Tag Archives: Libya

Scones, topweird, weird

Living Water Satisfies Café

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You are all aware of the Bermuda Triangle. That mysterious area of ocean on the other side of the Atlantic where things simply disappear without trace. Today we are in the Crystal Palace Triangle, a relatively small area enclosed by three streets. It’s famous for an eclectic range of vintage furniture and clothing stores, in south London. Like it’s Caribbean namesake things go missing here as well. Scones, for example! It’s not as if there are no cafés, there are loads of them. Venezuelan cafés, Nepalese cafés, Polish cafés, Sudanese cafés. Would any of those have scones?

View from Crystal Palace towards central London
Crystal Palace, on Sydenham Hill, is one of the highest points in London.

Just as we were about to declare the Triangle a ‘scone desert’ we came across the Living Water Satisfies or LWS Café. No idea where it gets it’s name but it is situated on the outer extremity of the Triangle where the influence is obviously weaker. Lo and behold … scones. Admittedly there was only three left and they were all the same … gruyère and chive! LWS turns out to be a charity dedicated to helping those who suffer domestic abuse so all the proceeds from the café and bookshop go towards providing shelter and comfort to abuse victims. Well done them! The café itself is pretty basic but is obviously well used for functions and meetings as well as folk just dropping in for something to eat. They also make everything, including the scones, on the premises.Interior picture of LWS cafe

Life on the Edge

As you know we occasionally like to live life on the edge, adrenalin  and all that … and besides, this place was worthy of our tiny little bit of support. Also, you readers obviously need to know about such things, so gruyère and chives it was! What a surprise, what a pleasure. Really cheesy and the chives just gave them a certain je ne sais quoi. Picture of a scone at LWS cafeFor sure, they fell into the ‘weird scone’ category but definitely one of our top weird scones! Coffee was good as well.

In the short time since our previous post there have been other disappearances. We think that David Cameron may have moved too close to the epicentre of the Crystal Palace Triangle because, having laid waste to the UK, the EU, Libya and even brought perfectly honourable pigs into disrepute, he has now vanished completely. He told us himself that he is “no quitter”, so the Triangle seems the most likely explanation. He will be remembered fondly. In much the same way as Tony Blair.

SE19 3AF          tel: 020 8653 4011            LWS Café

Ordinary, Scones

John MacNabs Bar & Bistro

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Logo at John MacNabs Bar & Bistro, InvernessIt is not that often we are in Inverness as usually we are just passing through. Today, however, although again on our way to somewhere else, we have stopped off to see what the city has to offer. As it happens, today, the capital of the Highlands is bathed in glorious spring sunshine. The river Ness runs through the city centre and on its banks we came across John MacNabs Bar & Bistro. It’s part of the Columba Hotel complex. It has an outside seating area which was very welcome on such a warm day.

Apricot jam?

No time was wasted in getting some scones ordered and they duly arrived nice and warm, with lots of jam and cream. Normally we expect to get either strawberry or raspberry jam but at MacNabs it was apricot? Pat exchanged her’s for strawberry but I thought I would live adventurously and stuck with what I had been given. I enjoyed it but not sure if it will catch on as a substitute for the more traditional preserves. A scone at John MacNabs Bar & Bistro, InvernessLovely friendly service but our scones were of the bought-in variety and although they tasted fine they were nothing to write home about.

The news today is of course about the upcoming, increasingly boring, election. Also of hundreds of people losing their lives crossing the Mediterranean from Libya to Italy. Sitting in the sunshine by the river in Inverness it is difficult to imagine what these people are going through. Their desperate attempts to better their lives, is another world entirely. In the circumstances, it seems almost immoral to be writing about something as frivolous as scones.

Old fashioned

Most will have never heard of scones so perhaps it is to be hoped that some of the survivors may eventually be able to discover the pleasure of scones. In that respect alone their lives will have become better. Maybe they could even do it in Inverness, who knows? MacNabs even give you a biscuit with your coffee and a shortbread biscuit with your scone. Nice touch but maybe a little unnecessary. They also serve on slate. Call us old fashioned but we cannot think what is wrong with a good old plate. It’s very pleasant sitting bathed in sunshine by the river but this is probably not the best scone in Inverness … nor the worst.

IV3 5NF    tel: 0871 3769900      McNabs