Surgical history and a scone in Edinburgh - Cafe 1505

A report of Scone Blogger 2's second visit to Café 1505 in a month follows. Given the choice of eateries in Edinburgh this could demonstrate a lack of imagination, but in Café 1505's case it's proof of a really good find. The first visit was purely a spur of the moment, we need to eat now in this part of Edinburgh situation, but visit two was a more considered affair, and more importantly for this blog actually featured a scone.

The Nicolson Street café belongs to the Museum of the Royal College of Surgeon's of Edinburgh which has recently been renovated and redeveloped. The name 1505 refers to the date which the college was created. In the interests of culture a visit to the museum was scheduled in advance of the second visit. I'm a big advocate of cake following culture, and in this case a scone followed the history of surgery. 

The main meals at Café 1505 are contemporary, tasty and filling. The cake selections are extensive. Gluten free, vegan and diary free options are plentiful. Faced with such a wide choice, I decided it was about time a blog about scones featured a scone again and 'scone of the day' was selected. At the point of ordering no questions were asked about what flavour it was, after a morning looking at medical matters I decided to diagnose its contents myself.

I'm not convinced that the photo does justice to the scone, which was one of the best I've eaten. After a few false starts (I'm sure there dates here, err no maybe not) I concluded, correctly, that it was white chocolate and banana. It had a beautiful combination of flavours and a superb scone consistency. As it was scone of the day I can't guarantee it would be available again, but if this represents an example of the scone-craft of the café, I'm sure that scone of any day will make a tasty treat.

Snow, scenery and scones in Stirlingshire

January 2017 saw a couple of days of snow in the Stirling area. It didn't last long in the city centre, but up in the Trossachs National Park, it lingered long enough for a snowy walk from Callander to the foot of Ben Ledi followed by a "wee afternoon tea" at Deli Ecosse.

The walk itself featured stunning views of snow-covered mountains and valleys. It's an easy walk along the old railway line, and a very short diversion brings you to a viewing point for the Falls of Leny, which following rain earlier in the week were looking impressive. A take-away sandwich from the recently discovered Apple Jacks café (full review to follow) provided a picnic lunch, but on return to Callander, cake was required and Deli Ecosse more than obliged.

The "wee afternoon tea" was a excellent find. Unlike the traditional offering there weren't any sandwiches, but as Apple Jacks had provided those earlier they were not missed. The photo below shows what was included on our visit: scones, gingerbread, cranberry and chocolate slice, millionaire's shortbread and traditional, but exceptional, shortbread.

The café has a wide choice of eating options, an impressive deli and a wide range of magazines to browse while enjoying your coffee, cake or meal. There are plenty of eating options in the town, but this one is has found a special offering with its delicious and great value "wee afternoon tea".

Sable and flea ... worth it, if you can find it.

Stirling has no shortage of places to get coffee and cake. If you add in the surrounding towns and villages within a few minutes drive, the number of places to take yer Maw for a 'fine piece' is probably enough to ensure that you could go to a different one every week and not have to make a repeat visit before old age has ensured you have forgotten how good/bad/indifferent your first visit was.

Even this coffee drinker's rule of (mostly) avoiding the big chains - Starbucks, Costa, Nero and the increasingly ubiquitous Patisserie Valerie (use of the abbreviation Pat-Val will not be tolerated) can be adhered to without too much of a problem. Full endorsements of the town's top venues - Ciscos and the Port Street deli will appear elsewhere, but we are nothing if not thorough in our quest to unearth every secret corner wherein lovers of the bean might hide themselves.

So to Sable and Flea - at once in the centre of town and also tucked away out of sight. It's on Friar's Street, Stirling's answer to the Strip. By day, a pleasant enough pedestrianised town centre street, it changes after darkness and alcohol consumption to become a noisy and threatening pathway between pub and nightclub.

S + F is immune from this, in an odd corner between a music shop and a buffet diner. It sells itself as a genteel and comfy coffee and cafe shop, with antiquey bits and pieces to buy. They are particular about the blend and the bean and cakes are lovingly laid out on the counter in neat rows.

