Burr & Co
I’m increasingly taking a more considered time to assess some places, with Burr & Co a very good example this. It opened towards the end of 2015, alongside its near neighbour the Printing Press (no visits to date although I’ll get there soon, I imagine) under the same venture backed by former Ivy boss Des McDonald.
Exterior
However, it didn’t feel like a place that leant itself to snap judgement, not least because our initial experiences seemed at odds with the bare facts of their proposition.
The interior embodies some this, with some very smart, considired detailing matched against some overall fabric decisions that feel oddly cheap and flimsy.
The coffee offering looks great with outstanding roaster Caravan at the helm of a house blend. However, it is delivered to wildly inconsistent standards, and with the steady hand of routinely impressive Caravan purveyors Urban Angel just around the corner, is it worth the gamble with these guys?
Bacon roll
Their breakfast deal of roll plus coffee for £3.50 looks good too. But they leave their breakfast rolls sitting out on the counter top so by the time the likes of me gets there at 9.30ish, they are crisped on top and curling at the edges.
The first time I said I’d like brown sauce with my roll, they gave me a big tub of it on the side, rather than just adding some as virtually everywhere else would. As I was eating on the go, my bid to get the some sauce from the tub onto the roll resulted in me dropping most of the roll on the pavement of George Street.
Interior
I’m rather clumsy, granted, but this was just another frustrating instance of their “cafe by numbers” approach that has little real sense of attention to how customers actually behave. The second time I had no sauce. The bacon looked great and tasted pretty routine; the roll was again bordering on the stale.
So overall, I really tried with Burr & Co but I found it so inconsistent yet formulaic that it really confounded me. Its elements look great on paper but pretty much everything they do can be found to a much better standard very nearby. As such, while there’s nothing particularly bad about it, there’s little that’s distinct or memorable. As such, I think it’s one that can be comfortably missed off your list of places to try.
I ate: bacon roll
I drank: espresso
I wore: charcoal overcoat
Total bill: £3.50
Address: 20 George St, Edinburgh EH2 2PB
