Tag Archives: Café Royal

Edinburgh Press Club

1 October 2023 billpaterson1@me.com 15 Comments

Forgive us if this post reads like ‘a day in the life of two slightly deranged sconies’, but bear with us. Although we ended up here at the Edinburgh Press Club, that’s not why we were in Edinburgh. Rather we were here to see the newly refurbished Scotch Malt Whisky Society Member’s Room. We have been members here since the beginning of time so after a two month closure we were keen to see what changes had been made.

This was the first day it was open again. Unfortunately they should probably have waited another few days before opening. It was still full of workmen doing last minute fixes. We need to return when the renovations are complete. However, we did manage a very nice lunch and a couple of very nice drams from the Coleburn distillery in Elgin. It has has been closed for almost 40 years so just a little bit special.

At the centre?

On our way back up the centre of Edinburgh we decided to visit the actual centre. Most people think that the centre of the city is on the Royal Mile near St Giles Cathedral but it’s actually just at the top of Leith Walk. It’s a simple cast iron bollard which nobody takes the slightest notice of but it is very important. A fact of which the workmen digging up the road seem to be oblivious. Distance is measured from here. For example, when they say that Falkirk is 28.3 miles from Edinburgh it is actually measured to this bollard. Post codes are also worked out depending on their distance from the bollard.

It could well have been made in Falkirk but unfortunately we couldn’t find any maker’s mark. For bollard enthusiasts it doesn’t get much more exciting than this! We’re sure that if someone were to mention it was lucky to rub the ring on top of the bollard there would be a queue.and the workmen would have to be a bit tidier.

Oysters

Just a stone’s throw from the BOLLARD is the Cafe Royal Oyster Bar and that’s where we ended up next. It’s been here since the 1860s and, amongst many other things, is famous for its large tiled pictures that decorate the walls.

Internal view of the Cafe Royal — the bar of the Cafe Royal with tiled pictures

For us, of course, it’s famous as the rendezvous point for meeting our friends before and after Scotland international rugby matches. The result in these matches never seemed to matter too much, a great time was always guaranteed in the Cafe Royal. We can even remember some of them!

The Scotsman

Anyway, we had a drink for old times sake and moved on towards the Royal Mile. Unexpectedly we came on the Edinburgh Press Club and discovered that they had scones. Told you to bear with us and we get there in the end. It gets it’s name because it used to be the office and print works for ‘The Scotsman’ newspaper.

After our lunch we didn’t need much so yet again it was simply tea and a scone to share. We sat at the window which allowed us to watch the kaleidoscope of people passing by in Cockburn Street. Edinburgh is such a magnet for tourists that it can be great fun just observing the weird and the wonderful. A silent disco passed within a few feet of our window and, unless you know what is going on, you might think that an entire crowd had simultaneously lost their minds.

The original Edinburgh Press Club opened in 1939 as a sort of social club for journalists, writers and dignitaries. The intention was to make Edinburgh the “centre of sweetness and light.” In it’s current premises it harks back to a time of clacking typewriters before anyone had even heard of the internet and even less of “fake news”. We are pretty sure however that newspapers would have printed as much fake news then as they do now.

Fascinating as all this was, we soon had to turn our attention to our scone. Not before time we hear you say! It came with a generous portion of cream and overall it was fine but definitely fell into the ‘ordinary’ category. We never knew this place existed so it’s good just to know it’s there even if the scones aren’t quite up to scratch.

The sound of wealth

Window at Jingling' Geordies — A window in Jinglin’ Geordie

When we left the Press Club to catch our train home we popped into ‘Jinglin’ Geordie’. It’s a pub that used to be a regular haunt in my student days. The Geordie in question was George Heriot a local goldsmith whose pockets were so full of coins that they jingled as he walked, hence the nickname. After he died in 1624, money from his estate was used to build George Heriot’s schools which still bears his name and was the inspiration for Hogwarts, Harry Potter’s school.

After a varied and rather nostalgic day we did eventually get our train back to Falkirk.

EH1 1NY tel: 0131 526 3780 Edinburgh Press Club

///risen.trim.degree

english, Scones, Top, weird

Café Royal

3 March 2019 billpaterson1@me.com 3 Comments

The name ‘Café Royal‘ is synonymous with opulence and conjures up images of over-the-top Victorian decadence. Just the sort of place for us you might think. The epicentre of London fashion and the world’s finest wine cellar. Again, just the sort of place for us. It was the place to be seen by the likes of Noël Coward, Brigitte Bardot and Oscar Wilde. Once again, just the sort of place for us. Except this Café Royal is not in London, it’s in Newcastle-upon-Tyne.

Normally Newcastle is but a momentary pause as we make our way south on the London train. On this occasion, however, it was our destination, or rather a transit stop on our way to Amsterdam. This post and the previous post on the Winkel are not in correct chronological order. Why? Just because!

Posh tea

We had an hour or so to kill and decided, since it was almost scone o’clock, that we should explore the city a little in the hope of finding one. We wandered up towards, what looks like Nelson’s column, but is in fact the Grey’s monument. It commemorates the passing of the Great Reform Act of 1832 by Prime Minister of the time, Earl Grey. Of course. we all know that the real reason for the monument is because the very same Earl Grey invented posh tea. Run of the mill Reform Acts can’t hold a candle to posh tea after all.

