Union Brew Lab Reviews Summary

Interior and Atmosphere

Pros:

• "Quirky interior with seating options including tables, bar with stools, and sofas."
• "I am a particular fan of the decor - from the concrete bar to the floor and chairs which appear to have been poached from a Victorian school."
• "Amazing experience. Beautiful stylish interior with places for both larger parties or if you are on your own and want to just read a book."
• "The interior is spacious, rustic and unique, with exposed brick and stone walls."
• "Awesome industrial design and decoration with woody additions to make it cozy."
• "The decor follows the recent trend of industrial modern design: think concrete walls, light bulbs and mismatched chairs."
• "For a start, the decor is design perfection – with the concrete bar, industrial lights, striped back walls and reclaimed gym flooring."

Cons:

• "The interior, with exposed concrete walls and bric-a-brac furniture, is achingly hipsterish - to the point of contrivance."
• "The place gave me a bit of clutter vibes so I can’t imagine studying there."
• "It was all distressed plaster and furniture made from industrial packaging."
• "The decor just seemed incredibly contrived to me."
• "The atmosphere is now stuffy and unwelcoming."
• "The décor is ‘shabby chic’, bricks and concrete so the acoustics are terrible, it was very noisy."
• "The atmosphere was alright only if you like very run down places with 'purposeful' paint chipping and rough brick interiors."

Coffee Quality

Pros:

• "Extremely good coffee."
• "Delicious coffee!! I highly recommend their long black."
• "One of the best coffee shops I've been in anywhere."
• "Excellent coffee with plenty of options ranging from pour overs to lattes."
• "Filter coffee... is definitely tasty."
• "Best coffee in Edinburgh! Their brownies are also to die for."
• "The coffee is always amazing here."

Cons:

• "The pain au chocolate was suffering from old age, it certainly wasn’t todays bake and was tough to eat."
• "Ordered 2 Flat Whites... the taste was like sour milk."
• "Mediocre expensive coffee."
• "The worst however was the coffee itself. Flat white was just hot milk with the only coffee hint being burnt tar like flavours."
• "Ordered a flat white, very bitter coffee."
• "Espresso was sour - terrible couldn’t even finish it."
• "Unfortunately coffee wasn't good, very sour so couldn't drink it."

Service

Pros:

• "The staff are really friendly and approachable, not at all pretentious despite knowing their coffee as well as any wine buff knows wine."
• "The service is friendly and organized."
• "The staff are friendly, the food is freshly made and the wifi is free."
• "Knowledgeable staff and friendly service."
• "The staff were very hardworking and kind."
• "The staff is cheerful and polite and you can sense that they are passionate."
• "Staff were friendly as well."

Cons:

• "Waited to be seated: waitress 1 walks off to find us a table. nr 2 asks us what we want. Waitresses do not seem to communicate with one another."
• "The server was very rude, especially when it came to answering basic questions."
• "The waitress who brought our order and took the payment seemed not to be in the mood, was rude and unfriendly."
• "We went in yesterday for a coffee and some food... Service was slow, we had to flag someone down to order and then pay."
• "Service was not great, with the staff being drier than their toast."
• "Service was not great, no eye contact with customers."
• "Waited 15 mins for service, nothing at all. Quite an empty cafe so no excuses."

Price and Value

Pros:

• "Prices are reasonable but the coffee is worth it."
• "The price is decent, sandwich is great."
• "Perhaps a little expensive, but still worth it in my opinion."
• "Their cream cheese brownies are outstanding, and if they have them then getting one is a must!!"
• "They have amazing coffee and a great range of cakes and sandwiches."
• "The food and coffee are always of a high standard and great portion sizes."
• "Great atmosphere and friendly staff."

Cons:

• "My boyfriend refused to pay £5.50 for avocado toast."
• "The place is just an overpriced hipster joint with exotic sounding coffee names."
• "I found it cold, noisy, and overpriced."
• "Food is good, but relatively pricey."
• "Food was very average for the price."
• "Long black was alright rather overpriced."
• "Decent coffee yea but had better for less £!!"