Always Sunday

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The 2011/12 edition of The List's Eating & Drinking Guide is out now – only £5.95 (+p&p).

This review is taken from the current (2011) edition.

This blueprint for a successful café is as easy as a Sunday morning. The clear glass frontage provides space, light and the perfect vantage point from which to spy on tourists photographing the Royal Mile. A fresh and very friendly tearoom, Always Sunday appeals equally to shoppers, uni students and lawyers from the nearby High Court. No greasy spoon, you can munch smugly in the knowledge that your tea is fair-trade, your chutney comes from Fife, and your carrot cake was made in-house. Owner Mary MacDonald vehemently supports the local-ethical-seasonal creed (even the photos on the wall change seasonally), but not in an earnest, lentils-with-a-side-of-sprouts way. Mostly vegetarian, meals come with salads that persuade you into health with ingredients like caramelised onions, sweet potato and spiced chickpeas. Undo all that with a cheese platter that could include Loch Tarbert Drumloch, Arran smoked cheddar, or Highland soft cheese Gruth Dhu. Alternatively, supplement a rum hot chocolate with a side of Polish cheesecake, and concede that the lack of wifi insists this to be a work-free zone.

• High point: A food sourcing policy to make you sing
• Low point: The competition to get a table for Sunday brunch is fierce