The Crystal Cave

25 August 2015 billpaterson1@me.com 1 Comment

If ever there was a place that could not make up its mind what it was supposed to be, this is it. The Crystal Cave Tearoom in Burntisland. It’s very confusing. On sale is everything from buckets and spades to all sorts of trinkets along with a fairly comprehensive range of agates and other lapidary items. Hence the name presumably. The people here were very friendly and work extremely hard going up and down a flight of steps to and from the kitchen. Rather them than us.

One of the sale items that summed the place up at the Crystal Cave — One of the sale items

Dreams

But someone needs to determine what the core business is, then concentrate on that. Because as a tearoom it was pretty good but could be even better if it wasn’t for all the … stuff. Decluttering would improve the overall ambience and help it look like a proper tearoom. Like the sign says we felt they were on their way to a dream alright but had got a bit lost.

Anyway, enough of that, lets get on to the important things. We ordered scones and were told that if we wanted to wait a little we could have completely fresh ones straight from the oven. Otherwise we could have the ones that were done twenty minutes earlier! We were tempted to wait but, in the end, decided that a twenty minute old scone was just fine .. and so it was. Light, good texture and lots of jam and cream. Coffee was presented in a rather odd choice of cup, the tall glass kind we usually associate with gaelic coffee. Pat had to have hers reheated so it could have been better. All in all though we enjoyed everything and wish everyone at the Crystal Cave every good fortune.

Tony’s revalation

A crystal ball is what the Labour party needs as it wrestles with Corbynmania. Perhaps if they gazed into it hard enough they might actually see Tony Blair’s revelation that he is godparent to Rupert Murdoch’s daughter for waht it is. People don’t want the old establishment Labour party any more. They want something fresh … and Corbyn is their man!

Semi=precious stones at the Crystal Cave, Burntisland — Semi-precious stones for sale

KY3 9UW tel: 01952 890498 Crystal Cave TripAd

topweird

Mother Murphy’s 2

19 August 2015 billpaterson1@me.com 3 Comments

We said that if we ever figured out the treacle scone days at Mother Murphy’s Tearoom, you would be the first to hear. We are nothing if not true to our word. You will remember from the first blog, the reason treacle scone days are important is because on these days you can get a ‘thunder and lightning’ scone? You will also remember that there was something of a tricky problem. It was impossible to tell when these days would occur. It seemed to depend on some sort of divine intervention. Of course, there is no foretelling that sort of thing. However, this is Mother Murphy’s 2.

Picture worth a thousand words

Well, let me tell you about one of the perks of being scone bloggers, you sometimes get inside information. Call it divine intervention if you wish! Pat has just told me that it is the only perk. I stand corrected. Anyway, this morning on FaceBook, we got a wee message, “today is a treacle scone day!”. And so it was that we ended up in this little tearoom for the second time in a week with a somewhat heightened sense of anticipation. After a short wait (sure they did it just to get our juices flowing) it duly appeared. There is little point in me describing a ‘thunder and lightning’ scone .. hopefully the picture says it all.

Scoffing kit

A veritable extravaganza of treacle, cream and icing sugar. Scoffing could get a bit messy if it was not for the fact that it comes complete with a dedicated ‘thunder and lightning’ scone scoffing kit – a knife and fork. The top picture hopefully describes adequately how good it was .. divine even!

The other day, in Aberfeldy, we had a ‘cheese and bacon‘ scone which was also delicious so perhaps we need to introduce a new ‘weird scone’ category. This one definitely qualifies. Ordinary mortals, however, will just have to figure out for themselves which are treacle scone days .. good luck!

FK2 9AU tel: 07951 843512 Mother Murphy’s

Scones, Top, topweird, weird

Habitat Café

18 August 2015 billpaterson1@me.com 1 Comment

You tend to think that every cafe/restaurant will have some sort of scone with which to provide the honest traveller a bit of sustenance. Not so, or at least not in Aberfeldy.

