Category Archives: Top

These are the best scones we have found so far.

The Dome

5 July 2023 billpaterson1@me.com 11 Comments

This post from the Dome in Edinburgh may be shocking for many readers! We apologise in advance if that is the case. Everyone knows what afternoon tea is … goodness, we’ve reviewed quite a few on this blog.

Internal view of the Dome — It used to be the Royal Bank of Scotland, famous for its glass dome

In 1840 the 7th Duchess of Bedford got into the habit of having tea, sandwiches and cake in the afternoon to tide her over to the evening meal which wasn’t served until 8pm. She started to invite friends who would change into long gowns and hats to take tea in the drawing room at Woburn Abbey. It became a social occasion for polite discourse and tea sipped from fine china with one’s little finger delicately raised! Henry James said “There are few hours more agreeable than the hour dedicated to the ceremony known as afternoon tea“. All well and good, however, this post is not about ‘afternoon tea’, it’s about ‘morning tea’ here at the Dome in Edinburgh. “Sacré bleu, what sort of abomination is that?” we hear you cry!

How it all began

Back in 2016 we had afternoon tea upstairs in the Georgian Tea Room … and very nice it was! Recently, however, we became aware that, against all the laws of nature, they were now offering morning tea. Has to be the work of the Devil. We felt that it would have to be checked out on our reader’s behalf so in the spirit of Marco Polo and Ernest Shackleton we set out to investigate. Turns out that morning tea is served downstairs in the Club Room.

Caledonian Heritable Limited own the Dome along with more than 300 other pubs and restaurants. By a happy coincidence they also own the Woodside, our local and our weekly haunt at 5pm every Friday. If you think the Dome is a bit fancy you should see the Woodside! No morning tea or even afternoon tea but it does have a range of potato crisps.

So here we are in the Club Room drinking champagne and it’s not even midday! Told you it was the Devil’s work. Surely you don’t get lots cakes with a morning tea? No, what you get is two mini breakfast rolls with link sausage and bacon. There’s also lemon and blueberry muffins and an oatmeal thingy with berries. Oh, and scones … obviously! We hadn’t had any breakfast so it was all very welcome. The mini breakfast rolls were nicely toasted and the sausage and the bacon cooked to perfection. I asked for some tomato sauce so they brought brown … heyho! The service was typically efficient if a little cavalier about sauce. The oats and berries thingy was also nice though maybe a little on the heavy side.

The scones were unusually uniform in shape but with a lovely sprinkling of crystallised sugar on top. Crisp on the outside and soft in the middle, it couldn’t be anything else but a topscone.

The Club Room at the Dome — Part of the Club Room

Verdict

As if things weren’t confusing enough they serve morning tea until 2pm … so it’s perfectly possible to have morning tea in the afternoon … but not, we hasten to add, the other way round. So what’s with this morning tea thing? Is it really such an abomination? Well, we should probably apologise to the Dome for casting aspersions. It was all rather nice and we would recommend it to those of an adventurous disposition who are willing to get out of bed a little earlier.

George Street, Edinburgh — George Street from the Dome

Apart from morning tea what other miracles are there today? Wimbledon has started heralding the start of that miracle of television abuse by respectable old ladies. My mother had never held a racket in her life, however, during Wimbledon she was transmogrified into a tennis expert who would scream abuse at the tv when her favourite players missed a ‘simple’ shot. King Charles is in Scotland today continuing that age old tradition of plundering Scotland’s Crown Jewells. The miracle is that he is able to do it in broad daylight aided and abetted by the police. Today is also the 75th anniversary of the NHS. Given successive government’s attempts to privatise it, it’s a miracle that it’s still around, albeit in need of some TLC.

This was a lovely day out in Old Reekie and our morning breakfast at the Dome will probably last us the rest of the day … another miracle?

EH2 2PF tel: 0131 624 8624 The Dome

///incomes.noble.dream

Scones, Top

Coll hotel

12 May 2023 billpaterson1@me.com 10 Comments

Imagine staying at Coll Hotel and not having a scone. We never thought to ask because there was nothing to indicate that they did that sort of thing. It wasn’t until Sophie, our hostess with the mostest, heard that earlier we had had a scone at the Island Café that she informed us that a scone at the hotel was no problem whatsoever. Brilliant, only problem was we were leaving in just over an hour to go and catch the ferry back to Oban.

We were commanded to sit at a table where we could look out over the gardens and Loch Eatherna.

Distress

Before that, however, we should tell you about Pat’s sheep experience that she had just outside the hotel. A lamb at the side of the road started to bleat at her as if in distress. By the time I caught up she was quite convinced that it was trying to tell her something. And it was! Eventually, we figured it out when its mother appeared equally distressed, bleating frantically. They ran towards each other but a solid stone wall was separating them. In spite of running up and down they weren’t going far enough to get round the wall. Pat eventually shooed the lamb towards the end of the wall. The reunification was a joy to behold.

