Upper Crust

I judged Upper Crust immediately upon viewing their sign, uniformed staff, and train station location. «Hm…likely a chain business, probably mediocre and overpriced, but I’m hungry and jetlagged and I’ll drink the first bad coffee I can grasp.»
Actually, it was pretty good. My cappuccino was delicious, and a good mozzarella and tomato sandwich. The bread wasn’t especially impressive, but all other ingredients were selected with care and were very fresh and delicious.

The day was cloudy, with great fleets of grey scudding across the sky reminding me of my time on the south coast. The scent of salt was in the air and there was the familiar sounds of the train station in the background.
I sniffed once with my eyes closed — absorbing the vibrant atmosphere. The Conductors whistles blasted thrice bringing back memories of childhood, my grandpa and the smell of travel.
Moving through the crowds I noticed an old man standing quietly by the wall. His hands were clasped over an old wooden cane, the wrinkles around his eyes hinting at a thousand stories. Our eyes met, we both knew that we were on the same level. That we both were taking it all in. We were both being transported back to memories, love, pain, fear, and hope for the future.
I bought a sandwich. It was alright I guess.

Upper Crust is like McDonalds for train stations. You know they’ll always be there, and while they may not be amazing, they’re certainly cheap and reliable. The tuna baguettes can’t hold a candle to the likes of Pret, but they’re still made fresh with quality ingredients. You could do a lot worse.

Very fresh, very good choice of sandwiches. Made special trips into the Waverly station for a sandwich. Also try the muffins — chocolate chip raspberry.

Oh you gents are generous. Four stars Tel? Did they cut your pasty into little chunks and feed it to you?
I know, I know, places in stations are always more expensive. But £2 for an egg sandwich feels like they’re taking the p**s just a little bit. And the thing is, it’s not like a service station, where you’re marooned in the middle of a motorway, or an airport that you can’t leave because there’s nothing near by. It’s a s**t little pastry shop in a train station in the MIDDLE of Edinburgh. There is a whole world of fantastic eateries, take aways, everything just seconds away. Save your money.

Living in London and studying in Edinburgh has the unfortunate consequence of me have to make long journeys up and down the breadth of the country. It can take between 4 and a half to 5 hours to make the journey and eating food is a good way of passing time!
Upper Crust offers a good range of food, and I think is probably the best place within Waverley station to get a good filling snack. They offer a good range of hot and cold food including pastries, sandwiches, chocolate bars and crisps as well as a range of hot and cold drinks.
The main problem is however that the prices really are excessive. I would suggest that if you bring your own food for a train journey rather than relying on the shops within Waverley. I tend to nip into a newsagents and purchase a sandwich there for the journey where the prices are a lot cheaper. if you are in a rush though and don’t have a chance to pre-​buy, upper Crust is the place to be in Waverley.

Back in the early 90s when baguettes were viewed as «fancy foreign muck» by Britain’s office workers, Upper Crust would have been a fairly interesting option. As it is, in 2010, it’s just another horrendously overpriced train station convenience food outlet. Everything’s edible, and freshly made with decent ingredients, but the bread to filling ratio of approximately 100 to 1 does leave somewhat to be desired.
Don’t be fooled by the «sandwiches from £1.95» ruse, it’s just yawnsome egg and tomato.