Monthly Archives: March 2020

Ordinary, Scones

Bossard’s Patisserie

3 Comments

This visit to Bossard’s Patisserie signifies the continuation of our tour of Oban and Mull. Okay, it’s a kind of virtual tour now but it did actually happen albeit over a week ago. They say a week is a long time in politics but, nowadays, it actually seems even longer in real life! Looking at the world media it appears that they have Boris sussed. Many of them seem to think that the only thing more dangerous than coronavirus is Boris Johnson himself. Okay we know it’s really Dominic Cummings but Boris is the face of Dominic.

Nicola Sturgeon and Boris Johnson
This neatly sums up the stark contrast between Nicola and Boris on coronavirus advice

And, in these dark times, what would we do without Donald Trump. He reckons it will all be over by Easter. Presumably, he thinks Easter is in September. How did these numpties end up in charge?

Anyway, on to important matters. As we said in our last post from Café Shore we are trying to space out our scones to cover this period of self-isolation. We hope you are all well and sitting waiting with bated breath for this post. Bossard’s Patisserie is actually only a hundred yards from Café Shore. It stands next to the river that flows down to the harbour area. We were puzzled by the name, Bossard’s. Turns out that the couple who own it, she is local but he is from Switzerland. Puzzlement over!

Internal view of Bossard's Patisserie, Oban

Elephant’s sufficiency

Bearing in mind that this place had to close its doors a day after our visit (nothing to do with our visit), it was quiet. Only one or two folks popping in for takeaway stuff. We were made to feel very welcome, however. It was mid-morning and we hadn’t had any breakfast. They had some unusual offerings. A scone at Bossard's Patisserie, ObanPat got coffee and a bacon and egg roll but I got ” three rolls and a scone” with coffee.  Just wanted to find out what it was. Suffice to say it consisted of three different types of bread, a scone and lots of jam and butter. We had witnessed the scones emerging from the kitchen so it wasn’t that hard a decision. There was no cream and probably just as well. There was an elephant’s sufficiency without cream. Some of the breads ended up going in a bag for us to take home.

The scone itself was about as fresh as you could get. It was delicious. Nice and warm with loads of fruit. If it hadn’t been for the prepackaged butter jam and the lack of cream this could have been a topscone. Unfortunate but this is a really nice place with loads of wonderful stuff all made on the premises. Hopefully, they will emerge from this coronavirus thing and keep doing what they were doing before. Good luck!External view of Bossard's Patisserie, Oban

Emotional times

In Falkirk, we live in a nice street. It could never be described as ‘happy go lucky’ or even having any real sense of ‘community’. Everyone is friendly enough but tend to keep themselves to themselves. Last night, however, we went to our front door at 8 o’clock to “clap in appreciation of the folks in NHS” expecting to be on our own. We were astonished to find everyone doing the same as us. The growing crescendo of clapping was very emotional. Things may never be quite the same again … some things might be for the better.

Lastly, don’t open any emails with “knock-knock” in the subject. It’s Jehovah’s Witnesses working from home!

PA34 4AY      tel: 01631 564641         Bossard’s FB

///puzzled.waiters.burglars

ps: we’ve just heard that our favourite bête noire, Boris, has tested positive. Oh dear, in spite of him and his like having stripped the NHS of hundreds of nurses and doctors, on a personal level we do wish him well.

pps: Sunnie's cheese sconesOur Perthshire correspondent, Lady12bore, has sent pics of her second ever attempt at scones. In this case, cheese scones. They look fab. Anyone else taken to baking to relieve the self-isolation monotony?

Ordinary, Scones

Café Shore

12 Comments

Assuming that all our readers across the world, like us, find themselves stuck in the boredom of self-isolation, this post may go down in the history of sconology as the first to actually be welcomed. Yeah! Okay, we know that anything that breaks the monotony is welcome … but still!

