Dovecot Cafe by Stag Espresso

Good coffee, cute café, friendly staff, and tasty baked goods!
I was a bit disappointed at the selection of baked goods even though I came fairly close to opening, but the banana bread that I had was very tasty and the cute décor/​ambience of the café made up for it.
The café is bright, clean, and neat with spindles of yarn and threads for decoration! After I had my coffee and banana bread, I visited the tapestry studio just next store where they had exhibitions of artists’ weaved goods, jewelry, ceramics, etc., you can also buy them too!
Recommend allowing 1.5−2 hrs at the café and studio to enjoy coffee and a nice stroll, as well as some shopping or conversation with the artist/​staff.

Great service, great food, great vibe. Yup the Dovecot, operated by the Stag team, is a home run. Not unsurprisingly can get rammed during the Festival but you can always get your stuff to go. So get in there and enjoy the lovely chilled airy space when us locals can have it all to ourselves. Plus keep an eye out for any of the Stag popups.

Great little coffee shop and restaurant. Really good selection of soup, sandwiches and cake. All really nicely made and unusual flavours. Great place away from the main streets.

Man, this place is a great find. I’ve been here about 3 times and always find it very relaxing and could for hours (if I had the time).
The flat whites are always impeccable and creamy as well as the service.
I must admit I don’t do lunch here, but that must, must, must change! There is a menu and every tastes so damn tasty (I could eat the menu itself)!
The place is really clean and spotless, the staff have pride in their place and it shows!

Such a nice place. Students of Edinburgh are really lucky. Nice place for studying but also meeting friends. comfortable tables to have some chat along with some coffee, tea or a piece of delicious cake! Really clean and the stuff seemed that really cared about the place. I had a fresh orange juice which was delicious and nicely served. It is also really cheap so what else can a student ask for?
However.I didn’t like the sugar cubes on the table. exposed to everyone who sits there during the day. Why?

Its been 4 days and I’m still thinking of the wonderful salad I had here the other day! I feel like salads get a bad rap here in Scotland and they are jsut blah… but when I met my friend at Dovecot I was tempted to risk a salad, choice because were it sounded yummy. I had a delicious smoked salmon, and avocado salad with a light yogurt dill dressing ! I’m counting down the days till I can order it again! It was also filling ! Loads of salmon and avocado ! Their sandwiches sounded amazing too! I know most people on here rave about their coffee and tray bakes, hoping to have some of those next time =)
My friend did get a mocha and thought it was lovely.
I had the ginger and lemonaide, which was refeshing, but I hate paper straws! They just feel weird in my mouth! haha But thye look cute so I’ll give them that.

This is a wonderful little café! Very light and airy and full of delicious treats to choose from.
I went here for lunch during my trip to Edinburgh and had a really tasty brie sandwich, with wonderful chutney and lettuce stuffed between fresh, hearty bred. It was very tasty indeed! The staff were very accommodating also, with my friends requests for gluten-​free bread and smaller portions of brie being met with smiles and nods, which is always nice.
The café sits off a lovely little gallery space with a shop full of beautiful notebooks and the like, so if you fancy a coffee and a splurge on lovely stationary this is the place for you! :P
Overall, this place has a really lovely atmosphere! I’d return in a heartbeat.

I was looking for a place to chill, and eat, and saw the raves about this place. For the food– yes. I can enthusiastically say that the Bree and chicken salad with mint and peas was really damn good. For £6 it filled me up and I felt airy and energetic after eating it. The staff are great, and super cute. They are smily and attentive– which I adore from cute guys :) lots of peeps were eating desserts but I had just come from the gym and refrained, but I smelled the sugar wafting over to me, and appreciated watching them eat and living vicariously through them.
Now, I docked a star. Why, after this shining review? No wifi. And cash only. I had to leave and come back after my lunch to pay. Two inconveniences. I’m a student, a fact that leads me to places with internet. I only stayed here to eat then had to leave and seek a café to write in. Not ideal. And unless I’m only looking to have a healthy lunch won’t frequent because of is. If I’m spending money somewhere I want to stay a while, write, take it in. Here that can not happen.

MY PICCOLO HAD ITS OWN WEE COZY. The fact that i am completely won over by the cute accessories my coffee is sporting may say a lot about me as a person… but Dovecot is definitely a case of both style and substance. Attached to an gallery which appears to specialize in textiles, the space is bright, airy and open. i enjoyed watching the barista make my piccolo, which was extremely tasty (and stylishly adorned with the wee knitted cozy.)
I also had a falafel salad bowl. which was HUGE, and wasn’t stingy with the falafel. which was a win all round. I’ll probably have to return for some of the cake on a less virtuous health day!

