Tag Archives: Henry’s Coffee Company

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Mason Belles Kitchen

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At the end of an alleyway in Linlithgow there is this little plaque, about 15cms in diameter. Linlithgow wall plaque bearing inscription to St MichaelIt’s a depiction of Linlithgow’s town motto – ‘St Michael is Kind to Strangers’. A bit odd, you might think, as a town motto. However, St Michael, in his main role as chief opponent of Satan, seems to have been a general all round good guy. Probably still best known as the patron saint of Marks & Spencers, he was also written about in both the Old and New Testaments, the Hebrew bible and the Quran.  And, apparently he still looks after the inhabitants of this town and its strangers to this very day. So that’ll be us then!

Love affair

Would he be kind enough to help us find a decent scone? The alleyway was leading us in a definite direction so perhaps his hand was upon us? Actually, after our recent afternoon tea at One Devonshire, we could have had another here at Mason Belles were it not for the fact that we just walked in off the street without any advanced notice. Not that we could have given them much notice anyway. It’s only a few days since they opened their doors to the public. Formerly called Livingstone’s, one of our favourite restaurants, until it closed a year or so ago. We could just hop on the train for the ten minute ride from Falkirk and voila, we were here!  Livingstone’s was also responsible for introducing us to Angus the Bull cabernet sauvignon. An ongoing love affair … but that’s all history.

Now it has been reincarnated by Linsey Scott, a delightful lady with many years experience in some of Scotland’s best restaurants. Mason Belles Kitchen is her first venture on her own. Exterior view of Mason Belles Kitchen, LinlithgowIt is set well off the street in a garden area which is usually alive with squirrels, rabbits and birds but today it was quiet. Probably because the animals had more sense than us, coming out in the rain. Interior view of Mason Belles Kitchen, LinlithgowInside though, not only was it dry but warm and welcoming as well.

Rather randomly, the first people we met were old work colleagues we hadn’t seen in ages … brill! The girl looking after us had fairly obviously only been in the job for a few days, or maybe even a few hours. She had to go off and seek answers to all our questions but she did it beautifully. Turned out they only had plain scones so that simplified decision making immensely. A scone at Mason Belles Kitchen, LinlithgowOur friends ended up with strawberry scones … scones preloaded with cream and slices of fresh strawberry. It wasn’t what they had asked for but, since they looked so nice, they just accepted and enjoyed them nevertheless.

Divine help

We tend to like quite small scones and these fitted the bill perfectly. Small but delicious and accompanied by fabulous blackcurrant jam and a lovely copper pot of cream. The coffee was excellent as well. Another special blend from our favourite coffee company, Henry’s. What more could we ask for? St Michael had indeed been extremely kind, not only finding our long lost friends, but a topscone as well! With divine help like this, Linsey and her team can’t help but flourish.

Interior view of Mason Belles Kitchen, Linlithgow
Part of the dining room

 

Obviously the main church in town is St Michael’s, where Mary Queen of Scots was christened. It had been around since 1138 as a Catholic church but shortly after the christening it was ransacked by Protestants. They eventually repaired the church and  have used it as their own ever since. The Protestant church took their role as guardians of the town’s morality very seriously.

Repeatedly Eurupean

The church had a repentance stool on which transgressors guilty of drunkeness, adultery or whistling would have to sit in full view of the entire congregation. Repeat offenders were chained by the neck at the church door. Oh, those were the days! We are pretty sure that Theresa May would have Michel Barnier sat on the repentance stool for daring to defy the mighty United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland. Meanwhile Jean Claude Juncker’s neck would be in irons at the door …  just for being repeatedly European! Theresa’s now gaining a pitying respect from the public who always like an underdog. As a kind of ‘billy no mates’ …  watching her perform is kind of embarrassing. Like sitting by a guillotine of old, where you can’t bear to look but can’t help it either. She needs to get St Michael onside!The logo of Mason Belles Kitchen, LinlithgowEH49 7AE        01506 843867             Mason Belles FB

ps: JOGLE friends (John o’Groats to Land’s End) walkers and are nearing the end of their incredible  journey. You can follow their adventures at: heatherstevesduncansbyheadtolandsend.wordpress.com

