Embo

This review appears in the The List's Eating & Drinking Guide 2009 – in the shops now or buy online.

Embo is a veritable Aladdin’s Cave of tasty treats. This vibrant, funky little eatery has everything your hungry heart could possibly desire and some more on the side just for good measure. Gorgeous wraps, the most fantastic foccacia with the most imaginative fillings, and salads with some not so usual ingredients. The menu really is cheekily diverse and extremely satisfying with a great Middle-Eastern slant, mouth-watering stuffed vine leaves, falafel and tabuleh salad with baba ghanoush, hummus and aubergine pâté dips. It’s a trusty, well-oiled machine of a café even during the lunchtime rush; the staff somehow manage to give equal attention to the drooling takeaway throng and the seated punters. It’s almost as though the staff aren’t at work at all but just hanging out with their friends. Amazingly, the queue moves along swiftly and cheerily and never as a diner do you feel that slight edge of claustrophobia. It really is quite the find. All in all it’s a fabulous stop off point, whether you just fancy a cheeky cappuccino and a hunk of carrot cake or some mixed plate action in the form of Thai prawn fish cakes with sweet chilli sauce. It’s the most fun you can have on Leith Walk with your clothes on. So get yourself involved and have a chunk of those good funky food times.

• High point: The Western-style saloon doors on the toilets
• Low point: Not having that second coffee and carrot cake