Veloce

Haymarket is becoming a hot-bed of new cafes with the recent arrival of Nomad – give it a while, it has opened very shakily – some additonal coffee options in Haymarket station, and newly arrived Veloce.

Interior detail

Veloce means quick as far as my bad Italian can tell, with the emphasis on quickly prepared street food options. This review covers a couple of visits and skirts round the fact that they were anything but speedy on my first lunch there.

The property had been a hairdresser for many years so has seen a complete refit over recent months. It’s quite a narrow set-up with a compact sit-in space for around twenty people towards the rear.

Bacon roll

The kitchen is open and chaotic so had a convincing Italian feel to it. Their menu is very broad in its scope with breakfast options, panini, burgers, pizza and pasta. It feels a bit disorganised and could use tightening up once it becomes clear what items they build an appreciative audience for.

On my first visit I had soup and a panino which were underwhelming and rather too highly priced, so on the second go I stuck to what I thought might be safer ground with a couple of bacon rolls. I was joined on this visit by first time quester Lucy who is my niece.

Cooked to order on their open grill, the items were soon with us. We decided to have them as takeaway so munched as we wandered.

The rolls were of pleasing quality and had been lightly toasted to good effect. The bacon was profuse and thickly cut making for a decently hearty eat.

So overall, Veloce still has a bit of settling-in to do. Their offering feels a little disparate and things need to run rather more smoothly than they seem to be operating at the moment. Having said that, the bacon rolls we had on the second visit were pretty good so hopefully they can build in time into a reliably good place. I’ll be back in due course to deliver a scoring verdict.

Today’s questers were: Lucy, Blythe

We ate: bacon roll (2)

We wore: daisy scarf, action footwear

Total bill: £5

Address: 48 Haymarket Terrace, Edinburgh EH12 5LA