McDougall’s

With the sell-off of the final batch of Edinburgh’s distinctive police boxes, just recently, we can look forward to another crop of eateries to join the likes of Tupiniquim, the Bollywood Box and The Counter. McDougall’s on Drumsheugh Gardens was the first of the new ones I’d come across.

For reasons that I won’t go into in detail, I’d visited dressed as Rembrandt, a few weeks ago. This was when the place was still getting up to speed. The friendly owner let me try their espresso for free, as they had just installed the machine and were testing various blends.

Their espresso, an Italian roast “Leonardo” blend from Coffee Select was not bad at all, both then and on today’s visit.

Their core offering is doughnuts and hotdogs. Although I was visiting at breakfast time, I contrived to sample both. Their pricing was marked as “promo”, so may have changed by time of publication. They were also giving away doughnuts as free samples when I visited.

Their breakfast sausage baguette featured a large herby sausage in a soft roll. It was surprisingly tasty and very filling.

I’m not a sweet-toother, so I’m no great judge of doughnuts, but these seemed surprisingly crisp and light. They were warm and freshly made, which I think was the key.

So overall, I was quite impressed with McDougall’s. The West End doesn’t have an over-provision of good coffee options, so if they can maintain a good standard and win custom for their food offerings, they could be on to a winner. I can certainly see myself stopping in for coffee, from time to time.

Scores
Blythe scores McDougall’s
3.5/5 for food
3/5 for presentation
3.5/5 for setting
3.5/5 for service
giving an overall 13.5/20

I ate: sausage baguette; doughnuts (free)

I drank: espresso

I wore: warmest winter clothes

Total bill: £3

Drumsheugh Gardens