The Castle Rock Cafe

slow mornings on the royal mile have a way of slipping into afternoons before you notice, and the castle rock cafe sits right in the thick of it on lawnmarket, where the old town's stone streets still feel like they belong to the city rather than the tourists moving through them. you could do a lot worse than anchoring your morning here before the day picks up speed. the regulars clearly feel that way, and there's a consistency to its reputation that tends to mean something in a city that doesn't hand out loyalty easily. it's an independent, it's well-regarded, and it's at one of edinburgh's most historically loaded addresses. end up here on a weekday morning with a cortado before the lawnmarket crowd thickens.