by Scotland has had a relationship with tea since the 1600s, with the first tea served at Holyrood Palace in 1680. Initially smuggled into the country and only affordable for the very wealthy, by the mid-1800s tea had taken regular with bread and butter in the evening and the rest is history: a saga of sandwiches, scones, cakes, cream and recently, champagne. Afternoon tea has never been more popular and (Dundee cake notwithstanding) nowhere in Scotland is it better than Edinburgh. After all, where else would you find tea served in a library, greenhouses, a luxury lighthouse ship and an old bus, all in the same city?
For more Edinburgh inspiration, check out our guides to the city’s best hotels, restaurants and cafes, nightlife, pubs and bars, shopping, things to do and free things to do.
Find a tea room by area
Prince Street
Willow Tea Rooms
Popular with locals and visitors alike, this Charles Rennie-Macintosh-inspired establishment has master chairs, china and ornate screens, as well as very nice original art deco windows overlooking the St. Prince and the castle above. It’s busy and noisy, with efficient staff whizzing by as if on roller skates of a traditional, generously proportioned tea: think egg sandwiches, a squat but soft scone, the shortest shortbread imaginable, large slices of carrot cake or tall strawberry tarts. There is also a savory version (haggis on oats and mini cheese and tomato tarts). All at a very reasonable price.
Contact: willowtearooms.co.uk
Reservations: recommended
Prices: £
Palm Court at the Balmoral Hotel
Imagine you died and went to heaven – after all, a harp is being played. And dreamy bucolic scenes hand-painted on the walls, with palm trees, of course. Think a delicate sip of vichyssoise to start, then zhuzhed-up sweets (beet vol-au-vent, wasabi caviar), sandwiches with a delicate twist (smoked salmon and mascarpone), clotted cream and Balmoral jam with your scones, and the most better pastry imagine. Proust would have loved the apricot, lemon and white chocolate madeleines. All that, a selection of 88 teas and excellent service. Spring for the champagne version and you may believe you are in paradise.
Contact: roccoforthotels.com
Reservations: recommended
Prices: £££
Old Town
Clarinda Tea Room
Named not for the owner but the “Fair Empress of the Poet’s Soul” in Burns’s eponymous poem, there’s evidence that doilies aren’t dead around you, with rose-patterned wallpaper, lace tablecloths and flowery gilt china. a small/close time tea shop on the Canongate. It’s easy to imagine Miss Marple in her scone with raspberry jam, blushing as she samples a chocolate kiss right now. But the real star is a delicious cheese and chives scone with plum silicon – not surprising as they’ve been making scones here for 50 years or so.
Contact: clarindasearoom.com
Reservations: walk in only
Prices: ££
Colonies at the Signet Library
You may be in a library but that doesn’t mean you have to whisper. Near St. Giles off the Royal Mile this elegant Georgian room is home to an ancient society of lawyers who served the king. Tables are scattered about the gallery between rows of legal mounds and down the central passage. Bold silver glitters and glitters; the food is exceptional. Start with eight light appetizers, including caprese tartlet and rich duck and duchess pomme; then five examples of serious patisserie: a creamy strawberry Frasier or coconut mango tart. And a scone, of course.
Contact: thesignetlibrary.co.uk/colonndes
Reservations: recommended
Prices: £££
Newtown
The Georgian Tea Room at The Dome
A large, classic building, originally a bank, now an elegant bar and restaurant with a velvet-lined tea room upstairs. You’ll find a wonderful afternoon tea starting with sausage rolls and finishing with a selection of sweets, including a light daffodil and lemon bun, with sandwiches and scones in between. Tea tips, too: three matching cocktails, the “Just Peachy”: gin, earl gray tea, peach and basil bush and lemon. Gluten-free and vegan versions are available as well as a children’s tea. Come for the wonderful Christmas decorations but be sure to book.
