Vegan Food (and Harry Potter) in Edinburgh.
Last weekend we had a lovely couple of nights away in Edinburgh. Some friends were having a Halloween party on Saturday, and my Birthday was Tuesday, so we took the opportunity to celebrate with a long weekend away. Elliot planned almost everything as a surprise which was delightful. I both love and hate planning trips in equal measure, but when it comes to Birthdays I like surprises.
Obviously when we landed we were hit with biting cold, and I immediately required hot chocolate. We found a cute little cafe and I'm so mad that I don't remember the name. Poor form from me. I had an oat milk hot choc and Elliot had a tea while we planned the rest of our day.
Check-in wasn't until later in the day, so we decided to eat rather than lugging our cases around. If you're vegan and looking for lunch in Edinburgh, you need to head to Holy Cow. Their chips are to die for. Seriously, no words can describe how good they are. The burgers are great, too, and everything is vegan. I had a satay-esque tofu number and Elliot had the nori burger. The cakes looked so delicious but I would have popped if I'd eaten anything else. Inexpensive but tasty, and a cute place to hang out for a bit.
Elliot knocked it out of the park with the accommodation. He had been telling me for months that we were staying in a themed hotel, which was half true. He sensibly told a white lie to throw me off the scent and we were actually staying in a gorgeous flat near the castle, and it was Harry Potter themed. I had an idea that this might be the theme, but I resisted the urge to Google and guess. When I saw the doormat I knew I'd been right and got so excited. The flat itself was gorgeous anyway, with dark walls and mustard yellow velvet furniture, but the little touches were brilliant. It had cute references to HP everywhere; plaques in the walls, apothecary jars, scarves, prints, a mass of melted candles on the floor such as you might find at Hogwarts. It was fairly subtle, not overwhelming, but made the place feel really special. The lighting was also the bombest and gave me cheekbones for days. I actually didn't want to leave in the end. I was perfectly happy curled up on the sofa, looking out at the rooftops, watching Netflix with a coffee. But, obviously, we were there to see Edinburgh so off we went to see the castle.
The castle was cool and the views were gorgeous. I'm not sure £18 was a necessary price tag but I suppose we'll only go and see it once! We had a fun couple of hours poking about and working up an appetite for dinner.
I didn't know where we were eating as Elliot had booked ahead. I was glad when I realised it was Henderson's Vegan though. Henderson's have two places, one Vegan and one with a bit of everything. The vegan place was cute and quiet, and we ate all the food. We ordered the platter to start, which included some delicious homemade cream cheese, tapenade and houmous. We both had the vegan haggis, and finished off with the affogato (decaf, of course). I was really happy with the food, Elliot found it average, but we had a great time either way.
Bramble is a great little basement bar, and is the definition of hidden in plain sight. Elliot knew where we were going thankfully, as we never would have found this place by chance. It's definitely a date night cocktail bar, and the drinks are pricey, but the music was good and the menu was so extensive it took forever for me to pick a drink. If you want somewhere dark and edgy (lol) to round off your evening, this is a pretty good option.
We had a lazy Saturday morning in the flat before heading out to explore the shops on Victoria street, and the market just down the road. I'm no longer in the habit of buying random stuff on holiday (phew) but the cute gift shop gallery and antique market stall almost cracked me. We hung out at Noughts and Coffees, playing Pandemic, while we waited for a friend to pick us up. I'd never played the game before and I love it. I need more strategy games in my life.
And then it was party time. Everyone donned their weird and wonderful costumes and we drank, played Mario Kart, and sang every song ever (it felt like) until we couldn't keep our eyes open. I say "we", but Elliot turned in at 11PM along with a couple of others so the rest of us stayed and played. Seeing Elliot in a pink mini dress and blonde wig (Princess Peach) was probably the scariest bit about Halloween this year.
We definitely could have filled another day with touristy things but as far as quick visits go we had a great weekend. I loved Edinburgh, ate some great food and saw our lovely friends. All in all, it was a bloody good Birthday weekend. And now I'm leaving Worcester after celebrating with family. Had a gorgeous time and don't want to leave, as always.