Scones, Top

The Corner Café

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You just can’t turn your back for a minute. We go down to London for a few days and come home to find a brand new café has popped up in the middle of town. Back in February we reviewed the Larder café which was a reincarnation of a previous one called Food Heaven. Both were pretty awful. Indeed this site seems to have been blighted by failed businesses over the years. Perhaps its because there is a big glossy Costa directly opposite. Maybe it’s the crowded market but mostly we feel it has been down to shoddy management. We said we would let you know how the Larder got on. Well it only lasted a few months after our review. That wasn’t the cause of its demise but probably didn’t help either.

Anyway, it’s now called the Corner Café and at long last it seems to have management that knows what it is doing. Young buck, Andrew, heads up a team that has gone right back to basics. Previously everything was bought in from a large cash and carry warehouse in Glasgow but now it’s all prepared fresh on site, scones included. Obviously, we had to visit. Internal view of the Corner Café, Falkirk

Hints of chocolate

The place has a clean fresh look and we were made to feel very welcome by the staff even though it was almost closing time when we got there. The menu is relatively small but big enough to have something to please everyone. We were particularly pleased to see that their coffee was from Henry’s Coffee Company. Not the Cat’s Pyjamas, but a blend made exclusively for the Corner by Henry’s.A scone at the Corner Café, Falkirk

They were sold out of fruit scones but the lady looking after us made a quick dash to the kitchen to see if there were any there, Sadly no, so one of the last remaining plain scones it was. It came with strawberry jam and cream in lovely little ceramic containers … nice touch. The scone itself was very good and their special coffee was deliciously smooth with subtle hints of chocolate, excellent. After some deliberation we felt that a topscone award was thoroughly deserved.

The Corner hasn’t even been open two weeks so we wish them the very best of luck for the future, hopefully they break the curse that seems to bedevil this site .. and we are not alone

Good luck cards at the Corner Café, Falkirk
Good luck cards from wellwishers
Tug-of-war

Everyone is fed up to back teeth of Brexit. If it inadvertently brought about a united Ireland and an independent Scotland it might have all been worth it … but otherwise?? The main news this week  is that Meghan Markle, Countess of a big chunk of England somewhere, closed her own car door. This was her first solo engagement and according to the media, with this one simple act she demonstrated how ordinary and down to earth the Royal Family really are. She has been showered with congratulations.

The other big congratulatory news was from South Africa. In the World Tug-of-War Championships in Cape Town, Ayrshire Ladies won gold in the 500kg competition. You are hearing it here because Pat and I used to be heavily involved in tug-of-war. And because you won’t hear it anywhere else. If you can do a good hop skip and jump you are lauded to the heavens by the media. You might even get a knighthood but in a serious sport like tug-of-war, not a dickie bird! Anyway, good luck to Andrew and his team, we are in your Corner … sorry!

FK1 1LZ.     tel: 01324 410949        The Corner Café FB

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Applejacks

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Last time we were in the Perthshire town of Callander we were indulging ourselves at the Roman Camp Hotel. It is situated, would you believe it, on the site of a 1st century roman camp on the banks of the river Teith. It’s great, but definitely at the luxury end of the market. This time we were just here visiting an elderly relative. The town is oft’ referred to as ‘The Gateway To The Highlands‘ and certainly, when we were traveling north to Glen Coe every weekend in our youth, we never felt ‘away’ until we hit Callander. Logo at Applejacks, Callander

In summer it is extremely busy so it is well endowed with cafés and restaurants to cater for throngs of tourists. We were attracted to Applejacks by the placard outside advertising our favourite coffee, the Cat’s Pyjamas from Henry’s Coffee Company.  Internal view of Applejacks, Callander The café is a long narrow affair and we ended up going to the furthest point from the door where it seemed, for a moment, like we had gone too far. Nobody was speaking English. Indeed everyone was speaking very loudly in some indiscernible language. Not to worry our waitress was local and soon had us fixed up with a couple of scones. Pat chose plain and I went for apple and cinnamon. The café has a kind of trendy upbeat vibe and as well as great coffee they do a good range of savoury wraps and sandwiches.