The search

We tried the Watermill first to no avail, then the Croft and both just shook their heads. The Croft is more of a restaurant so maybe it’s excusable there. We found it very disappointing, however, that the Watermill, which otherwise has a great café, could not cater to this simple request. Not to worry, we headed to the Habitat Café in the Square. Not only were we successful but were treated to a first time experience .. a cheese and bacon scone! Now we have tasted a lot of scones but ‘cheese and bacon’ has never been one of them. As it turned out they do a different scone every day and it just so happened that today was the day for cheese and bacon.

It has to be said that some trepidation was involved in our approach to this scone. we were encouraged however when it turned up with just some butter .. no jam and cream ..phew! Needless to say, as cheese and bacon scones go, this was definitely the best we had tasted. More than that, however,it was one of the best scones we had tasted anywhere. It easily gets our topscone award for its light fluffy texture and sheer ludicrous inventiveness.

Elysian paradise

Bet the migrants waiting to cross the Channel have never tasted a cheese and bacon scone either. Do you think that is why they are trying so desperately? The media would have us believe that they all want to come to the UK because the UK is such a fantastic, wonderful, elysian paradise. Nothing could be further from the truth! Only a tiny minority thinks the UK is worth a try. Usually because they already speak English or have family here. The vast majority want to settle elsewhere in Europe. That’s because they have never heard of Aberfeldy, The Habitat Café and its scones .. sad!

PH15 2DD tel:01887 822944 Habitat TripAd

Useful link: things to do in Aberfeldy

Scones, Top

Mother Murphy’s Tearoom

15 August 2015 billpaterson1@me.com 1 Comment

We know that loads of you have been wondering whatever happened to Jim Murphy. Wonder no more he is alive and well and working in this tearoom in Falkirk. Okay, okay, it’s not that Jim Murphy. This Jim Murphy owns the place with his wife Debra and this one has much more honesty and vision. The vision to make this little tearoom a roaring success. Only open a couple of months, it is still early days but all the signs are good. Clean, tidy, homely, home-produced food. Gleneagles it is not, but it is not trying to be anything other than what it is .. a great wee tearoom. Located at Ladysmill on the main road between Falkirk and Grangemouth we were lucky enough to be able to park right outside the door. Once inside we had the choice of Debra’s home-baked blueberry or plain scones … dilemma!

Unable to make such a momentous decision, we had one of each. Pat’s plain scone was accompanied by strawberry jam and my blueberry one with bramble and apple jam. Both jams handcrafted by Jim .. there is no end to this duo’s talent! There was one major problem however … the ‘thunder and lightning’ scone on the menu is only available on treacle scone days. Would they tell us what days were treacle scone days? No! Apparently it is an inspirational, spontaneous sort of thing that happens very unpredictably. Presumably, we will just have to keep going back time and time again.

Chilcot

Talking of time .. do you know what comes next in this time measurement scale .. decade, century, millennium, aeon, ??? Yes, you guessed it… it’s a Chilcot. The best thing about Mother Murphy’s Tearoom is Jim and Debra. They are very friendly and seem really enthusiastic and genuinely happy with what they are doing .. and so they should be! We wish them every success and one day .. one day, we might get to sample that elusive thunder and lighting scone. If we do, you will be the first to hear about it. In the meantime, we think all that talent and ingenuity deserves a topscone award. So it is like Gleneagles after all!

FK2 9AU tel: 07951 843512 Mother Murphy’s

Ordinary, Scones

Inchyra Grange Hotel

12 August 2015 billpaterson1@me.com 1 Comment

On the outskirts Grangemouth this is part of the MacDonald Hotel group and as such you have probably been in one not too far removed from this one. It has a Spa and swimming pool but was obviously a much smaller place at one time. All the external walls of the original building are now inside. The crisply carved sandstone lends a certain quality ambience to the dining room at least. Many places refuse to take afternoon tea bookings on the day “because it does not give chef enough time”? We arrived at the Inchyra Grange Hotel mob handed having phoned ahead to ask for afternoon tea for eight adults and two children .. no problem. What a delightful change to some of the other places we tried.

Still no problem when we upset their seating plan by actually turning up with three children instead of two, great! We each got a couple of scones as well as loads of sandwiches and cakes. The scones were very good and almost made the topscone award.

