. For the most part is pretty nice. The cakes are good and the breakfasts are yum.
Things to, let shall we say, work on…
— Staff. If you don’t want to be in the service industry, then don’t be. The minimum you need as a customer is a smile and just general politeness. I’ve been here a few times now and it doesn’t seem to matter who you get, whether sat at a table or grabbing a takeaway, you get the feeling that you’re just annoying them. So so miserable it’s off-​putting. I’m not the only one who feels this way. I’ve even had people sitting next to us turn to us and comment, wondering whether it was just them.
— Portion sizes. I can’t tell you how small the bacon rolls are! And for £3.95 you would be horrified. Which brings me on to the price of things… I know they have a captured market but it’s a tad too high.
You know thinking about it again makes me think I probably won’t go back here. I’ll try the Espy next door.

This seems to be one of the most popular haunts for promenade eating and drinking, and for good reason.
The space is airy and bright, despite always being almost full to capacity. The cakes are fresh and extremely tasty, with a range of gluten free options to cater for GF cake nommers. The tea is plentiful and refreshing. Food is varied and good quality. The service is with a smile, though it sometimes is a wee bit slow — due probably to the business of the place.
Definitely recommend, I always like to have a quick stop here!

The Beach House makes a regular fun cycle to Portobello beach, or a day in the Turkish baths, change from an all-​round fun day to an AMAZING day filled with beautiful salads and CAKE. Yes.
I don’t know Portobello well, but the two times I’ve been here recently on a bike ride and after a day at the Turkish Baths, this is the café we went to both times, and it was just right each time. It’s big inside, and whilst it always seems to be full to the rafters, we weren’t turned away and had a table within 2 minutes of waiting. The staff are super friendly, and the head waiter who coordinates it all runs a tight ship but in a relaxed way.
FIrst off: many options of gluten free cakes. Yes! From Love Pure Cakes and Mrs C’s Cakes, and a few others I don’t recognise. This makes me so happy, and both times the cake I had was delicious.
Second: warm winter vegetable salad with feta and many seeds. Yes! This was amazingly delicious and the perfect serving size after a day of steaming in the baths, but still leaving room for cake.
I think without The Beach House my trips to Portobello would be far colder, tiring and less delicious. Where else would I stop for coffee and cake mid-​cycle? Let’s not think about answering that.

OMG! — I have been to this place a few times and realize only know that I have not yet written a review. It must have been my enthusiasm for this location and coffee shop that made me forget…
The Beach House is easy to find. Get off the 26 bus on Portobello High Street, which crosses with Bath Road. There is a charity shop on the corner. Walk down Bath Road and get to the end of the road where you can see the open sea and smell the fresh sea air. Sandy beaches lay bare infront of you with many people strolling along the promenade, enjoying the scenery and a brisk fresh air walk. Turning to the right you will find the beach hut. You cant oversee it. The exterior tries to blend in with the area of a sea side resort: White and Blue colours, inside and out!
In the summer you can sit outside either on the promenade wall or if you are lucky enough you conquer a table and chairs.
The interior invites you to sit down and rest your laurels. Its warm in the winter and with a hot chocolate and a cake it is just too good to be true.
Once I enjoyed an ice cream Sundae (in the summer) with caramel topping. Lately I ordered a hot chocolate and a few scoops of their creamy ice cream. You can also get cakes and a light lunch, soft drinks, coffee, soup etc, apparently all organic and from local suppliers.
Sometimes I feel the service is a bit slow, such best you have plenty of time — what you should have, as time stands still when you are at a beach side resort :-)
The slow service aside, the staff is very friendly.
It is my favourite place to enjoy peace and tranquility!

I just fancied a scone and a flat white beside the beach and this is what I get! Perfect!!! Really nice fruit scone with jam and butter, topped off with a lovely warm, tasting flat white right beside the beach.
The staff were friendly and service was quick too.
I’ll be here again — it’s enough to brighten up anyone’s day!

This place was delightful, beautiful strawberry sorbet ice cream, served by a very friendly and helpful guy and only £2 for a massive scoop! Edinburgh is so cheap and lovely!!! wish I still lived here sometimes!

I really wanted to like this place. It’s cute, perfect location with a beautiful view of the beach, and the décor was nice too. And they are serving a lot of organic stuff. I was really excited when I walked in, but like others mentioned, the service was painfully slooooowwwwwww. I got there about 11:40am, got seated right away, but nobody came to take my order until 11:55, and at that time, the server refused to take my breakfast order because breakfast was until noon. I asked her if she could check with the kitchen, and she did, but the same answer. In my mind, I wanted to argue «but it’s 11:55, there is still 5 minutes left!!!» But I just didn’t want to waste my time anymore. If they are ok with having me sit all by myself at the table, and go talk to a family who got in after I did and take their order before me, then maybe they just didn’t want me there. It’s unfortunate, I really wanted to like this place so that I could come back every morning to get a coffee or breakfast while I’m staying in Portobello, but I think I would rather spend my money somewhere else where they appreciate my patronage.