Misdemeanours

Our scones were accompanied by pots of jam and clotted cream … all English, arrgghh! We have nothing against that, per se. However, tourists from England do not come all this way north to be served the same stuff they get at home. A scone at Applejacks, CallanderSince they say on their menu that they pride themselves on accessing local ingredients we pointed out this misdemeanour to the management. They took note!  It had been a long time since an apple and cinnamon scone had graced my plate. This one served to reminded me of just how delicious they can be. Not made on the premises but, we were assured, made locally. Pat’s scone was good as well and provided a sweet counterpoint to the strong cup of Cat’s Pyjamas coffee. A winning combination … a topscone. Well done Applejacks!

Too and fro

In the 17th and 18th centuries Callander, like much of Scotland, was a hotbed of unrest.  Almost all Scots vehemently opposed the Union in 1707 . To make matters even worse, deep rooted Jacobite sympathies abounded and Callander was no exception. The town’s location, however, made it an obvious choice for a military road. It would provide better access for the government’s armed forces in its aim to subdue the unruly Highlands.

Completed in 1743, ironically, the first army to use the new road was that of invaders. Bonnie Prince Charlie, moving south through Callander from Glenfinnan to Derby in the 1745 uprising. It must have been quite a sight as they passed by Ancaster Square where Applejacks is situated. External view of Applejacks, CallanderA few months later of course, after the Battle of Falkirk  in 1746, the flow was the other way as they headed back north where the disaster that was Culloden would eventually unfold.

Criticising the government

Over the following decade, with over 400 garrisons north of the border, Scotland would be comprehensively crushed. It became the colony it remains to this day. Also ironically, a few years later the town’s namesake, James Thomson Callendar published a book with the rather snappy title of “The Political Progress of Britain or an Impartial History of Abuses in the Government of the British Empire in Europe, Asia and America since the Revolution in 1688 to the present time, the whole tending to prove the ruinous consequences of the popular system of Taxation, War and Conquest.” For his criticisms of the then system of government, Callendar, accused of sedition, had been obliged to remove himself from Scotland and flee to America.

Foundations

Sounds like his book could well be pertinent even today. As our more fervent Brexiteers, the Goves and Rees Moggs, fantasise with their rose tinted glasses over the glory days of Empire it is perhaps worth remembering that the barbaric practices perfected in the ten years after Culloden formed the foundations of the Empire.

Customer distribution map of the world at Applejacks, Callander
a wall map showing the Applejacks empire of diverse customers

However this picturesque little town hides its more turbulent past rather well. And Applejacks is a great addition to its High Street.

FK17 8ED     tel: 01877 330370    Applejacks FB

ps For some reason Pat laughed out loud at this notice in Applejacks.A humorous sign at Applejacks, Callanderand some kind soul has knitted covers to keep the street bollards warm … magic, the world has not gone completely mad after all

Knitted bollard cosies outside Applejacks, Callander

Ordinary, Scones

Down The Hatch

Logo of Down The Hatch Café, Bistro, Port EdgarWhen you come to a place called ‘Down The Hatch’ you are probably not expecting a fine dining experience. When you realise it’s situated in a wooden hut in the middle of the industrial estate that is Port Edgar marina, any such lingering thoughts will have been well and truly put to bed. This place, however does not pretend to be anything other than what it is. A no frills restaurant with a kind of North American diner vibe going on. For that it has to be commended.

Got Poutine?

Seems that it can’t quite make up its mind whether it is Scottish or Canadian. It appears to have a foot in both countries. However, having one Canadian owner and the other, his Scottish wife, goes a long way to explaining all the maple leafs and other Canadian references.