Last week, it seems like aeons ago, when we left the Tobermory Bakery behind we stayed in Oban for a few days and that, of course, meant scones. We have decided to space them out over the next wee while so that readers might escape the worst of the effects of scone withdrawal. This one comes from Café Shore.

But first, never mind all this ‘stay at home’ stuff. Apparently all you have to do is get rid of your car … just get rid!! Then you can’t get carownervirus! Sorry, sorry, sorry! Obviously, the situation is extremely serious and we don’t want to minimise that in any way, however, it is amazing how humour helps. It seems like the more serious it is the more jokes come out. This one, for example, made us smile.Notice about coronavirus rationing

Rest assured we are not physically in Oban. We are definitely in solitary confinement with nothing better to do than annoy you with this blog. Actually this post is quite significant in sconological terms because Café Shore was where we posted our first review in March 2015. That was 372 scones ago and back then it was called Mitchell’s – the Coffee Corner. Imagine, five years of this nonsense! Okay, let’s not imagine!

Memory problemsGlasgow coat of arms at Café Shore, Oban

As we entered Café Shore we noticed this large, rather handsome, wall plaque. It’s Glasgow’s coat of arms. St Mungo is seen together with the bird that never flew, the tree that never grew, the bell that never rang and the fish that never swam. But what on earth was it doing in Oban? When we asked one of the staff why it was on the outside of the building she said “Oh, I do know … but I can’t remember!” She then proceeded to come to our table every few minutes to tell us that she still couldn’t remember. “It’s really annoying me”. To put her out of her misery we looked it up and it turns out that the building was originally built for the City of Glasgow Bank. “That’s what I couldn’t remember!” she said, joyously. The Bank failed spectacularly in 1877 ruining almost all its investors. We were hoping for better luck with the scones.

Welcome blackboard at Café Shore, ObanThis is a nice place with very happy welcoming staff. A scone at Café Shore, ObanWe ordered coffee and a fruit scone. It came with a nice wee pot of raspberry jam and some prepackaged butter … no cream. They had been freshly baked by Morvern and were delicious. Nice and crunchy on the outside and soft in the middle, just the way we like them. Not quite at topscone but ever so close.

Internal view of Café Shore, Oban
Very quiet, the effects of coronavirus already
Too little too late

Boris Johnson has finally decided to stop fudging and issue late but welcome instructions that, for him, are relatively clear. His initial advice about us all acquiring herd immunity was pathetic considering that herd immunity doesn’t actually exist without a vaccination program … and there’s no vaccine! He has been consistently behind the other UK nations throughout this whole episode. A follower, waiting to see what others are doing, rather than a leader. Now it’s too little too late.

Guy Fawkes and fake blondes

As we said earlier, our very first scone blog was from Oban in 2015 We wish, however, we had been here for Guy Fawkes night in 2011. Then the firework display that was scheduled to last 20 – 30 minutes actually lasted a few seconds when a computer malfunction set them all off at once. Unfortunate but apparently it was quite a sight!

Since our visit, Café Shore, along with hairdressers and everywhere else including Oban distillery, has had to close its doors. Hopefully, Tina and Morvern will be able to reopen and carry on with their excellent business very soon. With the closure of all hairdressers for the foreseeable future, we really feel for fake blondes.

Maybe we can all get back to some sort of normality very soon but in the meantime, behave. And if that’s too much to ask just misbehave as usual but at home! Keep safe.

PA34 4LJ.    tel:                                         Cafe Shore FB

///twinkled.lofts.scatters

Scones, Uncategorized

Tobermory Bakery

13 Comments

This is not an ordinary post! It is an extraordinary post for extraordinary times. It’s a sad tale of bright-eyed hopes being dashed on the jagged coronavirus rocks of outrageous fortune. Perhaps that’s overstating a bit … but only a bit! Okay, okay, what we are trying to tell you is that there were no scones at the Tobermory Bakery. But let’s start at the beginning.

