In case you think that we are now far away on the Isle of Arran let us assure you that we hardly had to go any distance for this post. Just a short walk into Falkirk town centre, in fact. Those of you who already speak Scottish Gaelic will know that Aran is Gaelic for ‘bread’. For those who don’t know Gaelic you’ve learned something already. Here’s something else. This place used to be called Coffee on Wooer because it’s situated at the junction of Tollbooth Street and Wooer Street (derived from Weaver Street). We reviewed that back in 2016 and it did not turn out well.

Back then when we asked for a scone the chap behind the counter picked one up and tried, unsuccessfully, to penetrate it with a fork. We like them crunchy on the outside but there’s a limit. He even said “I wouldn’t if I was you“! After that it was a vegan cafe called “The Wooer” and that wasn’t much of an improvement.  This latest incarnation, Aran, has only been going a couple of months but would it be any better?

From the outside it looks much the same as it’s always done. Inside it is much improved, however, if a little on the sparse side. We were greeted with a cheery “hi” as soon as we walked through the door. Things were looking up already! We had arranged to have some lunch a little later so at this point we just wanted a scone to share. They do have a nice menu, however, that prides itself on its locally sourced produce. There were plain scones available but we opted for our usual fruit.

Fresh

It wasn’t long before the lovely young lady looking after us had us all sorted with a tea, a coffee and a scone. No cream unfortunately but at least the little pots of jam and butter looked as if they could be local produce … yeah! The scones tasted deliciously fresh. And, when we asked, we were assured that they’re baked in their own kitchen each and every morning. In the past, we’ve not had good experiences here so this was all rather wonderful. Not quite topscone but about as close as you can get.  Well done Aran, a vast improvement on your predecessors, keep up the good work!

Sunny uplands?

What wasn’t so wonderful was the recent Autumn Statement delivered by our new Chancellor, Jeremy Hunt. The Tories pride themselves on being the sensible party when it comes to government and fiscal responsibility. It’s their USP … they know how to run things! Yet, after twelve years in power, we are being told to expect the biggest drop in living standards in over fifty years. Everyone is going to be considerably poorer. We are also the only member of the G7 countries to have a smaller economy now than it had before the pandemic. In other words we are going backwards at a rate of knots. Gosh, can you imagine what it would be like if we had a government that didn’t know what it was doing??

On the upside, they say that after a few years of abject misery we will return to the sunny uplands again. That’ll be the same sunny uplands we were promised after Brexit? We’re still waiting!

There’s another Aran in nearby Linlithgow. It’s run by the same people so we may have to try that as well. Just to relieve the abject misery which is to be wrought upon us , if nothing else.

FK1 1NJ        tel: 01506 844477         Aran FB   

///vibrate.buck.pepper