Their blurb says that the food is influenced by North American tastes and that their USP  is that they always have  a different  daily special … “that  tends to walk  on the wild side”.Staff tshirt at Down The Hatch Café, Bistro, Port Edgar All the staff wear t-shirts which features a maple leaf against a Saltire background. However, what is the “Got Poutine?” all about? Turns out that poutine is a dish which originated in Quebec and is now thought by many to be Canada’s national dish. It consists of twice fried french fries with cheese curds covered in gravy. Dietitians all over the world can be heard screaming “why the hell do we bother?”

Sloppy research

We skipped the poutine however the same could not be said for the scones. The big question was, would they be walking on the wild side as well? Pat decided on cheese and I went for my usual fruit. It wasn’t until afterwards we discovered that they also had bacon and maple syrup scones. Now call this sloppy research if you like but we would definitely have tried one of these had we known about them. Maybe next time. Internal view of Down The Hatch Café, Bistro, Port Edgar

We’re not sure about walking on the wild side but there was a distinctly North American feel about the scones. Big and served with steak knives! Maybe that’s all they had but it did seem a little bit odd. Needless to say they did make short work of cutting a scone so maybe they are on to something. Spreading the frozen butter wasn’t easy though! A scone at Down The Hatch Café, Bistro, Port EdgarPat found her cheese scone a bit doughy and left some of it but I finished mine even though it wasn’t particularly inspiring. Overall it was a tad disappointing though it was good to see that the coffee was local from the Forth Coffee Roasters. Forth Roasters coffee cup at Down The Hatch Café, Bistro, Port EdgarOf course our favourite local coffee remains the Cat’s Pyjamas from Henrys Coffee Company … brill!

Prima donnas

For all you petrolheads there is a garage directly opposite Down The Hatch which specialises in renovating Land Rovers … its called Engine 710. It gets its name from a lady who came in asking for a replacement ‘seven ten’ cap. Eventually they discovered that she had been looking at the ‘OIL’ cap upside down … heyho! What else is going on in the world? Ah yes, the World Cup is in full flight with loads of prima donnas all trying to outdo each other’s acting skills. We can’t wait for it to finish so that Coronation Street can get back to its usual slots. Today is also National Cream Tea Day. Get out there and cream tea it!Forth bridges from Port EdgarEH30 9SQ     tel: 0131 331 1387        Down The Hatch

Scones, Uncategorized

The Beast from the East

This is not a proper scone post. It is simply an attempt to reassure all those kind sconeys (particularly those in the southern hemisphere) who have enquired after our well-being in the face of the Beast from the East. Putin’s gift to the west. We are fine, though things in general are pretty bad e.g. pastries from Greggs have been declared legal tender!

The title picture is of our car which hasn’t moved for almost a week. We can hear readers in Canada and Norway screaming “they call that snow”? Okay, okay, don’t mock! Unlike you, when we get snow, we  just wait for it to go away the next day. But this time it has been here for days! Nothing in Britain has moved much in the last week … very few cars on the roads, no trains, no flights. But you know all that!

Let us give you an instance about how Britain is coping. Yesterday, late afternoon, we decided to venture out as far as our local pub just to get out and have a walk if nothing else. We walked along the middle of the road, standing aside every time a car came along … only two passed. There was no one else out, the whole place was eerily quiet. We fully expected the pub to be  deserted, just a few hardy regulars, but no, it was ramjammed, we could hardly get in! We asked the harassed looking barmaid why it was so busy “cos nobody’s at their efing work” was the reply. That’s how Britain copes … just go to the pub!