Duart Castle, Isle of Mull
passing Duart Castle, the 13th-century seat of Clan MacLean

In brief, I was having one of these special days you have every year and Pat thought we should spend it in Tobermory. A mini-adventure sailing to the Isle of Mull and reliving some old memories. The town itself holds many memories.

View of Tobermory
Tobermory with the bright blue Mishnish Hotel to the right
Safe haven

The last time I was here was on the return leg of a sailing trip to St Kilda. Out in the Atlantic, the weather had been a diabolical Force 10 – 12 and I was never so glad to see these brightly coloured houses, especially the Mishnish pub … a safe haven indeed!

As you know we don’t do silly things like that any more, we just make copious contributions to the Royal National Lifeboat Institution and spend our free time looking for scones. For this trip, we had set our sights on the Tobermory Bakery which boasted an excellent scone reputation.

On our way to TobermoryWe love ferries because they always take us somewhere exciting. We’re easily excited! To navigate to our destination we had to use the services of a Calmac Ferry called the Isle of Mull. We were on a package that included the return ferry fare, 10% off your breakfast on the boat and a return bus from Craignure to Tobermory … £38 for the two of us. There would be four hours set aside to wander around Tobermory.

Irresponsible

It only takes 45 minutes to get from Oban to Mull and by the time we had done a bit of bird spotting from the deck we were too late to cash in on the 10% breakfast discount. Damn, disappointment number one! Disappointment number two really because there were no birds either. It was a beautiful day though and when we arrived at Craignure a double-decker bus was waiting to take us on the last leg. Somehow it never occurred to us that the bus would be a double-decker. The boat had been very quiet and the bus was too. We got seats at the very front of the top deck, like a couple of excited kids. The reason everything was quiet of course was the coronavirus outbreak. We were feeling vaguely irresponsible for being out and about but then again we feel that way all the time.

The memories started almost right away. The bus had barely started when it took us down a tiny single-track road through the forest to the Fishnish terminal. That’s where the little ferry comes in from Lochaline on Ardnamurchan, the most westerly point on the UK mainland. Last time we were here, about 50 years ago, there was only a concrete ramp and a waste paper basket but now there was a hut as well. Fishnish has been developed! This was also the scene of Pat’s first and last encounter with a wood wasp. This harmless but fearsome-looking three-inch-long insect innocently landed on her shoulder. Never seen her move so fast. One minute she was sitting beside me and the next she was about 50 yards away. Anyway, it was great being able to do the hour-long trip with such a high vantage point. The views were sensational!

The Mishnish

Pat had lured me to Mull with the promise of a bottle of Tobermory single malt. The first thing we noticed as we entered the town was that the distillery was closed … coronavirus, arrrgghh! Disappointment number three! Why had we bothered? That only left the scones to look forward to. After a very pleasant walk around the coast to the Tobermory cannon, we headed for a pre-scone drink in the legendary Mishnish bar. Many a good night has been had in here on sailing trips. It was great to be back.

External view of Tobermory Distillery
This is what a closed distillery looks like from the top deck of a bus … tragic!

Then, at last, it was scone time. The Tobermory Bakery is just along from the Mishnish so we happily ambled along in the glorious sunshine. As I went to take a picture of the bakery Pat went in to place our order.

Don’t eat the pies
Sign at the Tobermory Bakery
A sign in the window of the Tobermory Bakery

Before I had finished taking the picture Pat was coming back out … no scones! Sacre bleu! All the other cafés were shut … coronavirus. Devastation! Disappointment number four. Not really their fault, with everywhere else being closed they just hadn’t made enough to cope with the extra demand. The expectation was that this place would get a topscone award, however, it was not to be. We will return to test these scones another day though we may give the pies a miss.