Lambs at Arinagour — These two knew where their mother was.

Before you could say Jack Flash we had our scone together with nice little bowls of jam and cream as well as our tea.

A scone at Coll Hotel — View from our scone

The scone was warm and just the way we like them. Everything was perfect. If ever there was a topscone, this was it! The only problem was that we were having to leave all this behind. Sophie, with her wonderful warm smile had looked after us with fabulous carefree ease. Paul, like most islanders was a man of many talents. He would pop up working in the most unexpected places and now he was driving us to the ferry. What a guy!

We thoroughly enjoyed our first venture on the Isle of Coll. Another visit is now beckoning but maybe with a car next time. For those of you who feel that I should treat my wife better and not have her endure these cycling hardships, this is a photograph of her on the Isle of Tiree in 1974 just a year after we got married. See, she loves it!

It’s obvious

On that occasion we got these ancient bikes from old John MacDonald. He had a little cottage at the back of the Scaranish Hotel. Pat’s bike was fine but when I peddled mine nothing happened. John was watching us from his door and could see the problem. He was shouting but with his broad highland accent we couldn’t quite make out what he was saying. Turned out he was shouting “just hit it with stone“. Even when we knew it still didn’t make much sense. He, however, just laid the bike on its side, picked up a fairly large stone and hit the back cog with an almighty wallop … perfect! Why didn’t I think of that.

More distress

Eurovision will be in full swing tonight. This is Australia’s last year in the competition but what will happen if they win. Where will it be held next year. Suffice to say the folks at the Coll Hotel didn’t seem at all worried!

PA78 6SZ tel: 01879 230334 Coll Hotel

///leaves.inclined.rotations

Scones, Top

Cairn Lodge

3 April 2023 billpaterson1@me.com 7 Comments

Shetland seems like a distant but very fond memory now. We will always remember the friendliness of the people there. These days there’s a tendency for people to be a bit self-absorbed so it was great to see a healthy spirit of community on these islands. Anyway, now it’s back to reality. Although we would have a cheek to call Cairn Lodge in Auchterader, reality!

If it is reality then we are having a very soft landing. Today we were invited for breakfast by friends which was fabulous. And now we are at Cairn Lodge because other friends have invited us for afternoon tea. How lucky are we?

One of our aunts really liked Cairn Lodge so we used to come here years ago. Since then it has been taken over by Aurora Hotels and they have completely revamped it to become a luxury destination. Probably just as well because its next door neighbour is the well known haunt of the rich and famous, Gleneagles Hotel.

Friends to the rescue

It might be an age related thing but ‘time’ seems to play tricks on us these days. Huge amounts of it seem to simply disappear. We haven’t seen these friends since they rescued us from a car crash near their home … and that was over six years ago! Incredible! Ironically, the car that crashed into us was racing to try and catch the ferry from Aberdeen to Shetland. Nobody seriously hurt but our car was completely wrecked. Our friends, however, galloped to the rescue. They fed and watered us then insisted on delivering us to our destination many miles away in Pitlochry. Much water has flowed under the bridge since then so there was a mega amount of stuff to catch up on!

The young lady looking after us was superb and within two shakes of a lamb’s tail she was filling our glasses with bubbles and presenting us with an absolutely delicious artichoke based amuse-bouche. Then came a three tier stack of afternoon tea. Two of them between the four of us as well as a separate plate of sandwiches. Sometimes we think that afternoon teas are misjudged in that there is often too much of everything. We thought this one was judged perfectly. Separate little pots of jam and clotted cream completed the presentation. It probably goes without saying that everything was delicious and the scones were no exception. There was a plain scone and a whisky soaked fruit scone for each of us.

Harmony

Thinking about it now, it seems unbelievable that, in Scotland, this is the first whisky soaked scone we’ve ever come across. Lovely and warm, nice and crunchy on the outside and a delicate soft interior with that ever so subtle hint of the amber nectar. Two of our favourite things brought together in perfect harmony! So good they almost made our ‘totallyeffinbrilliantscone’ category!

Not so brilliant perhaps was Scotland’s new First Minister, Humza Yousaf’s first week in his new job. Many have expressed disappointment but we feel he needs to be given a chance. He has a mountain to climb! Isn’t it peculiar that all political parties recognise Scotland as a nation yet refuse to give us permission to determine our own future. What sort of logic is that? It’s also a bit odd that we now have Humza Yousaf, a practicing Muslim of Pakistani extraction and Rishi Sunak, a practicing Hindu of Indian extraction fighting over Scottish independence. You couldn’t make it up!

