Falko Konditormeister

I often go to Falko in Bruntsfield to get my weekly supply of Rye bread, so it comes to no surprise that I also frequently head up to Gullane to enjoy their slightly bigger coffee shop, with large windows to let the light in as well as their assortment of cakes, breads and ice cream (in the summer).
We recently visited Falko for a quick coffee break before heading to the beach. It’s the ideal in between stop!
I could not resist to try something new and ordered their Fleischkaese, which normally is called Leberkas on the continent. The meat was served with a «Semmel» (White roll) and German mustard, which is slighty milder than the French mustards. The Viennese coffee is black coffee, most likely of continental origin, and has quite a full rounded taste to it. The milk on the side comes served in a cow shaped piece of carafe that looks pretty quirky :-)
They sell a large selection of breads, from Rye, Sourdough to multi grain. The ice cream offered in the summer is deliciously creamy and there are a few flavours.
There is only one small toilet, which is unisex. Not the most up to date toilet, but bearable.
The staff is very nice and offered to help to get more Maple syrup when they noticed they had run out. Yes, I had to change my order from pancakes to something else. One thing is for sure. I will be back, even if it’s just to try the pancakes :-)
They don’t take reservations, not even on weekends when it can get very busy. You need a bit of luck as spaces are limited! ENJOY!

Great, atmospheric German café and bakery with large range of cakes, pastries and tortes, coffee and a limited lunch menu.
I’ve tried a number of the tortes including a lovely plum one but I keep going back to the linzertorte which is delicious, with nice crumbly pastry and raspberry jelly/​jam in the middle.
They also have freshly made pretzels and numerous different types of bread.
I have had the flasche kaser (?)which is basically a huge slab of processed meat (not unlike spam!) in a huge round patty in between a white roll with mustard on top. Simple, meaty and straight to the point, very German. (you can also get some Viennese sausages in a roll.)
The food I’ve had here seems to be authentic but more importantly it’s delicious.
The coffee is also very good.
They have a limited number of German bottled beers to take away, I presume you can drink them there also but not sure.
One minor quibble, the latest time I was there the pretzel was slightly dry, as if it was yesterdays. But that’s the only thing in a 4 or 5 visits.
Also quite pricey, but it’s worth it as the quality is so good and you won’t get the product anywhere else nearby.
They have a branch in Edinburgh as well but I’ve never been there.
Service is pretty decent but who cares anyway, it’s all about the foooood.

What gets better than a pit stop for coffee than Falko on a late Sunday afternoon? Well adding a few cakes to takeaway does!
We choose an apricot tart and a chocolate orange tart. Both were very nice but we both preferred the apricot tart. The coffee was hot and tasty, just as it should be and give us the caffiene kick that we needed after all the sea breeze!
I love this branch as it building is quirky and feels like a proper village store too!

Have to agree with the previous reviewer, table service is a little hit or miss. It wasn’t clear if we were supposed to seat ourselves, order at the counter or wait for someone to speak to us. The table we picked unfortunately didn’t have a menu, so we were pretty bemused before I gave up and approached the counter for help. The lady nearly fell over herself to run to the table while I followed trying to explain that we didn’t know what we wanted to order, or how to do it. Menus appeared from another table. When the order was taken, the waiter (male this time) was a little short in response, but I wouldn’t say rude.
My friend had the bacon roll and sweet potato, chilli and roasted pepper soup, while I went for the set breakfast of a hot drink, pretzel and cheese. Got to say, his bacon roll looked pretty good, with nice thick slices of bacon. My pretzel seemed tough to cut, but tasted fantastic and not as heavy as I was expecting. It beat a hangover egg roll any day of the week.
As Falko is a master baker, I felt I had to try the Black Forest Gateaux, as it was waxed lyrical about on the company website. I thought that 10% kirsch would equal a light touch, but this boozy missile of a slice blew my socks off and had me gasping for air. But oh, my, the sponge was as light as the cream was killer. I loved every bite.

I am giving this café/​restaurant a low rating not due to poor food, but rather due to poor service. We took our out of town guests here for lunch on the way to the beach and in retrospect I wish we had walked out while we ordered. The waitress that attended us was very rude and even surly. For instance, when she asked us what we wanted to drink, my partner politely asked her if she had ‘appletiser’ to which she curtly thrust a menu in front of him and told him that all the drinks were listed on the menu. When I asked for further clarification on the handling of nuts and in particular whether the bakery handles peanuts, I was curtly asked whether or not I had in fact read the ‘disclaimer’ about nuts on the menu. Despite the menu stating that if the customer needs further clarification as to the bakery’s handling of nut products, she should feel free to ask, this waitress was unwilling to offer any further clarification and was unwilling to disclose whether or not the bakery handled peanuts, which was our main concern. Whether or not the food was good was hard to judge left as we all were with a bad taste in our mouths from such ungracious service. I certainly will not be returning to this bakery and will not be recommending it to anyone in the future.