Sampling the Ledaig in Tobermory Hotlel
Happy me with a  glass of Ledaig single malt

Instead of eating scones we bought some postcards to send to our collection of brats that masquerade as granddaughters. After sitting writing them out in the rather comfortable Tobermory Hotel we went to the Post Office … closed, coronavirus! There wasn’t even a post box! Disappointment number five! Our bus driver, however, said he would stop at Salen, about halfway back to Craignure, and Pat could get off and post them at the Post Office there. As it happened there was a post box before Salen and he pulled in so close she didn’t even have to get off. The other passengers all thought it was hilarious. Only on the islands, that’s why we love them.View of Tobermory

Normally, the islands have a markedly different way of life. They are independent and practical people who just get on with things when the mainland can be floundering. This virus thing is different, however. They can’t just carry on when the shellfish industry has completely collapsed and tourism is being strangled. There is a possibility that the ferries may be stopped in order that the islands do not become infected. That’s great for stopping infection and if anyone can cope with isolation it’s the islanders, however, cutting off their livelihoods as well would be a calamity. But what is the alternative?

A fresh look at who we are

Coronavirus has exposed so many cracks in our economy and our society. The gig economy is shown for what it is, an almighty disaster for those on short term and zero-hours contracts. With Richard Branson appealing from his private island for a taxpayer bailout of his many companies it shows us that inequality is now the norm, it is deeply embedded in our society. However, it also shows us who the really important people are … usually the lowest paid, the cleaners and the care workers. We all depend on them. It shows us that across the world we are all much the same with the same concerns and worries. We all depend on each other.

Back home now and isolating ourselves as per Boris’s garbled instructions. We are being responsible, it’s a weird feeling. There are scones in reserve however so don’t expect any immediate respite from sconology. Take care, everyone!

PA75 6NU      tel: 01688 302225      Tobermory Bakery FB

///gong.tablets.examples

Ordinary, Scones

The Brown Palace Hotel

3 Comments

In the face of the current Caronavirus outbreak, the government is concerned for the elderly. Fair enough we thought. Then we realised that they were talking about us. The nerve! Funny how, when you get to a certain age, in spite of the fact that every limb is creaking, it still never crosses your mind that you could be classed as ‘elderly’. Now they are also saying that we have to self isolate for four months. Jings, crivvens, help ma bob! In Scottish, that phrase indicates a level of astonishment towards the very top of the scale.

Logo of the Brown Palace HotelCould this mean the end of sconology as we know it? Not a bit of it because today our scone comes from the Brown Palace Hotel in Denver, Colorado. Eh? Yes, yet again, another of our dedicated band of correspondents has ridden to the rescue. So it’s not us, it’s them, our USA correspondents. And this is not just any old common or garden US motel, like you might find in Schitt’s Creek this an altogether classier establishment. In their own words:

“We were staying at The Brown Palace Hotel in Denver, Colorado. It was built in terms of American history, a long time ago, circa 1892, so it’s fairly new!! The hotel’s claim to fame is the large number of celebrities who have stayed. Including almost every US President except Obama and Trump. What’s interesting is that no-one said why they didn’t stay, they were more interested in telling us that the Beatles stayed, maybe even in the same Presidential suite we had, who knows.  Molly Brown, a famous survivor from the Titanic, stayed for a couple of weeks it seems, but the hotel is not named after her, just a coincidence.

Winning bulls

Another great feature if you happen to be in the hotel during the stock show is that they bring in the winning bull, right into the lobby for all to see, and smell. We missed that but did get to enjoy the very historic building and the very friendly staff.

Internal view of the Brown Palace Hotel, Denver, ColoradoEvery day they have Afternoon Tea in the main 8 stories high atrium. It’s a beautiful room with a piano player and ladies dressed in fancy hats, with ripped jeans. It’s Colorado, things are pretty relaxed here. With all the marijuana being consumed and the thin air, everyone seems a bit light-headed.  