The sticky-toffee cake (warmed) had the authentic flavour and the coffee was smooth and full flavoured. Throw in the broadsheets laid out for patrons' amusement and your retreat is complete. Seating includes a comfy sofa through the back. That's the kind of place you could have a serious conversation with your partner. The front shop is more functional, but comfy enough and you are surrounded by curios for sale, including 60s tea/coffee sets. All very diverting.

We were £11 for two coffees and two bits of cake. Pricey, worthy of a more lengthy stay to get your money's worth. Fortunately, that's no hardship.

And the name? No, me neither. I assume there is some deep significance to it, but I am not sure what its historical or literary origins are, other than the fact that sables were often flea ridden. So here's a picture of one of them ..

*Sable Antelope (Bull) *Photo taken and submitted by Paul Maritz. Photo taken near Kafue River in Zambia, 2004

Different islands, more cafes - September 2016

The Scottish Government have marked 2016 as the Year of Architecture and Design. I’ve declared it the year of the island café. Another month, another visit to the islands, this time the Hebrides.

Lews Castle Museum Stornoway

The capital of the Outer Hebrides has been a frequently visited place over the last few years, with work taking me there on an annual basis. These trips usually involve a pre-5 am departure from home, followed by an intense working day so a restoring cuppa and cake in the later afternoon are considered essential requirements. For a small town Stornoway packs in the cafes and over the years I think I have tried them all: The Woodlands Centre, The Library, An Lanntair, the Crown Hotel and the Delights Deli would figure on the tourist trail and have provided many fine examples of cake excellence. The canteen at the Western Isles Hospital and Stornoway Airport café are less mainstream, but have been visited over the years and provided welcome nourishment after an early morning start, or when faced with a delayed return flight.

The newly opened Lews Castle Museum is definitely worth a visit if you are in the islands. It’s packed full of exhibits about life in the islands, and the fantastic audio visual experience was a real highlight. However, this is not a blog about culture or museums, it’s about cake – down to the serious business.

The café serves Starbucks coffee – surely a first for the Hebrides? The cakes however were locally made, and mighty fine. I’ve recently discovered a passion for paradise slice, and now once that is spotted on a menu I go no further. The café was pleasingly full at 4:30 pm on a fairly windy Thursday afternoon in late September, surely a sign that locals have embraced the addition to the Stornoway café options. The views are pleasing, there’s culture on tap and the menu for meals was imaginative and full of locally sourced options – a good find all round.

Callanish Visitor’s Centre

An incredibly wet and windy Saturday found me at the Callanish Visitor’s Centre on Lewis. After filling my brain with displays about the history of the site and braving the elements for a quick look at the stones, it was time to fill up with a scone. What a nice scone it was too. The setting is spectacular and the wild weather added to the atmosphere. The café was full of a mix of locals and tourists and the arts works on sale were a nice addition.

A selection of Shetland cafes - June 2016

Victoria’s Vintage Tearooms – Isle of Unst, Shetland Islands

A diversion from tearooms in Central Scotland saw one of the bloggers make a trip to the most northerly tearoom in Britain. The journey involved a car, a plane, another car and two ferries, but the tearooms and views made the effort more than worthwhile. What a truly spectacular setting.

Victoria’s Vintage Tearooms opens on a Sunday just for tea and cakes, which after a generous Shetland B and B breakfast, suited me fine. The choice was impressive: scones, traybakes and either Victoria sponge or vanilla fudge cake. Large portions of cake, a tea pot with a cosy and charming vintage crockery, all served up with that view equalled café paradise. It’s such a shame it’s a bit too far to return next Sunday.

In the vicinity are the Unst Boat Haven and Unst Heritage Centre. Both are worth a visit, but make sure you schedule time on Unst to savour the cakes at Victoria’s.

Bonhoga Gallery and tearoom

The mid-west of Shetland mainland is an area almost devoid of cafes, according to the Tourist Information Centre in Lerwick, with the exception being the Bonhoga Gallery in Weisdale.  This café was a great find, and home to possibly the best cheese scone in Scotland.

