Yellow Bench

Had a delicious meal here, dinner crêpes, potato pancakes, chicken Devolay –rolled, stuffed with spinach. Well prepared, each dish cooked personally, excellent flavor. Really enjoyed our dinner.

Yellow Bench has a Yellow Bench outside. It does when it’s open. For this reason, I marched straight past it when it wasn’t quite open yet and realised too late that I had gone too far, and so from being slightly early to meet Sara C I went to being slightly late. But no matter. The bench was there when I returned and bears the charming legend «BY SITTING ON THIS BENCH I AM OPEN TO CONVERSATION WITH A COMPLETE STRANGER». (There’s one of these outside Zupa too). One weekend when I have a free moment I intend to go and sit on that bench.
But anyway.
Yellow Bench is a sweet and small establishment on Leith Walk with a splendid line in Polish food. They’ve got a crêpe-​related check-​in deal of which I totally need to take advantage sometime, since they also have a mighty fine crêpe menu and I am a sucker for those flipping flippies. On this particular occasion, however, I had veggie golabki, a beautiful and flavoursome medley of vegetarian yummies and rice all stuffed into a cabbage leaf container, kind of like a floppy green burrito covered in yummy sauce. This was my first taste of Polish food and I confess I might be converted. It was dee-​LISH.
So, Yellow Bench, you are yet another lovely thing that I have found in my new neighbourhood (hat tip to Sara C) and I am very happy to be living near you, thank you.

Now here’s a pleasant surprise!
Following the check-​in of a regular Unilocaler I came across this place… thanks again Sara!
Disclaimer: I love Eastern European and Russian food.
Now that we’ve got that out of the way, I’ll also say it’s not everyone’s thing… you won’t necessarily get the complexity or presentation as you would from, say, a French restaurant, but after a night out or on a cold day you just can’t beat this type of food for me and whether it be Asian, Eastern European, or American, fatty has never said no to any type of dumpling… NOM!
The gentlemen that served us was super nice and made us feel at home… I’m not sure if there hours are different, but us and several others were in far past the closing hours on Unilocal for our particular evening and there wasn’t even the slightest hint of «please hurry»… quite literally the opposite!
If you’re familiar with this type of food then just head on down, the dumplings (pierogi) were top notch and everything else we sampled was spot on as well (traditional bigos, borscht, mix of salads) … I honestly can’t wait to get back at some point. We even made room for one of the waffles, which was also great and a good way to close out the meal.
The place itself isn’t too large, but suitable… at the moment there was work going on the building on the outside so it was a bit hard to actually see the place initially, but hopefully when it’s done it will stand out a bit and be easier to spot.
My only gripe is that no cards are accepted, but the food’s too good to let that stand in the way… they also don’t serve beer or alcohol, but while a slight inconvenience it really does save you money in the end and they let you keep a few in their fridge while you work through your meal.
If this isn’t you’re type of food then I doubt this place will convert you, but if you’re generally a fan or haven’t tried it yet and are looking for a different type of comfort food then do yourself a favour and give these guys a chance… it’s five stars for me, no doubt, but I can see four for many others… I won’t hold it against them. :)

I’ve been to Yellow Bench on 17.06 this year for the first time on my photographer friend’s exhibition.
They staged it in the cellar, while the restaurant is open on the ground floor.
I like the decoration of this place (and I’m painter & decorator myself), but this is the menu that won my liking. As a curiosity for a Polish person — I don’t usually eat Polish food or shop in Polish stores, only like for some feasts but I tried something from the traditional dishes and I was delighted. Came back several times after then, I even had a crêpe, which I had stopped eating long time ago (when I was a boy, I could eat at least 5, then at some point I was getting angry because of just 2 filling me bloated ;)).
More to that, the team is awesome the waiter is a jovial guy with his own style very friendly, chatty, I had a lot of fun laughing with him, when he wasn’t waiting other tables. The chef, now he is also a personality. I come once, and having already recognized me after a few times, he booms straight on me from his kitchen, even before I sat down telling me: I just made an awesome apple pie. Would you like to try some?. Well, of course I did, and it was just like he said. He also makes some specials all the time, which is a great diversification from the standard menu. Basically, he’s like: Tell me what you want to eat, and if I have ingredients, I’ll make it for you. Spot on!
There are also people from various countries coming in, I observed.
Having great food, fancy staff, exhibiting artists, and having different cultures coming inside, I expect Yellow Bench to become one of Leith’s trendiest places if not the one.