Titanic

What could not be obtained was coffee, “no sir, this is afternoon tea, we don’t have coffee making facilities available”. Coffee was obtained from the bar, and the scones put to the test.Afternoon tea at the Brown Palace Hotel Real clotted cream, OK. Jarred, decent brand jam, OK. But, the scones were small in stature, and basically impossible to put either cream or jam on. I did try to do the jam first in an attempt to hold it together, but it ended up looking like trifle on the plate once the cream was added. Scones at the BrownIf the Titanic hit an iceberg with the consistency of the aforementioned scone, it would still be sailing today, probably spreading Covid-19 as good as any other ship. Of course, with the scone being obtained as a “perk” for being a Marriott Ambassador Elite member, therefore, no charge, I kept my disappointment to myself, and the fine folks reading here.View from 14,000feet to the top of Pikes Peak, Colorado

Colorado

Colorado is an amazing state. You go from desert-like conditions that are dry and arid, 20 C, and then climb 14,000feet to the top of Pikes Peak and it’s -5 C , all in the same day. My mum would love the drive up there, with the sheer drops of 1000 feet or more on one side and the snow piled up on the other. Now it’s the trip back home going from hand sanitizer to hand sanitizer, staying 6 feet from the nearest human as much as possible and holding your breath for the whole 2-hour flight back. Unless, of course, Mr Trump says we can’t and stops more travel”.

Gratis scones

No topscone unfortunately but we are indebted to our correspondents for their excellent report. They were right when they said that the hotel was not named after Titanic’s Molly Brown. It’s named after its founder, real estate developer, Henry Cordes Brown. The triangular plot the hotels sits on was where he used to graze his cow. Nowadays they even have colonies of bees on the roof. It’s part of their drive to be as green as possible. We were not aware that it was possible to get free scones anywhere so we will have to look into this Ambassador Elite shenanigans.Honey bees at the Brown Palace Hotel

Sliced bread

We have come to the conclusion that coronavirus is the best thing since sliced bread. Judging by the news, wars have ceased, famine has been eradicated, refugees have stopped coming, climate change has become of little consequence … brill! Oh but the stock market? We don’t want to appear selfish or self-centred but will our pensions be okay? Will we ever get to stay in the Presidential Suite at the Brown Palace Hotel … and get gratis scones?? And before you ask, yes, we’re okay for toilet rolls.

CO 80202       tel: +1 303-297-3111          Brown Palace

///types.honey.funds

Scones, Top, topweird

The Little Bakery

1 Comment

Today we are in South Queensferry at The Little Bakery. It’s a bit of a misnomer because once you get inside it’s really quite big. There’s a couple of seating areas at the front, another at the side and yet another downstairs at the back. The town itself is very pretty with narrow cobbled streets and quaint houses. It’s designed for horses and carts rather than the juggernauts that are here today creating chaos as they try to manoeuvre between the buildings with inches to spare.

A view of the Forth Bridge
The Forth Rail Bridge, opened exactly 130 years ago

Nothing much has changed here over the centuries other than the addition of the odd bridge or three. And, as you walk around, it’s olde worlde charm makes it very easy to forget what a crazy crazy world we live in.

A view of the Forth Road Bridge
The Forth Road Bridge and the Queensferry Crossing
Good British viruses

President Trump has just banned all travel to the US from Europe because of coronavirus. Mysteriously, the UK has an exemption, however. This must be one of the first benefits of not being in Europe or does he not realise that although we’ve left the EU, we haven’t actually physically moved. Or does Trump have an ulterior motive, a trade deal perhaps? Yes, think we’ll go with that one. Or maybe he thinks the British virus, is much healthier than those from countries that don’t speak English. Who knows what, if anything, goes on in his head? Thankfully his aides have now come out to correct everything he said.

