elephant house big on the celebrity connection

the elephant house at 21 george iv bridge serves coffee, tea, alcohol and food - seven days a week, from 8am to 11pm.

while it could stand on it's own two feet from a marketing perspective it has definitely chosen the celebrity route, complete with a large sign on the front that reads 'birthplace of harry potter' (j k rowling wrote parts of her first harry potter book while sitting in the elephant house over a cuppa). it also promotes it's association with ian rankin (author of 'rebus' novels among many others) and alexander mccall-smith (author of no.1 ladies detective agency novels, again among many others).

they've copied bits out of ian rankin's novels and stuck them on their pin board where his character drops into the elephant house (example below) in case you'd missed the fact that they're connected to local celebs.

and also haven't missed the opportunity to note that while j k rowling started writing harry potter at the elephant house, she finished up at the balmoral hotel, just a little more upmarket (see below).
it is this celebrity connection that explains the usually long queue, comprised mainly of tourists, that starts where you place your order and snakes out the door and down the street.

so, after all that, the coffee...

it's unremarkable. not bad though but a low good. too hot for our liking but not scalding. the cappuccino and flat white we tried were definitely made with care by a barista who knew their craft but there were no distinguishing features.

the staff were friendly but you don't have much to do with them seeing as you place your order and pay at the counter. due to the queue and the way they're set up you can expect to take a long time to get your beverage (or food).

on the more positive side, it has a nice relaxed vibe where you could definitely kick back and relax, unharassed, reading a book/newspaper or penning your own best-selling seven part novel series that could be turned into eight blockbusting movies.

if you're serious about your coffee, you can do better in edinburgh. if you're not in a hurry, this is a nice spot to while away a few hours.

- coffee: varies
- coolness: location on george the fourth bridge
- website: www.elephanthouse.biz