I may be slightly more obsessed with Polish food than the average Irish person…
I’ve been to Poland a fair few times. I like it there. The rich cultural history. The amazing woodlands. The fantastic ports. The people. The vodka. The food. Ah the food. When I recently moved to Leith I was so happy to have a good few Polish shops nearby and, of course, this gem.
Pierogi. Krokiety. Barscht. all the salads. NOM. There’s also Kubus and Tymbark, which you can get in any Tesco but I’ve not seen in many restaurants here.
Yellow bench also does a wonderful crêpe menu. Weirdly this is something I have been complaining about since I came Scotland-​side, the lack of decent crêpe places (Dublin has a surprisingly good selection). Now I have Yellow Bench. A fantastic selection of sweet and savoury crepes to suit everyone. My current fave is the Dracula, it’s well garlicky and totally worth it!
Yellow Bench isn’t just a delicious food place. It’s got community spirit too! Local Art on the walls, an upcoming photo-​exhibition and childrens drawing galore. The friendly faces behind the counter are worth the visit and you’ll feel right at home here!
I just need to work up my confidence to order in Polish! And mispronounce the dishes… natch.

A lovely place with a lovely food. Staff very friendly and they have «slow food» sticker on the window! Interesting paintings on the walls and they are looking to turn downstairs into another room which is great. The only thing I didn’t like was a size of their tables, too big for the place and made it look weird. Will be back for more and to see how are they doing. I really hope they will grow bigger and make the space more friendly. And I think it is the only place serves crepes on Leith Walk! Should expect great things from them. Watch this space :-)

Now, this is my type of place. Edinburgh… you are getting to look all the same. The ‘inspired British food’ (cough) is no longer cutting it and every new bar that opens up looks a lot like the last new bar that opened up.
Yellow Bench doesn’t. They have promised that there is, indeed, a Yellow Bench to be on display at some point…
Where else can I get an authentic Polish meal where you know the recipes come from a homemade Polish Mom kitchen. There were amazing weird little salads and perogies and delicious potato pancakes and I was just happy as a clam.
The best part is… it’s not horribly expensive, it feels homey and the food is not ‘constructed’ it’s a MEAL. It’s made with love and fresh ingredients and if the waitress had shouted into the back to ask if they had a replacement ingredient… the chef would have come out and given us a random selection of whatever they had because it’s small, and it’s quaint and it’s Polish-​ish still.
Unilocal. Sometimes, not often, but sometimes, you fuck places up. Do not ruin this place for me. I will murder you in your sleep (that is a mock threat Unilocal Legal Team).
see here:
This place is adorable and home-​like and friendly and delicious and I love it and I want to bring everyone I like here and no one I don’t like.

We’ve been wanting to try this wonderful looking restaurant since it opened and finally went last night. The food was prepared fresh, the service was friendly and attentive, and the atmosphere warm and light.
The pierogis are great, served with sautéed onions. I had it with a beetroot salad while my partner enjoyed the «Dracula» crêpe — spinach and tomato with cheese and garlic. There are eight savoury and ten sweet crêpes on offer, plus a good assortment of traditional Polish and Russian dishes, soups, salads, and waffles. Also try the Kubus Play and Tymbark juices.
The prices are astonishingly low for such wholesome fare. The owners subscribe to Carlo Petrini’s Slow Food movement ideals and offer organic ingredients wherever possible, and use free range eggs in their crêpes.
We will certainly be back again.

Had classic sweet crêpe and the polish tea (which is black tea with honey and lemon piece) there. Not much seats in there, looks like about 4 or 5 table. Good place for drop by and have some drinks.

The place is small and they use big round tables. which makes it even smaller to move around. This is a Polish run place and very child friendly. I could tell because there is a play corner and the stairs to toilet have a safety gate fitted. Their strength is on their menu:
Crepes!
Savoury and sweet. All prepared with free range eggs and organic ingredients. Apart from that they also serve up stroking, burgers and pirogi. they prepare everything from scratch, so you may have to ready for a wait. this place is. eh. cute. i don’t know if they will grow bigger or even want to. the prices are to the cheaper end of scale. most expensive crêpe is the «Mamma’s Style» for £4.75 you get bacon, onion, mushroom and cheese. Their most expensive meal is a pulled pork cutlet in breadcrumbs, potatoes and salad. Jimmy! No alcohol served here.
One mishap and I think they were truly and genuine embarrassed by it. We found a hair. MG really? — yes. We were straight away offered a new pancake and discounts to our meal. But it did happen so a star down from me. — will go back for waffles next time!