Today has been fantastic and it is all down to our wonderful friends. With friends like ours and whisky soaked scones, what more could we possibly ask for?

PH3 1LX tel: +44 1764 661095 Cairn Lodge Hotel

///tonsils.plan.calibrate

island, Scones, Top

Busta House Hotel

22 March 2023 billpaterson1@me.com 7 Comments

After an overnight ferry crossing, here we are in Shetland. We have long promised ourselves a visit but things have always got in the way. Not this time though, we are here … yeah! We will be staying in Lerwick, the capital, but a booking for tea and scones at Busta House Hotel meant that we couldn’t hang around there long. We had to get to the town of Brae and it was a wee bit away.

Shetland has had the worst snow it has experienced in over twenty years. Normally the Gulf Stream protects it from such weather. As we drove to Brae it was obvious just how bad it had been. There were remnants everywhere and by the side of the road the snow was still quite deep in places. We were happy to have missed the worst of it.

Inheritance

Thomas Gifford, Shetland’s wealthiest resident built Busta House in 1748. He had 14 children, including 4 sons. Unfortunately all were lost when they set off by boat to visit friends on the other side of the bay. It was a fine May evening, the boat was found undamaged with all their belongings but they had all vanished. A long running legal battle over inheritance that lasted 93 years eventually bankrupted the entire family.

Internal view of Busta House Hotel — the Long Room. The large cupboard on the left houses a huge selection of whiskies

In 1960 Queen Elizabeth II took tea in the Long Room where we are today. Since her visit they have, no doubt, been eagerly awaiting ours.

After a very warm welcome we were soon settled in a large window seat to await our scones. They came beautifully presented with everything needed in the way of butter, jam and cream. The scone was warm and just the way we like them. The first topscone we’ve had in ages … hurrah! As we sat there, however, thinking how fantastic it was to be here we became aware of what sounded like a right old rumpus happening outside.

500 sheep

Viking invasion at Busta House Hotel — Invading Vikings and Duane, the Jarl

Actually it was not so much a rumpus more a full scale invasion … an invasion of Vikings! We were aware of Brae holding the final Up Helly Aa of the season but we didn’t expect this! The hotel is pretty much in the middle of nowhere so where had they all come from? Anyway they were all given a dram and this seemed to completely nullify any raping and pillaging tendencies. They were the friendliest, happiest bunch of people you could ever hope to meet. Pat met Jimmy Johnston. who had asked if he could have his picture taken with her?? Then tried to impress her by pointing to the massive shed on the hill that had 500 of his wintering sheep in it. He also seemed to own most of the land round about the hotel. Yes, she was impressed but probably more by the warmth of his company … he was brilliant!

They brought their own music and there was much singing and dancing! Magic!

trainee Viking

Later we went to the Galley shed in Brae where they had prepared a galley for Up Helly Aa.

The Galley Shed

There Pat met Eddie Thompson who couldn’t do enough for us. In 1995 he had been a Jarl (chieftain) himself.

Pat with Eddie Thompson — Eddie with Pat and Eddie as the much feared Ivar The Boneless in 1995

He showed us round the Galley Shed and even took us to the store where all of the 400 torches were waiting to be collected. There was an almost overpowering smell of paraffin so no naked lights here!

He advised us that if we wanted anything to eat we should walk along to Frankies because it would be closing soon. Frankie’s has won Best Fish and Chip Shop in the World and we can understand why. Probably the best fish supper we have ever had! With full tummies we returned to the Galley Shed where Eddie made us some very welcome coffees. What a guy! Everyone is so friendly up here! And then it all started!

The start of the Delting Up Helly Aa — Spectators watch lighting the torches

Start of the Delting Up Helly Aa procession

Perfect day

We were blown away by the the sheer happiness of this event. The whole community had made huge efforts to ensure its success. We asked Eddie if Health & Safety ever got involved. He said they didn’t but that everyone knew that the slightest mishap could result in 400 years of history being lost. Everyone was very careful. The procession made its way around to the other side of the bay where the galley was launched into the sea and all the torches were thrown into it while it drifted away. Quite a spectacle! Perfect day, a topscone, new friends and an Up Helly Aa! And we’ve only just arrived!

The Delting Up Helly Aa — Across the bay, the procession arrives at the launch point for the galley

Today, Boris Johnson is trying to justify himself to the House of Commons. He along with his Tory party have proved over recent years that all that’s required to be Prime Minister of the UK is a pulse. Wonder what our Vikings would make of him? Think we know!

