Fringe Food and More at the Real Mary King’s Close

We simply cannot wait for the Edinburgh Fringe Festival to begin. From the 1st August, Edinburgh plays host to the world's largest and most vibrant arts festival. For three weeks, the city comes alive with theatre, comedy, music and performing arts. We hope you will be able to join us.

Of course, all this artistic cavorting makes you hungry, which is why we are rising to the occasion with our very own Fringe Food.

BBQ at the Courtyard Café

Our Courtyard Café is an idyllic retreat just off the Royal Mile. It is an oasis of calm in the midst of the hectic city centre. It is the perfect place to meet family and friends, to come in for a bite to eat, or just to order a coffee and read a book while enjoying the continental atmosphere.

Between 28th July and 24th August we will be putting on a delicious Fringe Food BBQ every day to keep you going through the balmy Festival days. If you love barbeque food (and who doesn't) you should drop in and see us. You will be able to enjoy a delicious range of freshly barbecued beef burgers, jumbo sausages and veggie burgers, all supplied by our friends at Braveheart Catering.


Don’t forget, our entire normal menu will also still be available. Come and browse through our wide selection of teas, coffees, hot chocolate and soft drinks. A selection of snacks are available to complement your drink, from cookies and shortbread to crisps and porridge. Get yourself an ice cream or cool yourself on a hot day with one of our new iced coffee range. Yum!

The Real Mary King’s Close will be open throughout the festival month and is a great place to go for a family day out, so come along and experience four centuries of Edinburgh’s history with us.

Cake Goes Underground!

Calm before the cakey storm!

We've hosted some unusual events at The Real Mary King's Close before, but we never thought that cake would be a major feature for us to theme an event! 

How wrong were we?!  Last night we welcomed the fantastic Edinburgh Cake Ladies to The Close for a belated Halloween celebration of cake and savoury goodness! The talent was endless with some of the most elaborate cakes we have ever seen.

Entertainment was provided by Elliot Bibby, a local young magician who entertained with his feats of magic and mystery.

Between munching cakes and drinking tea, the Cake Ladies (and the younger guests) explored The Close, hearing tales of young Annie and Andrew Chesney's famous thunderbox.

Local charity, and nominated charity of the Edinburgh Cake Ladies, Its Good to Give raised £250 from the nights precedings which made us all feel that we were worthy of enjoying the delicious baking!

As one of our tour guides said after the event: "When I heard the Cake Ladies were visiting, I expected a group of ladies from the WI, complete with their old-school doilies.  This was so much more - AMAZING!!"  Hear, hear and thank you to them all for visiting....and being such wonderful bakers!

Thank you also to Alex Hewitt for taking the photos in the challenging, sorry, atmospheric light of the Close!!!

 

Our tour guides view the delicious spread!

One particularly talented Cake Lady Lou recreated the Close in cakey form! It tasted as good as it looked!