Pep and Fodder

Grateful office workers surely gave a hearty sigh of relief when Pep & Fodder arrived on an otherwise bereft Waterloo Place in 2012. A slick little café/takeaway venture from the smart folks behind Edinburgh’s excellent Bon Vivant duo and The Devil’s Advocate, P&F is a great little addition to the east end of the city centre.

The breakfast offerings merrily meander from well-stacked bacon butties and thick honey-laden porridge to flaky croissants and sweet pastries. Powerful coffee from Glasgow-based outfit Dear Green Place further fends off the early morning blues. Channelling a New York deli-style vibe, by mid-afternoon the daily salad selections (regularly changing but often including a zingy Greek salad or spicy couscous concoction) are depleting as a stream of regulars head in for their lunchtime fix. Regular paninis and baguettes line the fridge, and staples such as the pastrami- laden New Yorker and an oozing tuna melt prove particularly popular.

A couple of soups are generally on the go, and the the spicy lentil and roasted tomato, squash and chipotle come highly recommended. New additions to the menu, such as the haggis melt, won’t be to everyone’s taste, though the inclusion of Edinburgh’s Soul Sushi boxes is right on the money for those keen to venture beyond the soup and sanger fare.

The friendly staff are happy to talk you through the range of cakes and traybakes, made by the pastry chef at sister enterprise The Bon Vivant. Moist date flapjacks, gooey brownies and dense millionaire shortbread are a enticing – and waist enhancing – way to round off your lunch.