Toast, Leith, Edinburgh

A pleasant looking, if slightly contemporary pub on this attractive cobbled roadway overlooking the water, it strikes me as more of a café/bar than your traditional pub, and of course the name itself does nothing at all to dispel this notion. There are a few tables and chairs outside on the pavement, and this seemed a popular spot on our visit. It’s all one single, open plan room internally, and as befits it’s dining credentials, we were presented with a “Please wait here to be seated” lectern just inside the door. Décor wise it’s quite contemporary with exposed brickwork on much of the walls, a plain whitewashed ceiling, and some sort of wood strip on the floor. Elsewhere was some battleship grey wood panelling, whilst the seating was a mixture of regular chairs and fitted banquet seating, upholstered with either aqua blue or mustard colour cushions. A wine rack covered much of the wall at one end, and there was a good selection of spirits behind the bar, but on the bar counter itself far more space was given over to cake displays, ice cream freezer and coffee machines than to the beer pumps. A projector was on the ceiling with a rolled up screen in the window, so perhaps live sport is shown on occasions, although it really didn’t strike me as that sort of venue. Rather predictably there were no real ales on tap, with just Pilot’s Vienna Pale on keg. On the plus side though, the staff were pleasant and friendly, and the Carrot & Walnut cake was pretty good, although at £5.50 a slice you could well argue that it should be. If you want a coffee and a cake it’s a great spot, but as a pub it falls woefully short.

Cafe style bar with two Pilot beers on tap and a good selection of wine.