Tag Archives: edinburgh

Ordinary, Scones

Deacon’s House Café

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  • Deacon Brodie was an Edinburgh cabinet maker in the mid 18th century and was by all accounts an interesting character. Respectable tradesman and City councillor by day and burglar by night. Logo at Deacon's House CaféThe Deacon’s House Café is situated in what was once his workshop. It has plenty of olde worlde charm to satisfy the legions of tourists who must pass through here. After all they have trudged up the Royal Mile with its plethora of cashmere and souvenier shops, seeking some sustenance .. maybe even a scone. A scone at Deacon's House CaféOn offer were plain and fruit as well as apple and cinnamon scones which they advertise as ‘fresh baked’,. However, we found them very disappointing .. too big, too hard and too tasteless. Unfortunately there were a number of things that made this place feel slightly unwelcoming:
  1. • no credit cards of any kind taken in spite of it being in one of Scotland’s busiest tourist areas • orders have to be placed and paid for at the counter before they bring it to your table; if it’s busy this entails a long wait •  toilets are on the other side of the close and an access code is required • no wifi that we could find • service could best be described as ‘adequate’. Interior view at Deacon's House Café, Edinburgh

Overall you got the feeling that, because there was a constant stream of tourists coming through the door, they did not have to try too hard. Unfortunately it showed.

Brodie’s double life eventually caught up with him and although he ran away to the continent he was caught in Holland and returned. He was hanged in 1788 before a crowd of 40,000 in the High Street. That must have been a good day out.

Crowdfunding

Parallels can be drawn between Brodie and Scotland’s only Lib Dem MP, Alistair Carmichael. He, you will remember, covertly released a memo which besmirched the First Minister by accusing her of being a David Hameron supporter. Only after the General Election did he own up.  By that time, of course, he had narrowly held on to his seat in Shetland. Four of his own constituents thought that he would not have won had the electorate known he was a liar and decided to take him to court. Of course they could not afford the immense costs. Hallelujah, all the costs were met by crowdfunding. See the connection to Brodie?

#CarmichaelMustGo

Perhaps  40,000 people all contributing a couple of quid in order to get justice .. a modern day hanging. The case was not expected to succeed because according to the LibDems “all MPs lie”. However, the court has decided that there is a case to answer and Carmichael will probably have to testify. Today, Carmichael must feel a bit like Deacon Brodie. #CarmichaelMustGo.

teapot display
teapot display

EH1 2PS        tel: 0131 226 1894         Deacon’s House Café

Ordinary, Scones, self-service

The Sands Café/Bistro

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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. External view of the Sands Café in Aberdour

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. A cherry scone at the Sands Café in AberdourWe 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

Ordinary, Scones, self-service

EICA

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Climber at the Edinburgh International Climbing ArenaWow, what an amazing place this is! On our way back from Edinburgh airport we decided to visit the EICA, Edinburgh International Climbing Arena at Ratho. Having spent most of my youth hitchhiking to Glencoe every weekend in order to do silly things on rock faces it was both fascinating and slightly disturbing to see what was going on here.

Fascinating in the sense that there were loads of people doing all sorts of climbs in absolute safety, and disturbing because this, for me at least, seemed to detract from the essence of rock climbing where there was always an element of risk. Sometimes quite a big element. The complete absence of risk was all a bit strange. I wondered how transferable the skills learned here would be to a relatively unstable rock face. Perhaps they are not meant to transfer and remain steadfastly within environments such as this magnificent arena. I guess it is whatever turns you on. Orange scone at the Edinburgh International Climbing Arena

Anyway, in the interests of indulging my risk taking tendencies, a scone seemed like a good bet. They only had orange scones left .. now that is risky. Maybe not as risky as the youngest MP, Mhairi Black, only 20, to enter the Commons for over 100 years delivering a first class hard hitting maiden speech only to be largely ignored by the media .. what a shame. Turned out that the orange scone was not that risky after all because it was actually rather good and a new experience for both of us. The EICA has loads of facilities for toddlers to pensioners. A wonderful discovery .. we will be back.

EH28 8AA              tel:0131 333 6333           EICA

Ordinary, Scones, self-service

IKEA Edinburgh

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No it wasn’t flat packed and no we did not even need an allan key. The scones at IKEA Edinburgh come in much the same way as any other.A scone at IKEA Edinburgh We had arrived here with an IKEA virgin. Honestly we thought that everyone in the world had been here at some point in their lives .. if not every weekend. It was great to see it through fresh eyes so to speak. You have got to hand it to them, they think of just about everything.

After  the IKEA journey (follow the arrows) it is perhaps just as well that they have a watering hole at the end of the trail because. By that time, it is very welcome if not absolutely necessary. Internal view of IKEA EdinburghIn true IKEA style there are no frills. Self service, follow the arrows, pour your own coffee/tea (as much as you like). Because of all that .. very reasonable prices. Our scone had surprisingly light texture and, all things considered, was rather good.

Solitary Tory

A) the Queen’s speech managed, better than any other single event, to demonstrate how out of touch and incongruous the Westminster establishment has become. As someone said “a woman in a £1m hat delivers speech on austerity“. B) the draft Scotland Bill has seen the light of day and surprise surprise it outlines some totally inadequate powers for Scotland. They can only be used if the Scottish Government seeks permission from the single Tory MP in Scotland. C) the LibDems sought to defend the dishonesty of their single Scottish Rt Honourable member by saying that all MP’s lie. You could not make it up. Something has got to change!

EH20 9PW          tel: 020 3645 0000           IKEA Edinburgh

Ordinary, Scones

Patisserie Valerie

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Patisserie Valerie is a well known chain of over 300 outlets around the UK but it all originated back in Soho in 1926. That’s  when Madame Valerie came to London from Belgium to educate the English in continental patisserie. Now she is tackling the Scots. This particular one was in Rose Street, Edinburgh but we could have easily gone to any of the other three in the city centre. They would probably all be much of a muchness. Internal view at Patisserie Valerie, EdinburghChains tend to have a recipe that they stick to (for very good reasons) wherever they set up shop. The speciality is cakes and their window display can be fairly difficult to walk past without feeling a certain ‘pull’.

Mango Tango

Since they serve afternoon tea throughout the day and you don’t have to book in advance we thought we would just walk in and give it a whirl. And it really was as easy as that even though it was early evening. Wicktoria (spelt correctly) provided excellent service though she confessed to never having tried the Mango Tango tea that I ordered. Pat had the traditional breakfast tea but when she tasted mine she was almost tempted to change, it was very refreshing.

Everything was pretty much as you would expect, a selection of sandwiches and quiche on the lower layer, scones in the middle and cakes on top. Afternoon tea at Patisserie Valerie, EdinburghUnfortunately the only problem was the scones. Two fruit and two plain, they looked good and they were warm. That was nice, however we suspect they had been heated in a microwave and that seldom provides any enhancement to a scone. All in all they were pretty solid and unappetising. Pity really because everything else was okay and not too expensive.

Single eggs

Everything is relative however. Whilst £25 for two people is not too expensive for some, for others it would be totally out of reach. Sad to read that shops in Paisley are selling single eggs for people who cannot afford more. A scandalous indictment for one of the richest nations on earth.

EH2 3JD         tel: 0131 220 1336          Patisserie Valerie