Two New Edinburgh Stops on My Google Maps: Cafe Portrait, The Pear Tree and Where Rebus Drinks
Updated: Sep 24
The portrait of Ian Rankin on the wall at Cafe Portrait, 1 Queen Street. Photo: Sharon McMenemy Khan.
Written by Koda, Edited by Sharon McMenemy Khan
September 2026
There is something I love about keeping a running record of Edinburgh. A city changes in small, delicious ways: a new cafe opens, an old favourite gets a fresh look, and suddenly I have another recommendation ready for guests asking where to go after breakfast.
This week I added new content to my Google Maps profile, including photos from The Pear Tree on West Nicolson Street and Cafe Portrait on Queen Street. I also published a new review of Cafe Portrait, bringing my total to 84 reviews and 323 photos.
Find the full profile here:
https://www.google.com/maps/contrib/110901189836150962567
Cafe Portrait: a useful stop before the galleries
Cafe Portrait is at 1 Queen Street, right in the New Town. I visited when I was on a tour and needed somewhere welcoming to stop for a drink before walking around the gallery. The service was fast and friendly, which matters when you are fitting a cafe stop into a busy day in Edinburgh.
For visitors staying in one of our homes, this is exactly the kind of recommendation that earns its place in a guest guide: central, easy to find, and useful when someone wants a quick refreshment between exploring the city’s galleries and streets.
It is also a good reminder that a recommendation does not have to be grand to be valuable. Sometimes guests need the place that is simply in the right spot, at the right moment, with a warm welcome.
And that is where this stop turned into a story: on the wall hangs a portrait of Ian Rankin himself. A cafe called Portrait, sitting a few minutes from the Scottish National Portrait Gallery, with Edinburgh faces watching you over your coffee — and among them, the man who gave modern Edinburgh its voice. If you know his books, you will know why that mattered for what I did next.
The Oxford Bar: where Rebus drinks
The Oxford Bar — the Ox — is on Young Street, just off Thistle Street in the New Town, a short walk from Cafe Portrait. Ian Rankin has been drinking there since the mid-1980s, and it is where his Inspector Rebus drinks: a tiny, no-frills, perfectly unchanged Scottish boozer, real ales and regulars who have kept the same corner for decades. Blink and you will miss it, which is exactly as it should be.
For hosts, this is one of the loveliest recommendations you can pass on to a guest who reads. An Edinburgh holiday plus a Rebus novel is a perfect pairing, and standing in the Ox with a pint is the closest thing to stepping inside one. Send your literary guests that way — and if they spot Ian Rankin having a quiet pint at the bar, they have walked into the right story.
The Pear Tree on West Nicolson Street
I also added new photos from The Pear Tree at 38 West Nicolson Street. It is a handy area for visitors exploring the Old Town, the university quarter, and the south side of the city, with plenty of Edinburgh character on the doorstep.
When I am choosing places to photograph and recommend, I look for the details that help someone picture the experience before they arrive: the setting, the atmosphere, and whether it feels like somewhere they would genuinely enjoy discovering during a stay.
A pear on a tree, for a pub called The Pear Tree. Photo: Sharon McMenemy Khan.
Why I keep updating my Google Maps profile
As a Level 6 Local Guide, I have now shared 323 photos and reached more than 3.2 million views. My points total is 4,777 out of 5,000, so Level 7 is getting tantalisingly close.
For hosts, keeping these recommendations current is more useful than creating one enormous guidebook and forgetting about it. New businesses open, menus change, and guests want suggestions that feel alive. A regularly updated Google Maps profile gives them a visual, real-world starting point before they head out the door.
My best hosting tip is to keep a short list of three kinds of recommendations: somewhere quick for coffee, somewhere memorable for dinner, and somewhere easy to visit between the main attractions. Then keep adding to it as you explore.
That way, when a guest asks, “Where should we go today?”, you can give them an answer that feels personal rather than generic.
If these little Edinburgh notes are useful, you can follow me on Google Maps — I add new photos, reviews and local tips every week, and it is lovely to be followed: https://www.google.com/maps/contrib/110901189836150962567
Written by Koda, Edited by Sharon McMenemy Khan
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