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The bright café at Lady and the Bear, with wooden tables and chairs, plants along big windows and a blue counter at the back.
Edinburgh

Lady and the Bear

A café, coffee roastery and organic bakery on Hope Park Terrace by the Meadows, founded by performing arts professionals, with live music and theatre.

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Welcome

Lady and the Bear is a bright corner café on Hope Park Terrace, looking across to the east end of the Meadows, and it's three things at once: a coffee roastery, an organic bakery and a little stage.

It was founded by performing arts professionals, and alongside the coffee it hosts live music and theatre. The beans are roasted on site, from Brazil, Colombia, Guatemala and Ethiopia, and the baking uses organic flour, eggs and butter and organic milk from Mossgiel Farm, and its baking won a Great Taste Award in 2024. Look out for spinach pie with feta and soft tsoureki buns, alongside breakfast, brunch, all-day pancakes and lunch. Inside it's light and colourful, with big windows and plants along the sills. It's open every day, from half past eight on weekdays and nine at the weekend, until five. Tables can be booked through its own site, and dogs and children are welcome.

Close byWedgwoodA restaurant on the Canongate run by Paul and Lisa Wedgwood since 2007, cooking Scottish produce with herbs the chef forages himself.Under a mileSee itWedgwood
Before you go

Open every day, from half past eight on weekdays and nine at the weekend, until five.

Tables can be booked through its own site, and dogs and children are welcome.

Where
1 Hope Park Terrace, Newington, Edinburgh, EH8 9LZ, by the Meadows.
Open
Monday to Friday 8.30am to 5pm, Saturday and Sunday 9am to 5pm.
Booking
Through its own site, or by phone.
Music and theatre
Live music and theatre in the café; see What's On.
Dogs and children
Both welcome.
Access
A wheelchair-accessible entrance and seating.
Phone
0131 285 9278

Opening hours

Their website
Monday
8.30am–5pm
Tuesday
8.30am–5pm
Wednesday
8.30am–5pm
Thursday
8.30am–5pm
Friday
8.30am–5pm
Saturday
9am–5pm
Sunday
9am–5pm

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Where it is

On the corner of Hope Park Terrace in Newington, across the road from the east end of the Meadows, EH8 9LZ.

Close byThe Meadows and Newington.
  1. Till’s BookshopTill’s BookshopA second-hand bookshop on the corner of Hope Park Crescent, looking over the Meadows, crammed floor to ceiling since 1985.Under a mile 1 min by road
  2. ConsideritConsideritA plant-based maker of doughnuts, chocolate and ice cream on Sciennes, near the Meadows, with everything made by hand each day.Under a mile 1 min by road
  3. A crisp, spicy stir-fry with red and green chillies and sliced peppers, served in a steel dry pot on a wooden table at Taste of Home on Clerk Street.Taste of HomeA Chinese restaurant at 53 Clerk Street in Newington, cooking dishes from Sichuan, Hunan and the north-east of China, open every day.Under a mile 1 min by road
  4. The pale front of Pomelo at 27 Sciennes Road, its name painted small beside the open door and a wooden bench under the window.PomeloA modern Chinese restaurant on Sciennes Road by the Meadows, opened by chef and owner Jun Au in 2021 and known for its hand-ripped noodles.Under a mile 2 min by road
  5. 101 Bakery101 BakeryA small green-fronted bakery on Newington Road, making celebration cakes, buns and pastries, open Tuesday to Saturday.Under a mile 1 min by road
  6. Stairwell with "STEP NO. 2" stencilled beside a waterfall photograph and windowsill plantHolyrood DistilleryA whisky and gin distillery on St Leonard's Lane, below Salisbury Crags, open for tours every day.Under a mile 2 min by road
  7. Cyclists pass beneath autumn trees as low sun casts long shadows across the parkThe MeadowsThe great park on the south side of the Old Town, once the Burgh Loch, crossed by tree-lined walks and a path through a whale's jawbones.Under a mile 2 min by road
  8. Söderberg's glass front on Simpson Loan, tables outside and cakes in the window.Söderberg The MeadowsA Swedish bakery and cafe on Simpson Loan by the Meadows, baking buns, sourdough and pastries on site, open every day.1 mile 5 min by road
Directions
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