I had a splendid breakfast at my favourite Edinburgh bakery
I returned to this four-year-old outpost
I’m a Twelve Triangles devotee.
We’re talking screaming-teen-watching-The-Beatles level of fandom.
I even have an altar in the form of an A5 print of their Edinburgh Duke Street bakery, by Scottish painter Wil Freeborn, in my kitchen.
Since I moved to Leith, this location has become my favourite of the Capital’s seven branches, as I visit almost every Friday for one of their focaccia sandwiches - the ricotta, smoked ham and cornichon, to be specific. Either that or a slice of millionaire’s shortbread, which is made with panela sugar.
There’s yet another reason that she loves you (yeah, yeah, yeah).
When my sister - who is currently undergoing chemo for breast cancer - and I were recently in the Maggie’s Centre by the Western General Hospital, Twelve Triangles randomly sent over a consignment of almond croissants, loaves and other goodies, for the patients there. They went down a storm. Another Brownie point. Love you guys. Scream!
However, even though some of their branches, including Kitchen Table on Easter Road, have sit-in facilities, I do tend to take-away.
It’s also been a while since I visited their four-year-old Stockbridge branch, which has had a recent elephant grey paintjob makeover.
Thus, I decided to take my sister along for a spot of brekkie. I was stoked. After all, I’ve been getting very bored of my daily double Weetabix dose.
The Sit In menu in this dog-friendly space, which features one large communal table and a couple of smaller ones, is chalked up on a board.
There are some things I wasn’t quite ready for, as early as 10am, like a sourdough sandwich or a cheese toastie.
However, I was definitely in the mood for the pistachio and walnut granola (£6.50). Always.
I do occasionally buy a bag of their own stuff, which is for sale, along with the recent cookbook, jams and other merch, in here and most of their other branches. It’s relatively pricey, so I’ll usually dilute it with something cheaper to make it go further. I am that kind of frugalista.
Anyway, this option consisted of a generous ladleful of that nutty, toasty, oaty, coconutty and seedy maple-syrup-sweetened mixture, along with a huge bowlful of clean-tasting and cool natural yoghurt, and a dollop of juicy and chunky plum compote.
We shared that, and the slab of sourdough, which was about the size of a welly boot sole in a 10. This doorstopper was topped by their homemade baked beans (£10) - made with big fat bouncy and earthy butterbeans and a pleasingly piquant tomato sauce, with a large pile of finely grated and melting Scottish cheddar on top. It was a breakfast for truck-driving queens.
I suppose it seemed a bit eccentric to also choose the scone (£6) to share, but it seems that anything goes in here, when it comes to baked goods.
This was a bit fancier than your average, since it was cuboid and featured a crispy granulated sugared lid, and there was no DIY-ing required, as it was already lavishly stuffed with clotted cream, then a tablespoonful of strawberry jam.
My sister also wanted to try one of their cinnamon buns, but they were already sold out. Indeed, the entire time we were in this venue, there was a steady stream of customers, buying their daily cakes, and it wasn’t even a Friday. Instead, she chose a lemon and cardamom vanilla bun (£3.80), which was a feathery light and frothy rose-shaped confection, dusted in sugar that stuck to your lips and left a sweet snowdrift on your lap.
We drank a flat white (£3.90) and a filthy chai latte (£5). That mixture of syrupy chai tea and two shots of espresso is my current end-of-winter weakness, but I always feel embarrassed about asking for it. There was no shame here. You want it filthy, you got it.
I suppose it’s no surprise to rediscover that this place is still lovely. There is an awful lot of competition in Stockbridge, but it remains top of the charts.
It always amazes me that however thinly they spread themselves - there’s one in the town of Melrose now, too - the standards remain as high as ever.
Their USP continues to be simple things, done beautifully.
And it doesn’t get better than beans, a scone and granola for brekkie.
9 Comely Bank Road, Edinburgh, www.twelvetriangles.co.uk
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