Shocking election result

Awards are not exactly being thrown at Jeremy Corbyn who, although being extremely popular with the voters, is vilified by the rest of his party. He actually thinks that the Labour party should be slightly socialist .. perish the thought! All, except Corbyn, seem to have forgotten that at the last General Election there was virtually nothing to differentiate the two main parties. Voters thought they might as well vote Tory .. or not at all. 30% chose ‘not at all’. Perhaps that 30% is stirring because they now see the possibility of a viable alternative. One of the biggest criticisms of Corbyn seems to be that he does not ‘look’ like a prime minister. So we will just elect the prettiest one then, never mind the policies? He has certainly enlivened the debate and the other three (who are they?) should take note.

Anyway, Labour party machinations aside, the Inchyra Grange coped extremely well with everything we threw at them. They even boxed up all the leftovers for us to take home … well done.

FK2 0YB tel: 01324 711911 MacDonald Hotels

Ordinary, Scones, self-service

The Sands Café/Bistro

10 August 2015 billpaterson1@me.com 1 Comment

It was an absolutely glorious day when we arrived at the Silver Sands beach at Aberdour. There were eight of us in total and having done the required paddling with the kids it was not long before hunger pangs were setting in. We headed en-mass towards the Sands Café/Bistro a little further along the beach.

With the weather being so wonderful it was very busy but the service we received was second to none. Nothing was too much trouble. One of the staff kindly extended the awning to protect us and the kids from the sun. We sampled everything from burgers to ice cream but of course the rather large scones were very tempting too. We chose the cherry ones though there were also plain and fruit available. All home baked and very good. No cream, so not quite topscone but pretty close and definitely head of our self service category.

Failures promoted to Lords

With the sun beating down, looking out over the beach towards Edinburgh, Arthur’s Seat and Berwick Law it seems like a different world. A sort of dream world. In the actual world however there are sinister goings on. Two senior politicians who lost their seats in the General Election are to be made knights of the realm!! They lost their seats because the people did not want them but now are to sit in the Upper House, against the wishes of the people. They will legislate on behalf of the people who unelected them in the first place?? Did I just make that up? I wish I had. In this day and age it seems unbelievable that such things can happen in the name of democracy! We desperately need a new system where unelected lackeys and party donors are not allowed to lord over us.

Meanwhile in Aberdour, no such troublesome thoughts are disturbing those intent on building sand castles, digging holes and swimming in the sea … nor should it!

View from the Sands Café in Aberdour looking towards Edinburgh — Looking towards Edinburgh, Arthur’s Seat and Salisbury Crags

KY3 0RQ tel:01383 861473 Silver Sands

island, Ordinary, Scones

The Kinloch Hotel Blackwaterfoot

30 July 2015 billpaterson1@me.com

After having been on some of the smaller islands, Arran feels big and a bit like the mainland. You can get up to 30mph on some of the roads and, of course, there are several small towns with shops … and everything. We arrived on the Claonaig ferry at Loch Ranza with the intention of driving round the southern half of the island and ending up in Brodick. The day was breezy with bright sparkling sunshine so the scenery was fantastic. Driving through places like Dougarie and Machrie was a real pleasure.

Very much an island

By the time we reached Blackwaterfoot, however, it was scone time so we pulled up at the Best Western Kinloch Hotel. The biggest and most obvious place in town … however big and obvious is not necessarily the best. The place was going like a fair so definitely not an intimate coffee shop ambience however service was efficient and friendly enough. Our fruit scones arrived in double quick time. Fruit, turned out to be cherry, which I suppose is fruit, but not what we had been expecting. Nevertheless they were quite good, though it was a shame about the scooshie cream that quickly dissolved into something more akin to milk. Arran is big and does not feel as remote as some of the smaller islands. However, you are quickly reminded that it is very much an island. Hardly any mobile reception .. wifi, what’s that??

English settlers

Also, like many of the west coast islands everyone here seems to be English. Some have been here so long they could probably qualify as locals. Scotland wants to encourage immigration so it is great that so many feel they would like to settle here and leave the fast pace of life in London and the south behind. It is not difficult to see why they choose Arran, it’s a very beautiful island.