I like it here. tasty food, and well sourced puddings from various places like La Cerise in Leith.
The service can get slow when it’s busy, and it’s a small place so it gets busy easily. but it’s right on the beach. You can eat outside, and you can take away thigns too, like the ice cream *hint hint*

Nice little café overlooking Portobello beach. The Promenade is a great place for a walk/​cycle on a sunny day and The Beach House is right on it; the perfect to stop for refreshments or lunch. The ice cream is from The Chocolate Tree and they have Orangina in the original little curvy bottles. Awesome.

We took the bus out to Portobello from Edinburgh today. It was a lovely, sunny and almost warm afternoon and I was pleasantly surprised to find what looked like a very inviting café on the waterfront. The café is well-​presented and a positive addition to the Portobello beach front. I would have to agree though with the previous reviewer — the service was rather poor. When we entered the café, we read the sign that informs customers to «please wait to be seated.» We duly waited for at least 10 minutes whilst all manner of staff milled about and pushed past us in the cramped entry way. Finally, we enquired as to whether or not we could take a table. We were told to go ahead. We sat, looked at the menu and then proceeded to wait another 10 minutes or so. Just when we thought that we had figured out that perhaps we needed to order at the counter, a waitress came over to our table and took our order.
The food was fine, though I would like to correct Matthew’s review above — the cakes and breads are NOT baked on the premises. All of this is brought in from outside. I know this for certain as when I asked what the exact ingredients of the cakes might be and whether or not there were peanuts being handled in the kitchen where the cakes were being prepared, the waitress told me she could not say as all cakes were brought in from an outside bakery. The cakes did look nice and it is a shame that the Beach House does not have more information on hand about the cakes they are selling — even if they are not baking them.
I would go back here for a coffee. I ordered an espresso macchiato that I thought was of a good quality. The next time though I will be more proactive about being seated and having my order taken in a timely fashion.

I really want to like the beach house, but there a couple of things that just really let it down.
The location is about as perfect as it could get. At the end of one of the main streets leading down the the beach from Portobello high street, access directly on to the sand, lots of space on the promenade outside for tables and chairs. I doubt you could pick a better spot on the prom.
Inside it is done out in pastel blue shades that any place called a beach house is almost legislated to do. It has a nice feel, is always very busy and popular with locals, especially it seems local mums after they have dropped the kids off at school.
They serve a light menu of sandiwches and soup along with tea and coffee of typical varieties. The latte there is pretty good and is what I usually get, typically as take away. They always have an impressive selection of cakes and sweets. They have a fridge with natrual fruit juices and waters as well as an ice cream counter. They also sell locally made bread, but I find that a bit pricey.
There are two main things that let it down for me. Firstly, the speed of service. I can’t quite describe it well enough to do it justice. It isn’t painfully slow, but you just feel like there is a lack of a certain something about the staff. They go about their job professionally, but they seem to lack a spark of life that would mean you get your take away latte in two minutes rather than five. If you watch them making drinks, you almost feel sorry for them. They make each drink individually and seem to lack the ability to multi-​task. This might sound picky, but there are too many examples these days of how easy it is to serve drinks quickly in a coffee shop for this to go unnoticed. I salute the owenrs for not making this another starbucks style place, but you almost want them to take their staff to watch the staff at a place like that for an hour to get the hang of what they should be doing.
The other thing is value for money, and I’m more focused on the food here. It isn’t massively expensive, I think a toasted panini comes in about 4.95 give or take a quid. That seems ok, but you get it and personally I felt a little let down. It is perfectly consumable, but just seems to lack the style I’d expect from a sandwich that is costing me a fiver.
I think the place is nice and is handy for grabbing a drink for on the beach. I can’t help but think a few tweeks here and there and the place would be so much better.

Overlooking Portobello Beach stands the Beach House café. Located on the corner of Bath Street this café offers a wide ranging menu. From coffee, to pastries, sandwiches and salads and cooked breakfasts, this café does it all.
Inside, the café pays homage to its location with deep sea blue walls with various sailing decorations located across the café. Cakes and breads are cooked daily in the café, and one can only admire the smells on offer in the café. It was very busy with families when I paid it a visit and had a great buzzing atmosphere. And from reading about it, it certainly has won admirers and is one of the best places to go for a bite to eat in the area.
With great views of the beach and the Firth of Forth, it really is an ideal location for a café. And even better, this café matches the hype surrounding it.