ZE2 9QN tel: 01806 522 506 Busta House

///zones.denoting.collision

Scones, Top

Schloss Roxburghe 2

12 December 2022 billpaterson1@me.com 1 Comment

This post is entitled Schloss Roxburghe 2 which is a bit unusual since it was only October when we were last here. Normally, years pass before we revisit places. In our previous visit we talked about all the ambitious building work that was taking place at the time. This time we had been informed that many of the changes had now been completed so we were back to see for ourselves.

External view of Schloss Roxburghe showing new rooms — new 58 additional rooms and the pool area

Hardships

Of course, we cannot pretend that this involved any hardship on our part. This place is definitely not noted for hardship! That said, we had hoped that the heated outdoor swimming pool, sauna and plunge pool would have been completed but no, not quite … argh! The weather has taken quite a frosty turn … ideal for a swim in a lovely warm pool. I’d even packed my Speedos! Disappointing but we reckoned we could survive that sort of hardship. But would there be any more hardships?

The spa at Schloss Roxburghe — Spa reception

Well yes, the spa area wasn’t quite finished either. But the new gym was open 24/7.

By the time we had walked the length of the gym and looked at all the apparatus for inflicting self induced torture we both felt quite light headed … we needed refreshment and somewhere to sit down.

The State Room at Schloss Roxburghe — the State room

What a State!

The State Room was the answer … another splendid addition since our last visit. A cosy log fire, very comfortable surroundings … and a bar! A place to relax with a whisky or a G&T … or even a scone.

Last time we thought the Schloss Roxburghe scones rivalled those of Fonab Castle as ‘best scone in the world‘ … quite a claim! We certainly didn’t imagine that they would have dropped their standards since October but thought we should check, just in case. We have to be rigorous … don’t we? No problem they were just as good and, of course, served perfectly by some of the friendly helpful staff. At the end of the day, it was simply a case of reinforcing our original topscone award with another!

No pampering south of the border

In the evening we had the pleasure of experiencing the brand spanking new Charlie’s restaurant. Its name commemorates a visit by Bonnie Prince Charlie in 1745. He was about to set off into England with his army and presumably felt the need for some pampering. He doubtless knew he wasn’t going to find any of that where he was going.

Charlies restaurant at Schloss Roxburghe — Charlie’s restaurant

In contrast to the cosy restaurant we enjoyed last time in the old hotel, Charlie’s provides a gleaming modern dining experience. It was great and our dinner was super!

Picture of child on horseback at Schloss Roxburghe — this is how it used to be for children before iPads

Autumn/Winter Collection

During our stay, Schloss Roxburghe was playing host for the launch of Lyle & Scott’s prestigious Autumn /Winter collection. Surrounded by its own golf course and just down the road from the town of Hawick where Lyle & Scott started off in 1874, this was an ideal venue. They’d invited guests from all over the world.

All we can say is that if you are going to impress clients with everything Scotland has to offer this isn’t a bad place to do it. We actually thought that the Lyle & Scott brand had disappeared many years ago … how wrong could we be? Great to see it, alive and kicking and very much a global player.

Britain is not much a global player these days. It seems to come bottom of almost every league table and seems destined to be in recession for a long time yet. The much vaunted International Agreements with non-EU countries are actually costing us money! The whole country is grinding to a halt with industrial unrest. And just when you thought things could not get any worse, England has been eliminated from the World Cup by the ‘old enemy’, France. The economy may be disappearing down the plug hole but we’ll doubtless be treated to days and days of mindless analysis of why this calamity happened.

The invisible man

We do have new Prime Minister, Rishi Sunak, to sort all this out, of course … or do we? After a series of blatantly incompetent Prime Ministers we now have an invisible one. Even his own party are nicknamed him “the invisible Prime Minister“. To avoid all these rather annoying irritations we recommend moving into Schloss Roxburghe permanently. As you sip your whisky by one of the log fires you’ll be blissfully unaware of anything other than the need for another log … and even that is taken care of.

TD5 8JZ tel: ‭01573 450331 Schloss Roxburghe

///marinated.wriggled.greeting

Scones, Top

Clarinda’s Tearoom

28 October 2022 billpaterson1@me.com 5 Comments

This scone has strongly connections to Robert Burns, Scotland’s national poet, and one of his poems in particular. With the current political Sunak/Braverman furore you would be forgiven for thinking the poem would be “Such A Parcel Of Roques In A Nation“. In that poem Burns railed against the aristocrats who in 1707 treacherously relinquished the Scottish Parliament and passed all powers to England. No, no, no, this scone is from Clarinda’s Tearoom in Edinburgh and it’s about an altogether different kind of poem … a love poem. We feel, however, that a little background is required before we get on to the all important scones. Bear with us!

