Edinburgh - The Elephant House

The Elephant House is most famous for its literary significance. This is where JK Rowling wrote the Harry Potter books and Ian Rankin is said to have frequented here – he even mentions it in his novels. The Elephant House serves hot food, cakes and coffee all day and attracts many locals and tourists alike.

The styling of the interior is quite unique – the tables and chairs are not what you would find in a typical cafe. In my table was a chest of drawers which contained notes and letters from past customers. There are a lot of elephants (obvious if you look at the name) – models, posters, chairs, books…Also, there is a display case with photos of JK Rowling and a signed copy of Harry Potter in another display cabinet.

Having read reviews online, the hot chocolates are a speciality of the The Elephant House, so I decided to try a Banana Bounty. This is hot chocolate with coconut and banana liqueur. The taste is quite surprising – it tastes quite summery. The fruit flavours go really well with the chocolate and the liqueur provides an extra warmth.

The Elephant House is another must to visit. I would recommend this highly – it is very popular and busy when we went, the service was friendly and the hot chocolate was fantastic!

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