La Barantine Victoria

We were looking for macarons for a friend, and another had said the ones here were sublime. Sadly they were not, they were dry, hollow, and various of the flavourings were very artificial. Coupled with that, they came packaged with 12 in a box but no indication of date, and at £16 for a box very expensive. My wife has spent hours perfecting macarons so she does know what she's talking about.

Stopped in here by chance for coffee and cake. Delicious coffee and extremely scrumptious patisserie. We had an eclair and the saint honore framboise... Worth every calorie. Looking forward to the takeaway macaroons we got too.

The only thing I can say about this place is to avoid it, I spent my lovely afternoon looking for a place to have some coffee in the Centre of Edinburgh and came across this cafe. Considering the prices I was expecting an amazing coffee and yummy pastry but unfortunately I was very disappointed. I asked for a double espresso with a shot of water, I was served hot water in a teapot next to my glass of espresso, after explaining to the waitress how a real espresso should be served she seemed completely shocked and dissatisfied with the fact that I have asked for something completely different, after finally getting my coffee I waited good 5 minutes for the pastry which was waiting on the counter while the staff chatted and laughed. After all this nonsense the cafe decided to completely ruin my mood which resulted with me walking straight out: My partner who have severe back problems were told to sit on a stool because another chair wasn’t allowed next to our table, I consider this to be completely disrespectful towards any customers especially the older ones The pastry was great but that was the only nice thing I could say about this place

Took my son, whom I see only twice a year as he lives down south, for a treat before Christmas. I asked if the soup was spicy as I have a chronic illness which makes it imperative to avoid spices. The girl behind the counter went and checked the ingredients and said nothing spicy! Wrong!!!! It tasted like someone had dumped an entire pot of white pepper into it. I couldn 't eat it further so my son ate it to avoid waste. After lunch I went up to the counter to quietly ask the same girl if she could tell me what the ingredients actually were. I was a little confused thinking, perhaps I had developed an intolerance to something else???? She rudely and with an arrogant air replied I checked the recipe there was nothing spicy! No consideration for me whatsoever!!! I was in great pain for days afterwards. The female staff were chattering away in the kitchen so service was very slow. One female had long blonde hair which draped over the cakes in the front window as she was restocking....yuck! This used to be a place I specifically took a trip into Edinburgh to enjoy, it felt like a special place to take visitors, but never again!

Completely disgusting, cake tasted awful and the texture was revolting. Took it back and they refused to assist or exchange