Sense and nonsense

Robert Burns famously loved the lassies but he was particularly besotted by one, Agnes Maclehose, in particular. However, she was already married, unhappily married but married nevertheless. Her husband had long since left her and gone off to Jamaica. The relationship between Agnes and Robert, though intense, remained platonic throughout. They conducted their romance through letters and exchanges of poetry and to keep their correspondence confidential they adopted pseudonyms … her’s ‘Clarinda’ and his ‘Sylvander’. Sir Walter Scott referred to the resulting love letters as “the most extraordinary mixture of sense and nonsense, and of love human and divine, that was ever exposed to the eye of the world.” Didn’t they write beautifully back in the day!

Clarinda and Robert Burns — Clarinda and Burns

In December 1791 Agnes decided to sail to Jamaica to try and salvage her marriage. Just before she left Burns penned “Ae Fond Kiss“, a beautiful poem of love and yearning. She arrived in Jamaica only to find that her husband had already started another family with another woman. What are men like?? Never mind, how devastating that experience must have been for Agnes! Broken hearted she returned on the same ship on which she had arrived. She and Robert met once more before he died aged just 37. She never remarried and died in 1841 aged 82.

Queues

In spite of there being several other cafes in the vicinity we had to queue to get into Clarinda’s. Was this a good sign? The last time we had to queue was at the Elephant House, not far from here. It was where the Harry Potter books were written. Have you realised that the word ‘queue’ is just a letter with four silent letters waiting in line? This queue was formed mainly of tourists so Clarinda’s is obviously well known, either for the associated story of romance or the quality of its scones … or maybe both … exciting!

It is a tiny place and there were six in our party so not easy to get a table big enough. No problem they soon had us seated and ready for our scones. The only way to describe Clarinda’s Tearoom is ‘chintzy’. Lace table clothes, loads of pictures and plates hanging on the walls.

Obviously, with a queue outside, there was no let up for the staff. They were lovely, however, and treated everyone as if they were the first customers of the day. We had a scone each and thoroughly enjoyed them. They came with generous pots of jam and cream and a couple of large teapots of tea to go with their eclectic mix of chinaware. Perhaps not the best topscone but we enjoyed Clarinda’s so a topscone nevertheless. No doubt the queue, which was still outside, was delighted to see the six of us leave.

The above picture was taken from near Clarinda’s Tearoom. You can just about see the top of the Burns Memorial, slightly to the left of the obelisk in the middle. It gazes down on Canongate Churchyard where Clarinda is buried. The romance continues!

Heinous crimes

The obelisk, by the way, is the Political Martyrs Monument. It commemorates five men who campaigned for parliamentary reform and universal suffrage in 1773. Their crime was consider so heinous they were given an equally heinous sentence … transportation to New South Wales! Don’t people pay for that nowadays?

EH8 8BS tel: 0131 557 1888 Clarinda Insta

///deflection.tins.pink

Scones, Top, totallyeffinbrilliantscone

Schloss Roxburghe

16 October 2022 billpaterson1@me.com 3 Comments

This post heralds a scone which could rival Fonab Castle for the best scone in the world award. It’s here at Schloss Roxburghe … isn’t that exciting! However, maybe not as exciting as the state of British politics at the moment. So let’s get that out of the way first.

Internal view of Schloss Roxburghe — Entrance hall

Walking the plank

A lot has happened since our previous post from Alfies. The country has been brought to its knees by the current clueless resident in No 10. Meanwhile in No 11, Kami Kwasi Kwarteng has fulfilled his destiny even earlier than expected. News of the sacking of our third Chancellor in as many months, for some reason, got us pondering about walking the plank. When you think about it, what a weird procedure that was!

View from 14th tee at Schloss Roxburghe — The 14th tee on the championship golf course with the Roxburgh viaduct and the River Teviot

A bit like Kwasi, the luckless man is not simply thrown overboard … that would be too kind.. Rather it is turned into some sort of macabre ceremony where he is specially flown back from the US to find he no longer has the keys to No 11, the home he and his family have only just moved into. Mind you, ever since he got the job of doing Liz Truss’s bidding he must have known he would run out of plank quite quickly. He has been replaced by Philip Hammond, who is actually the new de facto Prime Minister. Liz is being kept in a locked cupboard under the stairs at No 10. Two short planks are being selected for her as we speak. Actually they will require a small forest to provide enough planks for all those Conservatives who voted her into power in the first place!

Efficiency

Portrait of child with hoop — Who needs an iPhone 14 when you can have one of these?