Internal view of the Little Bakery, South QueensferryThe Chancellor, Rishi Sunak, delivered his first budget the other day. It was full of bountiful gifts for ‘the people’. The only thing lacking was any sense of a grip on reality. Apparently, the past decade has been forgotten where untold hardships were inflicted on the poor so that the rich could get richer. And it’s not as if all this austerity now puts us in a position where we have accumulated enough that we can dish out money left, right and centre. No, no, no, it will all have to be borrowed, about £100bn! Brilliant, I could be Chancellor!

Meaningless opposition

We don’t blame Boris or Rishi however, we blame Jeremy Corbyn.  Having no idea what he or his party stood for, he left the people with no choice but to vote Tory and hence we end up where we are today. And he’s still there at the Dispatch Box … a totally meaningless opposition figure. Go Jeremy, just go!

A scone at the Little Bakery, South QueensferryThis is all very well but we can hear you crying “Were there scones at the Little Bakery? Just get to the point?” Okay, yes there were!

Not only scones but an array of delicious looking baking that could easily have induced overindulgence. We maintained discipline, however, and after a light lunch, we just had our scones. Pat had fruit and I had a raspberry and chocolate chip. It had to be done! They were fab! Wonderful texture and with a lovely crunch. The only downside was messy fingers from the melting chocolate. A real dilemma when you’re not supposed to lick your fingers nowadays. We just licked anyway! Having forgotten to ask for cream we ended up not bothering.  To be honest the scones were so good they didn’t need any further embellishment. This is a really nice place and we think that you would be hard pushed to have a disappointing visit. Easiest topscone in ages.

A wall of flowers at the Little Bakery, South Queensferry
A wall of flowers at the Little Bakery
Lucky, lucky, lucky

We have reviewed several scones in South Queensferry. Five years ago we reviewed the Jitter Bean Café. That was when the EU was in the process of bailing out Greece with a £50bn loan. When we left the Little Bakery we thought we would take a stroll and see how it was doing. Sadly it has gone and been changed into something else. As far as we know, Greece is still there so it must have fared a bit better. While we walked along the street we came on this large wall plaque. When you consider that back in 1817 the inhabitants of South Queensferry were indebted to the ‘liberality’ of someone for a bleaching green and some water we should be a little more thankful for what we have today. We are all very lucky really. Okay, we’re a bit short on bleaching greens but we do have water and raspberry and chocolate chip scones!

EH30 9PP       tel: 0131 319 2255        Little Bakery

///disco.flesh.organisms

Ordinary, Scones

Plough Hotel

2 Comments

Back in the 2nd century, before even I was born, Emperor Antoninus Pius built a wall through central Scotland. The Antonine wall came to represent the northern extremity of the Roman Empire. Some think that was because it was too difficult and unwelcoming to venture further north however we think he just enjoyed life in Falkirk. He just wanted it for himself undisturbed by unsavouries from Stirling and the likes.

Diagram of Arthur's O'on
Arthur’s O’on

As an example of how wonderful their lives were they even built a giant stone oven, Arthur’s O’on, presumably for the making of scones. Okay, we just made up that last bit but there was indeed a fabulous round stone house of that name. It was considered to be unique and the best example of Roman construction in Britain. It stood until  1743 when it was demolished by a local aristocrat who used the stones to build a dam. This wonton act of vandalism was roundly condemned at the time and still is by antiquarians all over the world.

Roman scones

All this is simply to let you know that today we are in Stenhousemuir, part of the Falkirk conurbation. The village gets its name from Arthur’s O’on, the ‘stone house’ that once stood here. Not sure how it became known as Arthur’s O’on. There was no one called Arthur. Most likely it’s a derivation of ‘Art’ an old Gaelic word meaning ‘house’. And it was actually a temple rather than an oven. The local folk just thought it looked like a big oven. Still, it’s nice to think of Roman’s lounging around by the banks of the River Carron eating peeled grapes and partaking of tea and scones.