I came in here for breakfast with my boyfriend and another couple this morning, as I remember having an amazing coffee here once, and heard that they were really good for people with gluten allergies.
So I came by… and it turned out they were! I went for a soya cappuccino, my boyfriend took a soya latte, one of our friends went for an americano, the other a cappuccino with regular milk. They both went for pain au raisins, which were huge, about the same size as my face! My boyfriend opted for a toffee muffin, I had the caramel shortbread. They all seemed happy with their cakes. Mine was really delicious, but I was a tiny bit disappointed that the only gluten free options were biscuit based bars. It would have been nice to have a more cakey/​pastry option!
The coffee here is supplied by artisan roast, and tastes really spectacular. It’s a good size too, and is really like that which you would order at a good bar in Italy-​strong, with a sharp crema, but not too bitter. The friend who had an americano liked it so much that he ordered another.
The space here is lovely and light, and it’s fantastic that it’s tucked away. It remains one of those little secrets. It’s attached to a gallery too, which gives it that whole arty appeal, something I really love.
Looking at the menu, it seems that they cater very well for gluten intolerances, and are able to make gluten free sandwiches and supply gluten free bread with soup! Amazing!
Just please, more gluten free cake.
I will be back for a caffeine refuel!

Oooh, I’m super pleased I didn’t do my usual get-​impatient-​and-​leave-​when-​I see-​somewhere-​looks-​busy thing when I wandered into Dovecot Studios. I had a peek round the café and noticed it was bustling to the brim (lunchtime), but then one of the really nice staff dudes hopped over pretty much straightaway and did his best to source me a table quickly. That bit of instant customer service got a tick for awesomeness in my mental reviewing list, considering the guy probably had about ten lattes and 20 sandwiches to assemble. I’ve lost count of the amount of places where I’ve stood at the door, all full of anticipation for the experience ahead, then felt the disappointment start to sink in when I realise I’ve been waiting there for 15 minutes without actually being acknowledged.
I had the very pleasing falafel and houmous salad, for which I was supplied olive oil and balsamic vinegar to apply to my own preference. Nice touch there, people are fussy about their dressing. And then, there it was… the dawn of the Dovecot espresso. I could almost see the stag in the distance, watching and nodding its head slowly in approval as I sipped on the most bloody delightful espresso macchiato I’ve had in some time. If I say it had a chocolatey taste and texture and a full-​bodied hit that made my afternoon typing fly with a bang, then I probably wouldn’t be using the right coffee lingo… but what I had in that cup was good, anyway. I’ll be returning to try and make my way round the menu — whether it’s a tasty-​looking slice of sweetness I’m after or some savoury goodness, or… actually…oh dear… I really need one of those espressos RIGHT NOW. Writing about this on a Sunday was a mistake. Until Monday 8am…*ignore the shaky hand, ignore the shaky hand…*

I agree with all of the previous reviews. We discovered this café by accident, having almost given up on finding somewhere good in the area (there are lots of cafes, but ‘good’ is harder to find). We were absolutely delighted with it the staff are so friendly and helpful and the food and drinks are outstanding. My daughters love the little knitted jackets on the glasses of hot chocolate, and all the baking we have tried has been excellent.
The café is spacious, light and airy, and we have now been back several times it’s always been great.
I would also recommend the gallery itself my arty daughter really enjoyed the Telford College show there.

The pictures really aren’t too good to be true. I admit it — I Unilocal-​stalked the shiz out of this place before I came. I find it hard to make a snap decision when there is too much deliciousness in front of me, and I could tell from their photos on Unilocal that there was going to be a lot of deliciousness.
The only reason I’m holding off on 5 stars is I never give 5 stars until at least two visits, but I was too impatient to wait for a second visit. I’m pretty sure, though, after trying some of their savoury food that it’ll be bumped up to 5 in no time.
The space itself is beautiful. So serene, and calm, and open and airy. I’d be so bold to say that there isn’t anywhere else like it in Edinburgh, that I know of, to have that certain ambiance. Coffee shops are usually loud (coffee grinders) and clinky (tea spoons on cups) and full of different smells (baked cakes, soup). This is all ok.
But Dovecot is just… quite blissful. Big open windows, white interior that is calm rather than bland. And the tables and space around the tables is really big. In fact, that’s what it is –there was a lot of spaces between each table so you never felt squished in. I really liked this. A lot.
The reason I’m harping on about seemingly bizarre things in the face of the coffee and cake is that all the other reviewers have said it before me. The coffee (Artisan Roast coffee) was just right. The guys at Artisan can be confident Dovecot are serving up the perfect coffees with their beans. It was so good I ordered another as soon as my first was finished. Although, lovers of the S’Bucks generation of coffee be warned. The cups aren’t ‘MUGS’ and therefore a bit smaller than a generic, spin-​off imitation. If you go to Artisan Roast, or any other independent, you’ll be used to the more moderate portion size. Trust me, there is no less caffeine, and far more flavour.
I also tried the banana and chocolate gluten-​free cake. I’m attempting gluten-​free. It didn’t help that I then tried a taste of Louise C’s apple muffin (not gluten free) but the fact they have gluten-​free cakes and can do all their sandwiches with gluten-​free bread was awesome.
I’m going back to try the salmon sandwich, on gluten-​free, and one of their soups.
But I’m already a little bit in love with this place, the super friendly staff, the calm atmosphere, and the genuine, coffee-​loving, cake-​baking, good-​food-​loving tone to the place.
They also have post-​it notes stuck up behind the counter with regular’s names written on. Rather than a card you get stamped and carry around with you, your name is actually pinned up into the café and they stamp that. So they may not write your name on the cup (i’m looking at you, coffeechainwhoshalnotbenamed) they’ll actually remember your name, and face, in order to stamp your own wee post-​it note. Love it.
#IndependentEdinburgh