We are constantly impressed by the way Prime Ministers and Chancellors move into and out of Downing Street. These days they must ask themselves if it is actually worthwhile sitting down. It’s almost magical the way the furniture removal business works in Downing Street. It seems to flow seamlessly … at least something in the UK still works the way it should! But that’s enough about all this nonsense, you all just want to know about Schloss scones, don’t you? By the way, it is owned by a German company these days and that’s the only explanation we can give for the name. They are currently adding another 58 rooms, an outdoor swimming pool and spa as well as building 50 rental cottages in the grounds. No shortage of business here!

The Age of Reason

If you ever fancy staying in a Schloss we can thoroughly recommend Schloss Roxburghe. Simply remortgaging your home will just about cover the costs.

Portrait of the Duke of Roxburghe — Duke of Roxburghe

It used to be the home of the Duke of Roxburghe but he must have felt a bit cramped. He moved to nearby Floors Castle which has 7,000 rooms. Imagine cleaning that lot every day? This place, however, dates back to the 12th century when it was known as Sunlaws. They still have a Sunlaws restaurant. In1745, Bonnie Prince Charlie stayed the night as the guest of Lady Chatto before he set off into England with his army in a bid to regain the throne for his dad. The 18th century was known as the Enlightenment or the Age of Reason … we wonder how historians will label the present day … the Age Without Reason? Anyway, back then, for one night this place was host to one of Europe’s most romantic historical figures … and now, equally romantic, the scone hunters are here!

Relentless

This is the sort of place where your expectations are raised when you are quarter of a mile down the driveway and you still can’t see where you are to be staying. Arrival doesn’t disappoint either with a warm welcome at reception. There are open log fires in almost all the public rooms. After our long drive we were very ready for a scone. From the venues offered we chose the drawing room and settled into a lovely bay window seat. Our scones were beautifully warm and wrapped in linen napkins to keep them that way … fab!

Like we said at the beginning these scones could rival our gold standard at Fonab Castle. They were super crunchy on the outside – you almost had to crack them open like a boiled egg. The centres were wonderfully soft and fluffy. There was a plain and a fruit one for each of us and it all came complete with generous bowls of clotted cream and jam. The problem now is, we haven’t reviewed Fonab for quite a while so we will have to return to check that they are maintaining standards. Phew, this sconing business is relentless!

Suffice to say that Schloss scones are certainly on a par with Fonab scones until proven otherwise. We might even get them to slip one under the door of Liz’s cupboard, we feel a bit sorry for her … just a wee bit!

TD5 8JZ tel: ‭01573 450331 Schloss Roxburghe

///marinated.wriggled.greeting

Scones, Top

Alfie’s

12 October 2022 billpaterson1@me.com 3 Comments

Back in 2015 we spent some time at the rather isolated Ardanaiseig Hotel on the southern shores of Loch Awe. As blogging newbies we had one of our formative scone experiences there. Sitting in front of a large open log fire with toasted scones and pots of tea … heaven! Ardanaiseig is owned by Bennie Gray who also owns Alfie’s Antique Market here in Marlebone in the heart of London. It’s where we are today. He called it Alfie’s after his father. Ardanaiseig had lots of quirky features and this place is no different, in fact it’s the very essence of ‘quirky’.

Winter Hag of Death and Darkness

But first, have you ever wondered how Loch Awe came to be there? Wonder no more!

There’s a magic well high above Ardanaiseig on Ben Cruachan where a beautiful goddess called Beithir used to bathe every evening. By doing so she preserved her glorious good looks but one night it all went wrong. She forgot to replace the capstone … argh! The well overflowed down the mountainside and formed the loch we know today. As punishment she was banished by the gods, cursed with immortality and transformed into the ancient Winter Hag of Death and Darkness. Her cold hard voice still echoes around the snow filled corries of Ben Cruachan and beyond. The Winter Hag of Death and Darkness is rarely seen but oddly there have been several reported sightings recently. Actually, they’ve all turned out to be Liz Truss, however, you can understand the confusion.

Alfies is housed in an Art Deco building and is spread over four floors. If you are looking for something unusual and quirky to decorate your home, chances are you will find it here. It’s a fascinating place to walk round though a bit confusing with lots of little stairs leading off in all sorts of directions. Jewellery and lighting seem to be a speciality. There’s also an indoor pond full of carp and water lilies. You don’t get that everywhere! Soon, of course, all this perusing takes its toll and sustenance is required.

The cafe is called the Kitchen on the Roof and that’s where we ended up. Lovely to sit out on a beautiful day in October. The only problem was wasps. They were a real nuisance and eventually they drove us indoors.

Huge smiles

We are being looked after by a lady who had the biggest smile imaginable. She was so happy and seemed delighted to be working there. It makes such a difference. Our lunch was fantastic and seemed incredibly good value. Omelette and chips … £4, homebaked scone with jam and cream … £3, pot of tea … £1.60 and so on. Seven years ago we awarded Ardanaiseig Hotel a topscone and although there was no open log fire here we decided that our overall experience was good enough to do the same here. Well done Alfie’s.