A scone at the Plough Hotel, StenhousemuirFor our scones, we are at the Plough Hotel. Circumstance had dictated that we were here for a function and as luck would have it, we found ourselves in the presence of scones. Our very happy waitress assured us that they had been baked that morning in their own kitchen so we were eager to try. They came with a wee pot of jam and a huge bowl of cream. This was both underkill and overkill all on one plate. They were nice enough but a bit on the sweet side for our taste. Good, but not quite a topscone.

Sticky stuff

Stenhousemuir is also famous for its football team and its cricket club. The football team, rather oddly, has lots of Norwegian fans who regularly travel over for the games. The stand is even called the Norway Stand.

Advert for McCowan's Highland Toffee
McCowan’s Toffee
Penny Dainties
A Penny Dainty

Since 1922, of course, this was also the home of McCowan’s toffee factory, just across the road from the Plough Hotel. There can’t be many people in the UK who haven’t lost a filling or two while chewing on one of their Penny Dainties. They also famously produced the Wham bar and the Irn Bru bar.

Sadly, McCowan’s no longer exists but dentists everywhere can breathe a little easier. Not that we are breathing any easier. With Italy going into coronavirus lockdown we have just learned that the virus is sexist. It prefers to kill men … particularly men of a certain age … aarrgh!

FK5 4EY         tel: 01324 570010         Plough Hotel

///cunning.aboard.onwards

Scones, Top

McMoos Café

3 Comments

The coronavirus plague continues. We have been told that the best way to counter the infection is to wash your hands while singing God Save The Queen. Surely that’s equivalent to telling folks to get under the table in the event of a nuclear attack? We are still braving the virus, however. We travelled a whole four miles to the Hippodrome Cinema in Bo’ness. Perhaps a cinema in the middle of the day is not the best place to be midst plague – quite a bit of snoring  ….  or was it death rattles?A wall picture at McMoos in Bo'ness

On this occasion, the movie was Emma, an adaption of Jane Austen’s 1815 novel. When we came out after the film, lo and behold, what was directly opposite the cinema? A new café no less! It is right next door to Brian’s Café and in the same street as 1884, both of which we have reviewed previously. It was called McMoos … don’t ask!

External view of the Hippodrome Cinema, Bo'ness
The Hippodrome opened in 1912 – it is Scotland’s oldest surviving cinema

But first, the film. If you like costume dramas this is the film for you. The costumes and settings are fabulous. The main character, Emma, is a beautiful overprivileged twenty one year old snob who likes nothing better than messing with other people’s love lives. The film gently follows her interfering ways (hence the snoring) until eventually, she falls foul of her own meddling. Suffice to say, like all such dramas, she gets her man in the end. It’s beautifully filmed and an easy watch.

No scones

The most surprising thing about the film was the complete lack of scones. We thought there would have been at least one scene with those aristocratic types taking afternoon tea in a wildflower meadow surrounded by a dozen or so servants. Then we remembered that afternoon tea wasn’t invented until twenty-five years later. 1840, that’s when the Duchess of Bedford felt she couldn’t make it through to her evening meal without a mid-afternoon snack. Pity really, however, although no scones were featured we still enjoyed the film.Internal view at McMoos in Bo'nessFor scones, we had to go all the way across the street to the aforementioned McMoos. It’s only been open a short time and as our friendly waitress explained: “We are still finding our feet“. A scone a t McMoos in Bo'nessOur scones were held back until we had finished a light lunch, then she returned and asked: “Would you like me to pop your scones in the oven now?” Nice.

The scones were quite big.  Not baked on the premises but we were assured, that they had been “Baked this morning by our own special baker“. We got a lovely little bowl of blackcurrant jam and some English clotted cream and Danish butter. Don’t you think that with a very Scottish name like McMoos, the butter at least could have been Scottish? Anyway, the scones were really good. And because they are still ‘finding their feet’ we put lapses in scone accoutrements down to inexperience and awarded a topscone. Well done McMoos, we wish you well.

