Tag Archives: Donald Trump

Scones, Top

Georgian Tea Room

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.

The entrance
The entrance

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? Dome 06In 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. Cafe Royal 02As 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

Ordinary

Hugh’s Bar Restaurant

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Hugh's is first floor right
Hugh’s is first floor right

We were in Glasgow for a meeting and afterwards found ourselves here, in Hugh’s Restaurant & Champagne Bar. It’s part of the House of Fraser department store. The store was founded in1849 by Hugh Fraser so that’s where the name comes from. It serves a range of coffees, over a dozen champagnes but principally Mumm and Bel Époque.

Now don’t be running away with the idea that we live some sort of champagne lifestyle, no, no, no! It just so happened that we were passing and, feeling a bit peckish (and a bit nosey) asked if they could do a scone. It didn’t exactly look like a scone place, but they immediately said “yes, of course” … very welcoming. Honest, no champagne was harmed in the making of this post. The decor is, however, fairly obviously aimed at the business folk of Glasgow who do live champagne lifestyles. Sleek, dark and sophisticated. Hugh's 03

Anyway, they scooped us humble bloggers up into their arms with promises of lovely warm scones and perfect coffee. What were we to do? It was the middle of the day and it was very quiet so they were probably more than delighted to see anyone crossing their doorstep. Hugh's 02True to their word our beautifully warm scones arrived on a slab of slate with little ceramic dishes of jam and cream. They were very good, could even have been a topscone but think they may have been baked the day before so maybe not as fresh as they could have been.

Is it an IQ test

Super Tuesday has just passed. It increasingly looks like Clinton and Trump are going to slug it out for the White House. Someone on social media noted that “the Americans seem to think it is an election, but it is in fact just an IQ test”. Kind of sums it up. Anyway, Hugh’s is an oasis of calm if you are suffering from retail fatigue. Try it if you get the chance, the staff are very helpful.

G1 3HL     tel: 0141 221 3880 ext 2101     Hugh’s Champagne Bar

english, topweird

Le Pain Quotidien

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This place is just round the corner from Victoria station and was the chosen spot for a rendezvous with a group of Lithuanians. Don’t ask, it’s a long story. Le Pain Quotidian ( the daily bread) originated in Belgium but now has outlets in nineteen countries stretching from Brazil to India. This is the first we have come across. Le Pain 02

The emphasis is on providing a place for people to meet and do business or just have a good gossip. To that end, they provide some long tables where people or families can gather round and do just that. It prides itself on it’s artisan bread made the traditional way. ‘Bakers blend organic stone-ground flour, kneaded patiently by hand and baked in stone lined hearths’ .. whatever! Can they make a scone?

In the interests of diversity, we thought we should try the ‘organic spelt & quinoa scone’. If nothing else it was definitely different and, from that point of view, difficult to compare with other scones. Le Pain 03A heavy mix as you might expect with a spelt flour but the added quinoa seeds, currants and almonds gave it a, not unpleasant, crunchy texture. It came with a pot of mixed strawberry/rhubarb  jam and a dish of what we thought was cream but turned out to be ricotta – an Italian whey cheese made from sheep milk.

Now once we had got over the surprise of it being nothing like the cream we had been expecting, it was not that bad. In fact, with the scone itself being so completely different, the ricotta complemented the scone quite well. Probably better than cream would have done. Le Pain 04This is the first  time we have come across quinoa (pronounced: kinwa) in a scone. It probably demonstrates Le Pain Quotidien holding true to its basic philosophy of using good honest healthy ingredients. Apparently it originated from the shores of Lake Titicaca which is quite exotic in itself. At £5 per scone however, they are not cheap. Never had a hope of being a topscone but just for being sooooo different we think it qualifies for a top weird scone award. Won’t be rushing back for another but well done for broadening our scone horizons.

Weapons of mass destruction

Not far away there was a Stop Trident rally in Trafalgar Square. Isn’t it odd that we give so much attention to making nuclear power stations absolutely safe. Then spend vastly more money planning for the creation of even bigger nuclear disasters .. bizarre. Of course, things have moved on. The big question now is not whether we should get rid of them but whether we can get rid of them fast enough. Before The Donald and BoJo are ruling the world. The BBC‘s report on the rally just prattled on about how disappointing the turnout had been in spite of their own pictures showing umpteen thousands present.

BREAKING NEWS:

In best BBC style, keeping you up to date with scone news, we have breaking news from our Trossachs correspondent. The same one who, you will remember, gifted us some Dobbies scones at Christmas. Dobbies 01Apparently, when he went to pay for his cream scone the other day at Dobbies in Stirling he discovered that cream scones were subject to a BOGOF deal so he went home with another scone in a box which fed  four people the following day. All for £1.45 .. remarkable. Many thanks to our reporter. Obviously they were not spelt and quinoa scones. In spite of the London prices, however, Le Pain Quotidien is worth a visit. A little bit quirky, good food, great service and nice atmosphere. It also has a good website with plenty of information and recipe suggestions.

SW1V 1JZ     tel: 020 3657 6945     Le Pain Quotidien

Ordinary, Scones, self-service

Cameo Picturehouse

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We are members here and try to visit whenever we can. It is smaller and more intimate than the local multi-screen cineplexes and tends to show more interesting and foreign language films. The weather was typically January so it seemed like an ideal day to squirrel ourselves away somewhere dark and cosy with a good film. Internal view of the Cameo Picturehouse Edinburgh

Arriving with enough time to spare for some tea we decided to give their scones a go as well. Although having looked at them on the counter we were slightly fearful. They did not look at all promising. Well appearances can be deceiving, as they say, because, although not topscones, they were pretty good. The fruit and cinnamon ones were maybe a bit too crusty on the outside but nice and soft on the inside. There was also plenty butter and a nice little cup of jam.

If only our film had been as good! A scone at the Cameo Picturehouse EdinburghThere were three to choose from and we chose ‘The Lobster’. A near-future story about single people staying in a hotel and having 45 days to find a romantic partner. If they failed they were turned into an animal of their choice. The main character had his brother with him all the time .. a collie dog. He had failed on a previous occasion. In the event of similar failure our man had chosen to be a lobster. Apparently a lobster can live to over a hundred and remain sexually active throughout. Never realised that lobsters had so much fun.

Spoiler

We would have enjoyed the start of the film a lot more if we had known that it steadily went down hill from there. It was co-produced by companies from Ireland, Greece, France the Netherlands and the UK. It kind of looked like a film made by a committee. Won’t say more though in case we spoil it for you. Internal view of the Cameo Picturehouse Edinburgh

Sitting in the cinema we thought it was a pretty dystopian surreal experience until we came out into the daylight and realised we had women being brutalised in Cologne, another shooting in Paris, people starved to death on purpose in Madaya, Saudis bombing the Iranian embassy in Sana’a, Pyongyang‘s H-bomb test, China‘s stock market collapse. And that the answer to all these problems might be Donald Trump! Maybe we should have stayed inside where it was all much more believable. Thank goodness for the scone … even though it only had a cameo role .. sorry!

EH3 9LZ           tel: 0871 902 5723         Cameo