Progress?

Spending a day surrounded by beautiful works of art does make you wonder in astonishment at the state of the world today. For all our supposed technological sophistication it seems that the only way to settle arguments is to destroy everything and kill lots of people. This week we discovered that, with the help of DNA sampling, Homo sapiens are indeed related to the Neanderthals. They used the same methods for disputes but surely we should have progressed a wee bit in the intervening 40,000 years. Let’s have another scone!

NW8 8DT tel: 020 7723 6066 Alfies Antiques

///reef.fancy.sheets

ps: our Utah correspondents have been in touch. Not to report on scones in Utah (do such things exist?) but to send photos of scones encountered on the North Antrim Cliff Hike in North Ireland. They had already completed the John Muir Way in Scotland.

They said that both these scones were very good however Laragh Lodge definitely came out in first place. Congratulations go to them for completing the hike and for taking time out to send these pics.

Scones, Top

The Soup Dragon Café

20 August 2022 billpaterson1@me.com 7 Comments

For those of a delicate disposition and for those who might believe some or indeed anything on allaboutthescones, let us assure you that the dragon in the title picture isn’t real. It’s real only in the sense that it does exist. It lives round at the back after having been adopted by the owners of the Soup Dragon café. They adopted it after a festival where it had been destined for the scrap heap. The title picture is merely a confection from the writer’s rather over active imagination. So where are we?

Our kind of place

Ironically, after saying in our previous post that we had never been to Balfron we are back again. At Tír na nÓg, a holistic healing centre to be precise. In Celtic folklore it is described as an island paradise of everlasting youth, beauty, health, abundance and joy. Sounds precisely like our kind of place. All a bit weird but rather wonderful at the same time.

Courtyard at the Soup Dragon — The courtyard with the Wishing Tree on the left

Our Trossachs correspondents had brought us to Tír na nÓg but, of course it was the Soup Dragon Café that was the main attraction. There’s loads of other things here – treatment and consultation rooms, a couple of shops as well as an animal sanctuary and enchanted forest walks.

Wishing and hoping

In the courtyard they have a Wishing Tree. We all selected a ribbon to tie to it. The ribbons all meant different things according to the colour. Pat chose blue which represents ‘spirituality, tranquility and peace‘. I thought I should have green ‘prosperity, abundance, healing and luck‘ but there were no green ones left. Orange stood for ‘creativity, self-expression, joy and vitality‘ but none of them left either … argh! I was taking so long choosing, the lady behind the counter eventually leaned over and said “it doesn’t matter which colour you choose, just make up whatever you like“. Thoroughly deflated I chose blue … same as Pat.

Having tied our ribbons and made our wishes we headed for the café to wait for them to come true. It’s quite a big place and there are tables outside in the courtyard as well. The young girl looking after us was a delight. She brought water for the table without us even asking. This being the Soup Dragon, we thought some soup would be appropriate. She said they were famous for their spicy lentil so that’s what we all had. Accompanied by home baked bread it was delicious. We were really beginning to warm to this place.

Unanimous

Eventually, after some other stuff to eat, it was the turn of the scones. Pat and I were sharing one between us because the soup and lunch had been quite substantial. Our friends were doing the same. The scones came with nice little pots of jam and cream as well as a wee plastic pot of Danish butter. It would have been nice if the butter had been Scottish but heyho! When you look at all the kiddies starving in Afghanistan we should just be counting our blessings rather than moaning about trifles like butter. The scones were still warm from the oven and tasted wonderful. Just the right consistency and with that slight crunch that we like. A unanimous topscone, well done the Soup Dragon Café.

Curiosity

Meanwhile the café had filled up and the courtyard tables were also taken. Our girl turned out to be the only person there other than the chef. She was coping fantastically well. Earlier I had noticed a rather enticing cake which was labelled “snickerdoodle”. Curiosity sparked, I asked what it was. She explained that it had been made earlier by the chef but that she had completed it with the butter icing. It had to be done. We ordered one slice and four forks.

Then the problem was that two of us had almost finished our coffees but neither wanted another full cup in spite of it being Henry’s, our favourite. We asked for an Americano to share. No problem. However, rather than having us messing around trying to split a coffee she appeared with two small cups, brilliant. We have had some grim waitressing experiences recently so it really was an absolute pleasure to be served by this girl. The snickerdoodle cake was nice but although the icing was expertly done it was a little on the sweet side for our taste. Curiosity satisfied though!