Ok… I feel I have now got to the point of no return. I am full on, head over heels, completely and utterly, fantastically, undoubtedly in love with the café at Dovecot.
This place is the shizz. The coffee is A-​maazing! The cakes are devine. The soups are exciting and different flavours. The sandwiches are made with such proper big tasty slabs of bread. The salads… oh the salads!?! Edamame, Feta, Beetroot and Spinach. Heaven. And the staff are ace?! I actually cannot praise this place enough…

I try to stay away from crack, as a rule… but I’m not sure I am going to be able to stay away from the crack that they MUST put in the food here. I literally, not figuratively, have been thinking about the smoked salmon and cucumber sandwich for the last 72 hours and I think I might go into some sort of drug addicted sweat pretty soon if I don’t get it. That and the coffee, that comes in a cup, get this… with a sweater. Yes, a knitted sweater on my cup for no reason!
Here’s my favorite part. For those who know me you know I put the ATE in unsophisticated. I don’t feel the finer things in life are worth the price tag that posh places put on them. In fact, many a times I leave fancy expensive places far more disappointed because I’m out £25 AND I had a mediocre meal.
Not so for DoveCot. It’s fancy, artsy, relaxed (chalkboards always make places so chill) and it’s motherflipping reasonably priced! Take a hint other places in Edinburgh… you don’t have to be massively stuck-​up asshole hangouts to be sophisticated.

the coffee is excellent. we tried both the flat white and cappuccino. They use J Atkinson Archetype beans. very friendly staff who are clearly passionate about both food and coffee and all situated in a lovely space amongst contemporary art and design. what more could you want! we’ll be back regularly to this gem — cracking — keep it up!

This is one of my favourite places in the Old Town to go for lunch and coffee.
Good old soup, sandwich and cake as well as excellent Artisan Roast coffee.
The staff are lovely, and friendly and if you are regular, get to know your preferences and remember in advance which is lovely! It’s quite small though and you can’t book so sometimes you’ll have to chance your arm they’ll be a table.
The only thing is, it’s a real shame there’s not a proper breakfast menu (porridge or anything more than a pastry!) as the café opens early in the morning but there isn’t much of a selection other than coffee.
Recommend Stag Espresoo for delicious coffee and simple but tasty sandwiches and soup.

Stumbled upon this cute café today after walking down the wrong street. Ended up looping back later on that day for a coffee with a friend. I got fresh tomato & bacon soup, served with artisan bread, which seemed to be wholemeal with some seeds in it. Cappuccino was delicious, also got a carmel/​chocolate shortbread and there were no complaints there either. Staff was friendly. I’ll be back. Just wish I knew if they had wifi.

the coffee is excellent. we tried both the flat white and cappuccino. i found the flat white perfect and trusty partner the cappuccino just a wee bit weak but enjoyable even so. soft, rounded, smooth milk that was hot-​warm but not hot-​hot, bringing the best out of the coffee.
very friendly staff who are clearly passionate about both food and coffee and all situated in a lovely space amongst contemporary art and design. what more could you want!
twitter — @edinburghcoffee

A nice little café tucked in a corner on Infirmary Street, very close to South Bridge. It has a clean, airy vibe, with lots of light-​coloured wood and white tables. It opens directly into Dovecot studios which adds a little bit of a sophisticated feel. It has more of a «chat with your friends» vibe than a «park with your laptop» vibe. It’s a small place, maybe about 8 tables.
They advertise serving Artisan Roast coffee, and I believe it: the espresso that I had was fantastic. Didn’t try lunch (they serve soup and sandwiches), but the pastry that I had was good.
The only complaint I can think of is the name: I still can’t figure out if it’s called Dovecot Café, Stag Espresso, Stag Espresso at Dovecot Café, Dovecot Café by Stag Espresso, Large Stag at Café Espresso Dovecot, or what.