Big shout out to Greg for my delicious birthday carrot cake (just in case he's reading this). It was perfect!
Have an amazing week xoxo
Obviously when we landed we were hit with biting cold, and I immediately required hot chocolate. We found a cute little cafe and I'm so mad that I don't remember the name. Poor form from me. I had an oat milk hot choc and Elliot had a tea while we planned the rest of our day.
Check-in wasn't until later in the day, so we decided to eat rather than lugging our cases around. If you're vegan and looking for lunch in Edinburgh, you need to head to Holy Cow. Their chips are to die for. Seriously, no words can describe how good they are. The burgers are great, too, and everything is vegan. I had a satay-esque tofu number and Elliot had the nori burger. The cakes looked so delicious but I would have popped if I'd eaten anything else. Inexpensive but tasty, and a cute place to hang out for a bit.
Elliot knocked it out of the park with the accommodation. He had been telling me for months that we were staying in a themed hotel, which was half true. He sensibly told a white lie to throw me off the scent and we were actually staying in a gorgeous flat near the castle, and it was Harry Potter themed. I had an idea that this might be the theme, but I resisted the urge to Google and guess. When I saw the doormat I knew I'd been right and got so excited. The flat itself was gorgeous anyway, with dark walls and mustard yellow velvet furniture, but the little touches were brilliant. It had cute references to HP everywhere; plaques in the walls, apothecary jars, scarves, prints, a mass of melted candles on the floor such as you might find at Hogwarts. It was fairly subtle, not overwhelming, but made the place feel really special. The lighting was also the bombest and gave me cheekbones for days. I actually didn't want to leave in the end. I was perfectly happy curled up on the sofa, looking out at the rooftops, watching Netflix with a coffee. But, obviously, we were there to see Edinburgh so off we went to see the castle.
The castle was cool and the views were gorgeous. I'm not sure £18 was a necessary price tag but I suppose we'll only go and see it once! We had a fun couple of hours poking about and working up an appetite for dinner.
I didn't know where we were eating as Elliot had booked ahead. I was glad when I realised it was Henderson's Vegan though. Henderson's have two places, one Vegan and one with a bit of everything. The vegan place was cute and quiet, and we ate all the food. We ordered the platter to start, which included some delicious homemade cream cheese, tapenade and houmous. We both had the vegan haggis, and finished off with the affogato (decaf, of course). I was really happy with the food, Elliot found it average, but we had a great time either way.
Bramble is a great little basement bar, and is the definition of hidden in plain sight. Elliot knew where we were going thankfully, as we never would have found this place by chance. It's definitely a date night cocktail bar, and the drinks are pricey, but the music was good and the menu was so extensive it took forever for me to pick a drink. If you want somewhere dark and edgy (lol) to round off your evening, this is a pretty good option.
We had a lazy Saturday morning in the flat before heading out to explore the shops on Victoria street, and the market just down the road. I'm no longer in the habit of buying random stuff on holiday (phew) but the cute gift shop gallery and antique market stall almost cracked me. We hung out at Noughts and Coffees, playing Pandemic, while we waited for a friend to pick us up. I'd never played the game before and I love it. I need more strategy games in my life.
And then it was party time. Everyone donned their weird and wonderful costumes and we drank, played Mario Kart, and sang every song ever (it felt like) until we couldn't keep our eyes open. I say "we", but Elliot turned in at 11PM along with a couple of others so the rest of us stayed and played. Seeing Elliot in a pink mini dress and blonde wig (Princess Peach) was probably the scariest bit about Halloween this year.
We definitely could have filled another day with touristy things but as far as quick visits go we had a great weekend. I loved Edinburgh, ate some great food and saw our lovely friends. All in all, it was a bloody good Birthday weekend. And now I'm leaving Worcester after celebrating with family. Had a gorgeous time and don't want to leave, as always.
Big shout out to Greg for my delicious birthday carrot cake (just in case he's reading this). It was perfect!
Have an amazing week xoxo
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