Ornaments at the Soup Dragon — A shelf of things for sale

Eternal youth

Gosh, the Prime Minister of Finland may have to resign because she has been photographed dancing. They really need to try a bit of British politics if they want to know what serious partying is all about. Wouldn’t it be great if the world was a bit more Tír na nÓgish and the people were more like the girl at the Soup Dragon. Not sure how much faith we can place in all this candles and crystals stuff but suffice to say that by the time we were leaving Tír na nÓg we did feel a lot more joyous than when we went in. Not sure about the eternal youth … we’ll let you know.

G63 0NF tel: 01360 440756. Dragon Cafe

///darkens.retail.banquets

Scones, Top

The Courtyard Café revisited

18 August 2022 billpaterson1@me.com 5 Comments

The last time we were here at the Courtyard Café in Fintry was in 2016. Back then we said we liked everything about the place and that we would love to come back … so we have. This is ‘the Courtyard Cafe revisited’, would it still be as good?

Quite often we just get in the car and see where it takes us. Today is one these days. We took the road to Carron Valley which as well as being a lovely drive is also Falkirk’s water supply. In spite of the dire warns of impending disaster down south due to drought, the reservoir looked pretty full to us. We were reassured.

Not far beyond the end of the reservoir you come to Fintry a lovely little village nestling in the Campsie Fells.

Waterloo and all that

Remarkably, the village has a connection to Napoleon and the Battle of Waterloo. Over 200 years ago, Peter McNee, a local teacher, was concerned about the living conditions of the local mill workers. He protested so loudly, he was eventually obliged to leave Britain and settle in France. There he changed his name, joined the army and quickly rose through the ranks. As Marshall Ney he became Napoleon’s right hand man. After Waterloo he was executed by firing squad in spite of Wellington pleading for clemency. Rumour has it, though, that his death may have been faked. Gosh, he might be in the café?

Internal view of the Courtyard Café, Fintry — The shop area where they sell their own milk, ice cream and other farm produce

Once you have parked and walked past the neat orchard and the beautiful chicken enclosure you just get the feeling that this is a well run place.

Wallpaper at the Courtyard Café, Fintry — Wallpaper at the Courtyard

Our window at the Courtyard Café, Fintry — The window at out table … the walls must be a metre thick!

It was going like a fair but they managed to find a table for us quite quickly. We had noticed on the way in that the scones were quite big so we decided to share … but only after a delicious light lunch. When our scone arrived I was a bit disappointed. It looked a little bit on the solid side. What do I know? It was fab! The texture was great and the whole thing was incredibly light. Along with plenty jam and cream it was an easy topscone. We will be back!

Questions

We left Fintry and decided to go home via Kippen where we visited the Rhubarb & Lime Coffee Shop. We reviewed it in 2016 as well. It was just the same, friendly people, and after buying a couple of bottles of Italian wine we were on the road again. On the way I thought it would be a good idea to get off the main road and go through some of the local villages. We turned off the A811 into what was signposted as Glinnes Road. Almost immediately it turned into single track with passing places. Undeterred we kept on going even though it was obvious we were heading in the wrong direction for home. Then there was grass in the middle of the road. Pat asked “where exactly are we going?” Always difficult when you have no idea. She’s asked the question many times before and is still waiting on a satisfactory answer.

Pat opening gate on Glinne's Road — My trusty helper opens the first of several gates

Eventually, many bumpy miles later, we emerged into Balfron, a village we’ve never visited before. Needless to say, there are much easier ways to get there. Just before we reached the village we came across Lou’s Bake Stop. Lots of fresh baking, coffee and cold drinks … just leave the money in the basket … fab! We like these honesty places.

Honesty

Scotland has just had the pleasure of a visit from Liz Truss, one of the contenders to become PM of the UK. She promised to work flat out for Scotland. This, in spite of saying a week before that the best thing to do with Scotland’s elected representatives was to ignore them. Maybe she should spend some time in Lou’s Honesty Hut.

We got home. We always get home … eventually!

G63 0LN tel: 01360 860132 The Courtyard

///ballots.plump.exists

How it all began

Verdict

Distress

It’s obvious

More distress

Friends to the rescue

Harmony

Inheritance

500 sheep

The Galley Shed

Perfect day

Hardships

What a State!

No pampering south of the border

Autumn/Winter Collection

The invisible man

Sense and nonsense

Queues

Heinous crimes

Walking the plank

Efficiency

The Age of Reason

Relentless

Winter Hag of Death and Darkness

Huge smiles

Progress?

Our kind of place

Wishing and hoping

Unanimous

Curiosity

Eternal youth

Waterloo and all that

Questions

Honesty

by Bill and Pat Paterson and is about finding good scones throughout the world, with a little bit of politics