State of ecstasy

We don’t have any pictures of scones to share but we are sending you this one of a partial scone. It was sent by one of our correspondents who has a home office at the bottom of his garden. His wife had baked some scones and braved the snow and the icy wind to bring some, complete with apricot jam, to her beloved. He thought that he would send us a picture but, in his heightened state of ecstasy, promptly forgot until there was barely anything left.What's left of a scone and apricot jam

Normal service

We can only apologise dear readers, but good competent scone correspondents are difficult to come by these days ..  a bit like politicians. We had to admire Theresa May saying that the EU would have to compromise. Is there a thinly veiled threat in there “if you don’t compromise we won’t leave”? Once again, thanks for all your concern. Hopefully we will be out and about very soon and normal sconology will be resumed.

Ordinary, Scones, self-service

Riggs Coffee House

Coffee cup at the Riggs Coffee House, FalkirkCall us boring, call us unadventurous if you like. Our previous post on Sorochas was from Falkirk and here we are again posting from Falkirk. We can explain ! We haven’t been anywhere else! So … continuing with our boring unadventurous lives we ventured once again into the nether regions of the town. This time to Riggs Coffee House, which until a month or so ago, was Forth Valley Butchers. Advert at the Riggs Coffee House, FalkirkIt’s hard to keep up with our ever-changing high street as yet another coffee house replaces a traditional business. The burning question, of course, was … would this newcomer have scones?

Riggs specialises in Italian coffee and makes quite a song and dance about it – the advertising appears everywhere. It is difficult to understand the thinking behind putting a picture of a young, presumably Italian, stud lying on a beach with a beautiful girl and a Vespa, in front of people in Falkirk on a wet windy Wednesday afternoon. A tad annoying … especially when you’ve always wanted a Vespa. Got the beautiful girl already! Doubly annoying when there’s great local coffee, made and sold here in Falkirk, in the form of the Cat’s Pyjamas. Why don’t they make a song and dance about that, it’s very good. 

Fields of flax

There is a problem though – what sort of equivalent picture could be used to advertise Scottish coffee?? Tricky one … suggestions welcome. Anyway Riggs is on the corner of the High Street and Lint Riggs (fields of flax) which used to be the centre of the linen industry in the town. The flax (lint) was prepared here before making its way a few hundred yards to Woo’er (weaver) Street to be made into garments. All that is long gone now and in 1903 the state of the street was considered to be so poor that it was demolished in its entirety and a new Lint Riggs (the one you see to the right of the header picture) was built. Interior view of the Riggs Coffee House, Falkirk

Entrepreneurial ladies

Riggs Coffee House is tastefully done up but when we entered the chap behind the counter looked as if his entire staff had just phoned in sick. Not a happy chappie! He did have scones though! Apparently he had not intended to stock such unitalian items but a lady came in one day and offered to supply him. The resultant trial period had  scones flying off the shelf so now they are a permanent feature. One up for the scones! A scone at the Riggs Coffee House, FalkirkThere was a choice of plain, fruit or treacle and we opted for fruit.

They were very good, nice texture, plenty fruit and they went very well with the much vaunted Italian coffee which, in spite of not being quite “the cat’s pyjamas”, we had to admit was very good. In fact, with the exception of the scone, nothing we had here; jam, butter, coffee, came from Scotland … shame! In the end this was not quite a topscone … good effort though. Well done that entrepreneurial lady. Oh, by the time we were leaving your man’s demeanor seemed to have improved dramatically. We wish him and his venture every success.

FK1 1EY        tel: 01324 627028       Riggs Coffee House FB

One of our correspondents, fondly known as “The Pedant” has been in touch. He came across a K6 (Kirkintilloch variety) at the Henry Moore Collections in Much Hadham, Hertfordshire. Don’t worry the telegraph pole sticking out of the roof is not a new design feature.A K6 at the Henry Moore Collection in Much Hadham

Much Hadham

Much Hadham sounds like the sort of place that the EU should be conducting its Brexit negotiations. Last year, the oil company Shell, which operates in 70 different countries, paid tax in all of them. It paid the Norwegian government £4.3 billion to add to its £1trillion Wealth Fund. Our brilliant negotiators here in Britain ended up paying Shell £187 million so presumably Shell must operate out of Much Hadham as well.