Contact: thedomeedinburgh.com
Reservations: recommended
Prices: ££
Game Red Bus Bistro
Take a 1975 Routemaster bus with no suspension and an extremely attentive crew that could carry a drink in a rowboat at sea in a hurricane and not spill it. The tables are set for fun in a bumpy swinging circuit around the Edinburgh Central sites, bolstered by sandwiches, tiny tarts and meringues, cream cakes, a glass of prosecco and heavenly warm scones too, somehow baked on the bus. Add a gin “pot-tail”: a selection of cocktails served in a transparent glass teapot, filled with flowers and mint. Maybe not gourmet, but worth every penny in laughs.
Contact: redbusbistro.co.uk
Reservations: recommended
Prices: ££
Individual
Fingal
An unusual but glamorous setting for an indulgent afternoon tea that’s a tad on the savory side, the Northern Lighthouse ship has been converted into a luxury hotel. A demitasse cup of fragrant silk soup is an appetite-whetting amuse bouche, followed by a hot smoky salmon and crowdie clafoutis that keeps company with goat’s cheese tart, saffron and parmesan arancini and light-as-air rare breed sausage. roll. Then sandwiches, of course and sweet things: yuzu and matcha macaron, apricot and ginger cheesecake, strawberry sablé and Tanzanian chocolate meringue. With all that and champagne you might need a hand on the gangplank.
Contact: fingal.co.uk/food-drink/afternoon-tea/
Reservations: necessary
Prices: £££
Mimi’s Bakehouse Leith
Easily seen by the zebra-striped wings that visit Mimi’s is like stepping into a pastel-colored Disney movie: one expects Mary Poppins to appear in a starched white apron. Dedicated to cake (brunch is all day, but really you’re here for the sweet stuff), much is strictly traditional: rolls and scones filled with clotted cream. But the stars are the traybakes and mini-cakes, like Biscoff brownies that can make strong men weak, or Jammy Dodger traybake for the nostalgic. I can not wait for the evening? Mimi also serves “Beforenoon Tea,” with banoffee yogurt, cheddar scones, a mini breakfast roll, shakshuka… and cakes, of course.
Contact: mimisbakehouse.com
Reservations: Recommended
Prices: £
South side
Prestonfield House
Delightfully theatrical, outrageous, romantic – adjectives fail to describe this unusual hotel set in beautiful grounds at the foot of Arthur’s Seat. There is a setting for every time of the year, whether you are out on the terrace, by the fire in the Tapestry Room or in the Gothic tea house hidden in the rose garden. Your tea will also have a theatrical element, it will be served in the very heavy silver teapots and always with a seasonal theme decorated with girlhood: spring brings a pot of edible flowers (with wild garlic hummus as the soil) and lavender and apricot honey mousse ” bumblebee “.
Contact: prestonfield.com
Reservations: recommended
Prices: £££
The Secret Herb Garden Cafe and Bistro
Imagine escaping to a greenhouse full of herbs and flowers, where vines twine overhead and tables are hidden in green trees. There are chunky sandwiches (smoked salmon, ham, hummus), delicious flaky pastries, scones and a selection of small treats: choux fudge bun, very chocolatey roulade, macarons – all home-baked and served on your grandmother’s rosebud china. Try completely the lemon verbena or apothecary rose tea, grown in the enchanting rose garden and peony-filled. And check out the distillery to sample gins flavored using only garden herbs and petals. With no chemical fertilizers or pesticides it is delicious and guilt free.
Contact: secretherbgarden-cafebistro.co.uk
Reservations: recommended
Prices: £
How we choose
Each restaurant on this curated list has been tried and tested by our destination expert, who visited to provide you with their insider perspective. We cover a range of budgets, from neighborhood favorites to Michelin-starred restaurants – to suit all types of travelers – and consider food, service, best tables, atmosphere and price in our recommendations. We update this list regularly to keep up with the latest openings and provide up-to-date recommendations.