View from Kinloch hotel towards the Mull of Kintyre and N.Ireland — View from the hotel towards the Mull of Kintyre and N.Ireland

KA27 8ET tel: 01770 860444 Kinloch Hotel

island, Ordinary, Scones

The Boathouse

29 July 2015 billpaterson1@me.com

The Boathouse is a great spot near to the ferry terminal at Ardminish Bay on Gigha. It has a wide range of food on offer and is open into the evening for dinner and drinks. Unfortunately when we visited it seemed to be in a state of chaos with staff doing headless chicken impersonations. Although it was not busy we waited a long time before having to ask to be served .. not good! The situation only seemed to be resolved with the return of the manageress or owner, not sure which. It has won several awards and people we spoke to praised it quite highly so hopefully this was just a temporary blip. Gigha is not exactly bristling with fancy eateries so we sincerely hope so.

When they eventually arrived, our tea and scones were quite good and it was great to be sitting outside with the sun on our backs. They were nicely presented on a small bread board with a wedge of butter but it was a pity the cream was not quite up to the ‘clotted’ standard.

Honourable?

Standards are not quite up to the mark in that disgrace of a place, the House of Lords. The honourable Lord in charge of standards has reportedly been found snorting cocaine off the breasts of prostitutes. All paid for by you and I. They set the bar that high so they can then decide what is good for the rest of us! The Boathouse, on the other hand, is a far superior House and, if time had allowed, we would have tried an evening meal because the menu looked very enticing .. next time!

One of the numerous beaches on Gigha looking towards Jura

PA41 7AA tel: 01583 505123 The Boathouse

Scones, Top

Big Jessie’s tearoom

28 July 2015 billpaterson1@me.com 1 Comment

God must be bemused at the shenanigans of the Labour party in it’s leadership elections. Seemingly intent on ripping itself apart in, both in the UK and Scotland. He must wonder how on earth they could get themselves into such a mess. So it is that we find ourselves heading for God’s Island, Gigha. Not in search of answers, because we are sure even He does not have any, but simply to get away from it all because it is too painful to watch. Tayinloan, on the Mull of Kintyre, is the jumping off point for Gigha and so we find ourselves in Big Jessie’s tearoom, waiting for the ferry and having a scone.

There appears to be some confusion about the name of this place. It is either Big Jessie’s tearoom, or the Ferry Inn. Think we prefer Big Jessie’s tearoom. It is a great wee place that someone has worked hard to create and maintain in its spotless condition. It has a wide range of goodies on offer. We just had a few minutes so it was one of Lorraine’s home baked scones while sitting outside in the sunshine. Very friendly staff and the scones were brilliant, well done Lorraine .. topscone award. No idea who Big Jessie is, or was, but she sounds like the sort of woman who could sort out the Labour party! If she can, then maybe she could move on to the Tory party and sort them out as well. Or is that too much to ask, even for Big Jessie.

PA29 6XG tel:01583 441387 Ferry Inn TripAd

Ordinary, Scones

Lite Bites

27 July 2015 billpaterson1@me.com 1 Comment

Tarbert is not exactly overburdened with café-culture type establishments and that’s a shame because it could do with some. Of course it’s easy for the likes of us to swan in to a town like this and be super critical simply because we are used to something different. We don’t have to maintain a place through t

he winter when visitors are few and far between. Otherwise Starbucks or Costa would have set up here long ago. However, if there is a re

ally good coffee shop in Tarbert, you need to shout louder because we could not find you. We did find Lite Bites however.

Town planning

The town itself is built round the harbour however it is not nearly as busy as it once was. Fishing still goes on but it is much diminished. It now features an extensive marina which you would think would bring in a fair amount of money but in fact, the whole place looks a wee bit run down and tired. It does not help the overall impression when you eventually find a coffee shop situated in a building that would not have looked out of place in the old Soviet Russia. If Argyll has a town planning department it has some very serious questions to answer!

Facelift

Anyway, Lite Bites has a certain utilitarian feel to it as well probably inspired by the building. However, it is busy busy, so the hard working folks running it are doing something right. They also seem to get on well with the local people. Our scones were okay but as you might expect, presentation was a touch on the austere side. Hopefully Lite Bites and Tarbert itself will get a bit of a facelift before long.

PA29 6UJ tel: 01880 820191 Lite Bites TripAd

Scones, history and a dollop of politics