Given the sheer number of high‑quality coffee places now operating across Edinburgh, it is perhaps no surprise that some open without much fanfare. Hawker Coffee, tucked away on Lady Lawson Street in West Port, is a case in point.
It sits just around the corner from The Source on Spittal Street—one of the most highly rated specialty coffee shops in Scotland, if not the UK. Beatnik (2 Brougham Place) is also not far away. Yet Hawker’s barista is quick to point out that they are not really in competition with The Source. They offer something quite different, and there is clearly space for both; complementary rather than directly competitive.
Everyday excellence
Where The Source deals in what the barista cheerfully describes as “funky and experimental” brews, Hawker pitches itself at the “everyday” end of specialty coffee: high‑quality, approachable, and unpretentious. One reviewer put it well: “lovely coffee without the gatekeeping or pretentiousness one might expect from boutique coffee.” That Edinburgh now has room for this kind of nuanced distinction is itself a mark of how far the city’s coffee scene has come.
In its first ten months, Hawker has made a quietly impressive start, building a loyal following and attracting glowing reviews. One recent customer summed it up neatly: “Not only is the coffee stellar, but the actual café is a warm, welcoming place.” The warmth of the service appears in many reviews, and I witnessed it myself when the barista offered to replace my cup after I-still short on caffeine-clumsily spilled part of my drink. On a chilly Tuesday morning visit, there was a steady trickle of customers, several of them clearly regulars, with the promise of a busy rush around the 11 a.m. peak.
In the cup
The batch brew on offer was enjoyably fruity without tipping into acidity, and as it cooled the flavour evolved pleasingly; as good batch brew tends to do. Batch brew is, in essence, a refined take on filter coffee, but in the right hands it draws out deep, complex qualities from the beans. That was certainly the case here. It also guarantees consistency from cup to cup. I was tempted to have a second, but needed to get to a meeting.
Hawker works primarily with beans from Climpson & Sons, the respected London roastery whose original café sits near London Fields, while also featuring guest roasters. Among the Climpson offerings is the Broadway Blend-described as “rich, satisfying and more‑ish”-which combines beans from Myanmar and Honduras. On a second visit, I thoroughly enjoyed coffee made with Kenyan beans roasted by Lift coffee. The manager was happy to make me a fresh brew, even though the café was closing within the hour; fantastic customer service.
A room with a view (of sorts)
From your seat at Hawker, the view takes in Argyle House, one of Edinburgh’s more controversial buildings. Dismissed by many as a brutalist carbuncle at odds with a UNESCO World Heritage Site, it has nonetheless earned admirers among architects. The writer and architect Malcolm Fraser, in a recent essay in The Drouth, argues that “in its sturdy, grey monumentality it is characteristically Edinburgh.” Up close, the quality of the materials becomes apparent, and you start to consider the task of demolition and its environmental impact. Sitting in Hawker, quality coffee in hand, is actually a rather good place to muse on whether the city should be doing more to retain and restore its finest modernist buildings.
Bright and welcoming inside
There is nothing grey or brutalist about Hawker itself.
The interior has a bold yet inviting character and was the first Edinburgh project from Leith based interior design studio Hunter’s Daughter.
Having previously designed leading bar, restaurant, and coffee shop projects across the UK – including White Cloth Hall in Leeds, and Ace Pizza’s Flagship Hackney restaurant – founder Jo Hunter aimed to create a quality, cool yet unpretentious new space that reflected what Hawker was about.
The space combines that in‑vogue terracotta‑ish shade with a creamy yellow. The effect is striking; a high proportion of passers‑by visibly stopped to look in during my visit.
As one customer put it: “calming café, the colour is so joyful.” The place has excellent kerb appeal, and with the word COFFEE boldly emblazoned on the frontage, there is no ambiguity about what goes on inside.
The atmosphere is relaxed and uplifting. On this visit, classic rock-Elton John, Springsteen-trickled through the speakers, with the barista humming along contentedly. It is a small space, seating around a dozen at a push, with takeaway clearly the main focus. The primary customer base appears to be students from the nearby Edinburgh College of Art, which makes sense: this stretch of Lady Lawson Street tends to function as a shortcut rather than a destination, so the colourful frontage does important work.
Alongside the coffee, Hawker offers a small selection of baked goods and, on the savoury side, sourdough grilled‑cheese sandwiches. For warmer days, the drinks menu expands to include soft drinks – among them Jarritos Mexican Cola, billed as offering “a one‑of‑a‑kind taste experience.” Perhaps not on a cold March day.
The verdict
Hawker Coffee is a fine illustration of how specialty coffee has matured in Edinburgh. A few years ago, a café of this quality would have caused quite a stir on opening. Now, the expectation is simply that new places will be good, with well‑trained baristas. While it may not draw the dedicated coffee pilgrims-roasters, brewers, industry insiders who flock to The Source, Hawker is a genuine and warmly recommended addition to this part of the city.
Hawker Coffee, 22 Lady Lawson Street, Edinburgh EH3 9DS
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