Relationships

In 1815, when Austen was writing Emma, the Duke of Wellington was busy giving that French upstart, Napoleon, a jolly good seeing to at the Battle of Waterloo in Belgium. Did you realise that at one time our relationship with Europe was difficult?

View from McMoos in Bo'ness
View from McMoos

EH51 0AA.     tel: 01506 828983        McMoos FB

///inflation.things.braked

Ordinary, Scones, self-service

Balcony Café

5 Comments

What with wall to wall coverage of the coronavirus and its possible development into a pandemic, we get the feeling that we should not really be travelling anywhere. In fact, we get the feeling that we should maybe go into self-quarantine behind boarded-up doors and windows. Given that ordinary flu kills thousands in the UK each year we can’t help feeling that the current hysteria is becoming a tad overhyped. However, after careful consideration we thought the short hop from Falkirk to Edinburgh would not breach any major international guidelines or regulations. We are so glad that we don’t have any coughs of sniffles at the moment, otherwise, I’m sure we would get an entire carriage to ourselves on the train. Anyway, happily, we made it to Edinburgh, the National Museum of Scotland and eventually to the Balcony Café.

The main atrium at the Royal Scottish Museum, Edinburgh

All sorts

We have been here before on several occasions but it’s always full of surprises. Just when you think you have seen it all you turn a corner there is another cavernous hall packed with everything from elephants, totem poles, tyrannosaurs and lighthouses. But you’ve all been to museums like this before. What you really want to know about is the scone exhibits … right?

The Balcony Café at the Royal Scottish Museum, EdinburghThere are three restaurants that we know of here, there may be more. The Balcony Café is on the 3rd floor and the seating area is strung out along the length of the balcony in the grand hall. In common with lots of places like this, it’s self-service.

A gallery at the Nation Museum of Scotland
Another hall crammed with animals of every kind.

We got a couple of sandwiches and a scone to share. It was great to see that everything here, the butter, the jam, the cream were all from Scotland, See, it’s not difficult! We can never understand why big public institutions like the National Trust for Scotland don’t sell any Scottish stuff in their cafés. It’s always disappointing for visitors who come from far and wide to this wonderful country only to be served Irish, English, French or American products. Nothing wrong with the products per se … just not here where we have lots of our own top quality scone accompaniments.

A scone at the Royal Scottish Museum, EdinburghWe liked all the Scottish stuff but when we looked at the scone we had doubts. It appeared quite solid and slightly strange in colour. Once again, however, we had to eat our words as well as the scone. It was delicious! A little bit unusual in texture and with maybe a slight hint of ginger but none the worse for it. Had it not been for the rather surly self-service, this may well have been another topscone.

Globalisation

Visiting places like this museum does heighten your awareness of what a rich and varied world we live in. The rapid spread of the coronavirus outbreak also makes you aware of how small it is. Without the ease of travel, we have all come to enjoy over the past fifty or so years, the spread of viruses like this would be much easier to control. Greta Thunberg, leading a school strike in Brighton the other day, also makes you very aware of how delicate our tiny world is. When Pat and I were at school, large parts of the world were still unexplored. Now if someone sneezes in China we may all expect to be sneezing within days … that’s globalisation.The Balcony Café at the Royal Scottish Museum, Edinburgh

Assuming, for a moment that the world does survive, it’s still debatable if the UK is going to survive Brexit far less Megxit. On top of that, we now have the unprecedented exit of the previously unknown, Sir Philip Rutnam as boss of the Home Office to further complicate things. It was always on the cards when the odious Priti Patel was made Home Secretary, that this would happen. When we look around for someone to blame, of course, we need to look no further than ourselves … the voters. Not us, of course, we always vote correctly. Given the current state of play in the UK, moving around the museum gazing at all the past sophisticated, complex civilisations that have become extinct,  it’s not exactly encouraging. Maybe if we buy a face mask everything will be fine?

EH1 1JF                   tel: 0131 247 4084               NMS

///ankle,drama.dine