I always enjoy the sense of expectancy that grows when you have holidays on the horizon, but with a combination of the truly foul weather and the exciting prospect of meeting my friends’ newly born baby girl, my desire for the next two weeks to zip past is getting considerably heightened. Accordingly, I’ve planned in a very busy programme of lunching and dining, to make the time pass quickly.

Exterior

I had a feeling that today’s schedule wouldn’t allow for lunch, but I managed to fit in a quick takeaway, between getting off the train and heading to my office. My choice of venue was the Glenhas Deli and Juice Bar, on the Royal Mile.

The place is a small café, towards the greasy spoon end of the market. It’s a somewhat curious place to find in amongst the tourist shops. It offers a range of options, but seems quite focussed on items at opposing ends of the health spectrum: smoothies and fresh juices; and all-day fried breakfasts, with burgers and hot dogs thrown in for good measure.

Soup

I steered something of a middle course, today, opting for soup and a roll. From three soup options, I chose lentil and bacon, and matched this with a chorizo and mozzarella roll, which the chap behind the counter made to order. He also ensured the safe heating of my soup using a microwave.

With my goods safely acquired, I made the short, rain-peppered journey to the modest comforts of my ivory basement workplace.

The nuked soup was, of course, still piping hot, so attention turned to my generously filled rolled. The roll was a big ’un, so I attacked it with vigour in complete awareness of the mess I was about to, and duly did, make. The mozzarella was of the grated, pizza-topping variety, so was more of a filling matter than offering huge flavour, but the chorizo was good and the salad crisp.

Roll

The soup was pretty fair, too. It wasn’t the most spectacular soup I’ve ever eaten, but it was quite good enough to do the job, today. Its hearty texture was sadly rather perfect for the prevailing weather conditions.

So overall, Glenhas is a curious little place. Is it a place I would seek out for another visit? Nah. The Edinburgh Larder is orders of magnitude better, both in terms of price and quality, so if you have the choice when you’re in this part of town, head there. But if you end up at the door of the Glenhas and require a filling lunch, they can certainly oblige, to a reasonable standard.

Scores
Blythe scores Glenhas:
3/5 for food
3/5 for presentation
3/5 for service
3/5 for setting
giving an overall 12/20

Today’s quester was: Blythe

I ate: lentil and bacon soup; chorizo and mozzarella roll

I drank: nothing

I wore: pink shirt

Total bill: £5.60