A K2 telephone box in London
A London K2

 

How come, with all the hundreds of billions of oil money that has rolled in over the past thirty years the UK, in stark contrast to Norway, has simply acquired massive debts. Where did it all go? While you write your answers on a postcard can we make a plea for some Norwegian negotiators to come over and help us with the Brexit talks.

Still on the subject of telephone boxes, our ever adventurous Trossachs correspondents have sent a photograph of a rarely seen K2 on a recent visit to London. Don’t know precisely where it was manufactured but was most likely, Kirkintilloch. We will endeavour to be more adventurous in future. We must be running out of new cafés in Falkirk anyway. Musn’t we?

Scones, Uncategorized

Henry’s

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Life

The life of a sconey is not as easy as some of you may think! No, no, no, it’s a constant round of traveling, photographing, testing, judging, writing. Then there is the worry! Did we judge too harshly? Did we just get them on a bad day? Should we make allowances? All these and more can make a sconey’s life quite stressful. Okay, not that stressful. Not stressful at all really. If truth be known, it is an absolute pleasure … even the bad ones! In spite of receiving many and varied suggestions for scone visits we almost never go anywhere simply for a scone. We go places for all sorts of other reasons … the scones are just there! But then, sometimes strange things happen. A scone can come completely out of the blue. So it was with this post from Henry’s … a slight meander from our normal path.

Picture of artwork portraying coffee cups from Costa, Nero and Starbucks
A BIT RICH – at Henry’s HQ. Can you name all 3 companies?  Answers on a postcard

 

 

 

Global HQ

Recently, we were in the local Milk Barn café when we stumbled on some old friends we hadn’t seen in ages. After much catching up it transpired that their lives, like ours, had changed markedly in the intervening years. Most significantly, perhaps, after many years steeped in the coffee industry, they had decided to set up their own company. They now supply coffee and tea to restaurants all over Scotland. A bold move in a highly competitive marketplace. That was two years ago and the birth of the company coincided with the birth of their first grandchild so the company was duly named after him … Henry’s. And what exactly has all this got to do with scones we hear you ask? Well, they invited us to take a look at the company’s global HQ (garage in the back garden). And, being aware of our weakness, used the lure of scones to ensure our attendance.

Mimi’s Bakehouse

We had visions of them being up at the crack of dawn nervously whipping up a scone mixture for the visit … but no, not a bit of it. They bought them! henrys-05To be fair, they did buy them from Mimi’s award winning bakehouse in Leith so they were very good. They were, what we would call, on the hearty side. Almost a meal in themselves but nice and light and complete with jam. The cream had accidentally been omitted from the package, but no matter, we thoroughly enjoyed them anyway. We had not heard of Mimi’s but it transpires that it is just down the road from the Scotch Malt Whisky Society. A visit may be imminent! Unfortunately, until then, these scones will have to remain uncategorised. Henry’s Coffee Company appears to be going from strength to strength, no pun intended, and in a few short years has become the main supplier to dozens of establishments across the country. Their unique ‘Cat’s Pyjamas’ and ‘Blow Your Socks Off’ coffee blends have been every well received, along with their two hundred tea varieties. It’s a success story.

Scotland’s entrepreneurs

Sad therefore to read that RBS (the bank which you and I own) has been behaving despicably to businesses such as this through it’s, now defunct, Global Restructuring Group. It has been intentionally driving many small businesses into bankruptcy for it’s own profit. Scotland needs lots of small businesses like Henry’s to flourish but to do so they need banks to be on their side. They also need BT Openreach to roll out decent broadband much faster than they are doing at the moment, instead of just trousering the money. Picture of Henry's coffee company saucer with logoWith worthwhile broadband, businesses like Henry’s should be able to establish themselves all over the country … even in the Highlands and Islands. Many thanks to B and M and of course the man himself, Henry, who we had the great pleasure of meeting. Your hospitality was wonderful, as was your spectacular company HQ. More power to your entrepreneurial elbow!

tel: 07471 895015     Henry’s Coffee Company