If you have ever shopped in Glasgow you will no doubt be familiar with Princes Square on Buchanan Street. An up-market emporium of shops and eating places. If you have never shopped in Glasgow, you should. It is undoubtedly one of the best places to go in Scotland and that’s from someone who is pretty allergic to the entire process. However we were not here to shop. Oh no, we were here for afternoon tea and Cranachan was our chosen spot. 
Fuss pots
Now this type of dining may not be to everyone’s taste. Sitting out on the balcony not sure where the boundaries are between this place and the next place. However, it certainly was not putting people off and in fact it turned out to be a quite pleasant experience all round. 
We had some bubbles to begin with and then they brought the afternoon tea. What they didn’t bring was the tea. We had to go and ask for it! Apart from that though it was not too bad at all. Good selection of sandwiches and cakes, topped off with little tubs of their own cranachan.
What about the scones I hear you cry, what about the scones? Well, this may be controversial, prepare yourself .. they came fully loaded with jam and cream?? Call us old fuss pots but we rather like the whole business of loading up our own scones. The anticipation .. the decisions; how much jam; how much cream. It’s all part of the scone experience. 
All these dilemmas were removed and as a result our enjoyment was slightly diminished. Told you it would be controversial!
Drones
The dilemmas facing Corbyn this week have been even more controversial perhaps. As an atheist republican he has been berated for not singing a song about the monarch being rescued by God. He has been condemned as sexist for not appointing women in spite of all the women turning the jobs down. Maybe worst of all he has had to forego his bike and take to the official car to avoid being hounded by baying journalists. To top it all he has also been branded by the government, and hence all the main stream media, a major security risk. Some suspect that the car may have been forced on him because national security risks on bikes don’t provide a big enough target for drone missile attacks. No matter what your politics you have got to feel for the guy. It’s been a rough tough week!
Too lazy?
To finish on a more positive note, in spite of our, by comparison, relatively minor issues at Cranachan we had a very pleasant time and we would recommend it to you should you find yourself shopping in Princes Square. Especially if you are too lazy to butter your own scones!
If you would like to make your own cranachan here is a recipe.
G1 3JN tel: 0141 248 6257 Cranachan Café
We had a lovely afternoon tea here with our friends, the sandwiches, cakes, scones and little cranachans were really good. The scones were a bit different though as they were already ready for you with the jam and cream, not the same as putting your own on. All in all it was a nice afternoon though.
In pursuit of excellence
Further to your experience”Cranachan” where you felt short changed re- no tea with your afternoon tea., we got a bit more than we were expecting at the Tollbooth Tea Room in Woer Street.
We should have known when we were told they only had raspberry and white chocolate scones left. Anyway we thought ok we’ll try them. Unfortunately my knife could not cut through the scone. I took it back to the counter, discreetly, and was told it’s probably been lying at the top all day! Let’s try another one, from the bottom. When the waitress said oh no I looked into the basket, I also said oh no no! I was willing to take a chance on the raspberry and white chocolate but I had to draw the line at a hairy scone. The girl said, it’s not my hair, they must have come in like that! However she did put my scone in the bin along with a small thatch of hairs from the scones on the bottom. The remaining scones were left for the next unsuspecting customer.
So I would not recommend trying the Tolbooth Tea Room.
Thanks Archie, we will make a note .. maybe have to make a new category for ‘hairy scones’!