Overview

I wasn't looking for a carrot cake cookie or a strawberry custard matcha -- I wasn't even aware of their existence -- but that's the kind of thing you find at Blank Street Coffee and I did enjoy my wee treats. The coffee shop is very centrally located, has step-free access and a spacious accessible toilet, so I imagine it would come in very handy for a quick stop when you are out and about on Princes Street or a takeaway sweet treat and a cold drink when you are enjoying the sun in Princes Street Gardens. When I visited, I was looking for somewhere to take a break and have a savoury lunch, though, and unfortunately Blank Street Coffee did not hit the sweet spot. They offer a variety of hot and cold drinks, including dairy-free options, but the food is limited to cookies and pastries, only one of them vegan. It was very busy, making it both hard to navigate the narrow crowded space in my powerchair and to get assistance from the staff. In the end, I left still hungry and less relaxed than when I entered, but I was glad that I had had the chance to go to the bathroom and discover some new treats.

Transport & Parking

The shop is centrally located on the corner of Princes St and Hanover St, not far from Waverley Station and right by the Princes St Tram stop. Bus stops on Princes St (3, 29, 30, 33, N30, X29, X33) and Hanover St (9, 23, 27) are also closeby. I did not drive on this occasion, but I imagine parking would be difficult to find.

Access

There are no steps or raised thresholds on either door. The doors are manual but were propped open when we visited. The doors were wide enough for my wheelchair (62 cm) but not a lot wider. The space between the counter and the seating opposite is quite narrow. It was possible to turn around, but it involved having to ask a lot of people to make space. There is a drinks menu overhead, but I could not easily see it from a seated position when my view was blocked by the barista equipment. The counters were low enough to reach, but not lowered to reach comfortably from a seated position. The only seating is booth-style benches along the windows. They are cushioned and have a low cushioned backrest, but no armrests. The small tables are fixed to the benches, so they cannot be moved for ease of access.

Toilets

There is an accessible bathroom at the back end of the shop. The shop is quite narrow, but the bathroom is spacious. It is the only bathroom, so you might have to wait. It is opened with a RADAR key and customers can ask staff for the key. The door opens to the outside. There is no door opener. There is a handrail on the back of the door and it locks by lifting up the handle. There is a horizontal handrail to the left of the toilet that can be lifted and moved out of the way. There is space for a right-side transfer. The flush is a lever that does not necessarily move back to its original position by itself. I thought at first it was broken, but I could make it work when I moved it 180 degrees back to its starting position from where it had become stuck. The toilet paper holder is to the right of the toilet, but the toilet paper was empty when I visited. There are vertical handrails on either side of the sink. The sink is a small pedestal sink and the tap has a short lever and there is liquid soap in a dispenser above the sink. The red cord is to the right of the toilet and the sink. There is a long mirror by the door; there is no mirror above the sink. There are no paper towels, just a hand dryer. The only bin is a narrow sanitary bin next to the toilet that is operated with a foot pedal.

Staff

Staff were friendly, but also very busy. We asked to have our drinks brought to the table, which the person at the till agreed to, but then seemingly did not communicate with the rest of the team, since we were still called to pick up our drinks from the counter – separately, so that we had to navigate the narrow crowded space twice to get our drinks. We also got oat milk in both of our drinks instead of just one, but we didn’t mind too much and just went with it.

Photos