It’s almost embarrassing, the fact that it’s taken me almost a week to write up this review of Peter’s Yard. Do I have excuses? Sure, mainly they consist of me now knowing what it was I and my guest, Edinburgh Foody, ate. I left the light and airy restaurant, happy to have met her and stuffed on good food, and completely forgot to write down the names of the open-faced sandwiches we actually had.
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Located near the University, I’ve been popping into Peter’sYard for a few years now. It’s been a bit crowded at times, but always very, very good. Friday I met Edinburgh Foody and we looked over the open-faced sandwiches on display-a variety of interesting combinations on freshly baked bread (made on site by the young master baker). There is a rotating range of soups (beetroot and wasabi, honeyed parsnip, etc…) and pizza slices (today’s had a fig on it). Along with the normal list of well-made teas and coffees.
We bought our sandwiches and found a seat at the end of the long, communal table. I had the Herb tofu ‘cottage cheese’ with sun blush tomato pesto and crunchy green beans on olive bread (with rocket and some tinysprouts). It was delicious, so much so that I went back once more to write down the name, and ended up eating the same sandwich and still not writing down what I had eaten. I think subconsciously I just wanted to eat it again. It was that good. Salty, tomatoey pesto contrasted with the fresh crunch of the beans and the silken textures of the tofu on the olive bread all blended perfectly.
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| Herby tofu ‘cottage cheese’ on olive bread |
This is where things get sloppy. Edinburgh Foody had an open faced sandwich with herring, potato slices, and a creamy, (yogurt based) dressing with dill. Now, I could be butchering that, but it was very good. You see, not only did I return Wednesday to get the names, I also went back today (Thursday) with the intention of trying something new and getting the names… I almost succeeded.
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| Herring, potato-ey thing |
I hit the lunch-crowd and by passed their main shop to go to their to-go shop around the corner (which has a few seats outside for days like today). There I ordered the day’s salad range: A Chickpea, turmeric, nigella, coriander, pepper, and lemon salad; served in a neat little plastic bowl with 2 slices of their homemade bread It was just what I needed today, when I am stuck in my office editing and formatting my PhD dissertation when the sun is out and calling me to come and play. The salad was crisp and fresh with a nice flavour from the nigella that I am not all that familiar with. And, it was a steal at £3.50.
Their to-go shop is a pared down version of the main café, with more items for sale, such as teas and crisp breads, and icecream. They divide food into ‘ranges’ which dictate price depending on contents. To be honest, if you don’t need to sit inthe café, going here gives you more bang for your buck. The open faced sandwiches (in this case the Herb and tofu one) that is £4.95 at the main café, is a mere £3.50—with 2 slices of bread. So get it to go!
How can I forget the buns? The sweet items from Peter’s Yard are amazing. They have a range of freshly prepared cakes, breads, gooey chocolate things, Swedish specialties and the cardamom buns, which I sampled onFriday. I admit, I’m not a huge fan of cardamom, but these buns were tasty and fresh and I can see why people get addicted to them.
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| Cardamom Bun |
And, if that wasn’t enough. You can also pick up bread books in the café as well as fresh loaves of breads and scones (Levin, sourdoughs, baguettes, scones-sweet and savory, etc…) to take home with you.
Overall, I love this place. I’ll continue to go back, and now that I know I can save almost £2.00 by going around the corner, I’ll seriously have to try to keep myself away.
Scores on the Doors
Out of 20 MJ gives Peter’s Yard:
5/5 for food
4/5 for presentation
5/5 for service
4/5 for setting
giving an overall 18/20
Today’s Lunch Questers were: MJ (multiple times), Edinburgh Foody
We wore: Sweaters, jackets, hoodies, stripy trousers andboat
We ate: Herb tofu ‘cottage cheese’ sandwich, Chickpea salad;Herring sandwich; cardamom buns
We drank: filter coffee, apple and raspberry juice, hotchocolate
Total Bill: Trip 1: c. £17 (With all drinks)
Trip 2: £4.90
Trip 3: £ 3.50
Peter’s YardCoffee House and Bakery
Quartermile, 27 Simpson Loan
Edinburgh EH3 9GG
0131-228 5876
"Not a huge fan of cardamom"?! Almost grounds for another sword fight, methinks!
Will need to finally get my act together and pay Peter's Yard a visit, very soon 
You totally would. And, If the HTML weren't being so difficult, I'd edit this and make it make more sense. Surely my grammar is better than this.
Good luck with your HTML slaying quest! If you have no luck with your endeavours, I'll happily take a swing at the relevant limbs
And pish posh to your grammar concerns – the review reads really nicely 
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