To our surprise we found this part of the city very nice indeed. It was bustling with people going about their business, it sported lots of fine architecture and had a nice cosmopolitan feel to it. “It’s a canny toon” as the local Geordies would say! Perhaps we shouldn’t have been surprised but we were … pleasantly!

This Café Royal is close by the monument so we thought we would give it a try. However, any grandiose ideas of lush opulence were dashed on the jagged rocks of expectation as soon as we entered. This place is modern but not unpleasantly so. Nice, but not in the way we had anticipated. It’s owned by the Sir John Fitzgerald group, a family run business established in the 1850s and still going strong. It owns lots of pubs and restaurants in the area.

The system

One should make sure that they should get over stress very soon as it might make more helpful tabs vardenafil 20mg tab you suffer so many problems. With the introduction of many erectile dysfunction remedy medicine within the final decade, the vast majority of folks affected by this problem have almost obtained a new lease of commander levitra Read Full Article life. Though medical science has not come about until result of this drug does not get hardness enough for becoming erect. online cialis sale best buy cialis appalachianmagazine.com It is probably fairly obvious but everything you do requires energy. They have a system. You have to find a table, note its number then go to the counter and place your order. Once you have paid you return to your table and in due course your order is brought to you. Is that self service? We’re not sure but it worked! They had cheese and chive or raspberry scones so we went for raspberry. Hadn’t had one of those since we reviewed the infamous Bob & Bert’s raspberry ripple scone a few months back. It didn’t fare too well so how would this one do? Very well as it turned out. It came with plenty jam and clotted cream and was very light and fluffy. We enjoyed the scone and the place so decided to award it a top weird scone. Well done Café Royal!

What’s in a vote?

Earl Grey’s Great Reform Act of 1832 was in response to widespread criticism of the electoral system. MPs, in some areas, could be elected on just a handful of votes. It laid the foundations for male suffrage even though that would take many more years to become a reality.

Scuplture near the Café Royal in Newcastle upon Tyne — Man with Potential Selves by Sean Henry

Nowadays all men and women have the vote, however, in GB, some votes are worth much more than others. Great Britain is formed of two countries yet voting in Scotland is pointless. If no one voted at all it would make no difference whatsoever. For example, if every Scottish MP was of one voice on a subject of interest to Scotland, it would be overturned at Westminster even if 483 English MPs didn’t even bother to get out of bed. Scotland, from that point of view, is disenfranchised. We have a government we didn’t vote for and now we are being taken out of the EU against Scotland’s wishes and interests.

In 1644 Newcastle was occupied by a Scottish army where they held Charles I prisoner. Perhaps it is time for something similar?

NE1 5AW tel: 0191 231 3000 Café Royal

Scones, Top

Georgian Tea Room

22 March 2016 billpaterson1@me.com

No, nothing to do with Mad Max! This is in Edinburgh’s George Street and there is definitely nothing thunderous about it. ‘A warm balmy evening’ might describe it better.

Built in 1847 as the headquarters of the Commercial Bank of Scotland it currently functions as a bar, restaurant and night club. We often come here when we are in town, fancy a pint … and the Café Royal is just a bit too far away. On this occasion however instead of going into the bar area under the magnificent dome we went upstairs to the Georgian Tea Room. A bit of an adventure, since we had never strayed upstairs before. Needless to say the splendour continues. The tea room certainly does not let the rest of the building down in any way .. all chandeliers and ebony.

Afternoon tea

As soon as you walk in you get the feeling that you are not going to be let down either. It was a special day so we were tr

Internal view of the Georgian Tearoom — Georgian Tearoom

eating ourselves to afternoon tea and it seemed that lots of other people were doing the same. A constant turnover of tables but all done in an atmosphere of absolute calm. Of course, champagne had to be taken first. Recently, a correspondent from France could not understand how Hugh’s champagne bar existed when it was not open in the evening. I had to explain that, in Scotland, we drink champagne all day because, just living here, is a constant cause for celebration!

Anyway the bubbles allowed us time to look at the tea menu which contained six different options. Pat wanted her usual breakfast tea and I decided on the Bannockburn .. no idea why? In our last post we were seeking out Scottish tea plantations, however, in spite of the name, the Bannockburn tea estate, which has existed since the 1850s, is situated just a few miles from the centre of Darjeeling. No prizes for guessing where the founders were from. Served in Dudson fine bone china, the blurb said it was fresh yet fruity with citrus and apricot notes; the perfect accompaniment to scones .. and it was! What with the crisp white linen tablecloths and napkins, the silver tea service and the scones being just the right size and melt-in-the-mouth, it was not in the least bit difficult to make a topscone award … hurrah!

Flying pigs

Sitting here in the Dome, cosseted and looked after superbly well, you tend to wonder what the government was thinking about with it’s recent attempt at cutting allowances for the sick and disabled. Little wonder they have decided to do a U-turn. As we write, news is coming in of bombings in Brussels. What is happening in this deeply divided world? Maybe Trump can sort it out .. or was that a pig flying over? You’ll be pleased to know that we did manage to squeeze in a wee visit to the Café Royal on the way home.

EH2 2PF tel: 0131 624 8624 The Dome

Scones, history and a dollop of politics