I know my fellow blogger does not approve of cheese in the vicinity of scones, but for me a what could be better? Scone plus cheese, the perfect combination of sweet and savoury. Not all cheese scones are created equal however, the cheese scones at Bonhoga are something special.

Another generous B and B breakfast meant that as temping as the café’s intriguing advertised “Motzarella and tomato toasty” sounded, a full-on lunch wasn’t really required. Once I’d spotted cheese scones on the menu I was going no further. Imagine my delight when the cheese scone was served warm with a generous slice of actual cheese on top, and onion chutney to accompany this gastronomic find. Amazing views from the café, lovely art to browse after the food and friendly locals. Like Victoria’s Vintage Tearooms I just wish the Bonhoga Gallery was a bit closer to home.

Coffee Bothy # 3

So we have a blog about scones in Central Scotland containing an entry about Portuguese cakes in London, hmm, how can I redress this? No scones at the weekend, but a new café visited.

Coffee Bothy # 3 - Callander

The town was Callander, the café was the latest branch of The Coffee Bothy. This is the third Coffee Bothy in the area, the original is in Blairlogie alongside a farm shop, the second is in Deanston in a distillery visitor centre and this latest branch is upstairs in the Caledonian Country Wear shop. The town of Callander used to be full of Scottish woollen shops, but these have recently reduced in number, and the clothes shop which contains the café is certainly catering for a more discerning market. Callander has a great location at the edge of the Loch Lomond and the Trossachs National Park, it’s surrounded by stunning scenery and has ample opportunities for pre or post-cake eating walking or cycling.

I’d not really planned on anything other than a coffee, but once I’d looked at the extensive breakfast menu I knew resistance was futile. It was a close call between the croissants or the pancakes, with the latter being the winner. No photos I’m afraid, you’ll have to trust me that the three homemade pancakes with raspberry jam were delicious as was the accompanying latte. Signs at the counter informed me that the café has recently introduced table service; the couple at the next table seemed delighted to learn this news, ordering at the counter clearly not the done thing in the Trossachs. Their breakfast menu is extensive, better than their website menu suggests. The savoury version of the pancakes with bacon and maple syrup is my list for another time as is sampling one of their many cakes.

Three branches of a coffee shop surely means that the owners are onto something good, it makes me wonder when I’ll start to think of them as a chain? Their choice of shops to locate with is rather intriguing, I wonder where’s next, a café in a dry cleaners? A coffee shop co-located with a bank?

Exmouth, that's Devon right? I need a coffee.

A blog that is primarily, though by no means exclusively, aimed at exposing, for good or ill, Scotland's coffee shops, we find ourselves in London. No reason for this, just happened to be there and had a coffee. We will be delightfully random. London today, who knows where tomorrow? We might even go international, though scones (sc-own-s) are harder to source abroad.

A very pleasant sun-drenched morning stroll from central London (Bolsover Street, to be exact) out to the beginnings of the east end at City University ended at Exmouth market. I knew nothing of Exmouth market, I stumbled across it quite by accident. Over the course of the previous hour's slightly aimless meanderings I had admired the fine architecture of Finsbury Town Hall and, before that, the house on Tavistock Place where Lenin stayed in 1908, and had enjoyed the vista at St. Georges's Gardens, supposedly one of London's "best kept secrets", but plenty of people seemed to have found their way there as I passed through. Odd that, the number of websites there are guiding you to x's "best kept secrets". London really is endlessly fascinating, so I am happy to uncover its secrets serendipitously en route to less intriguing destinations. Like work.

Parks at this time of the year have real charm, they have just about shaken off winter, but trees are not yet in leaf and only a few spring bulbs have dared to show themselves. Everything still in limbo, not quite ready to be seen.

Anyway, enough - let's get to the cakes. I found myself with half an hour to spare and in need of coffee.  I wandered along the Exmouth market street and marveled at the street food being prepped for the upcoming lunchtime rush, pastas, meatballs, curries of various sorts, all kinds of breads. Interesting to see these dishes at the early stages, normally burnt to the pan by the time I get there. I considered Briki for a moment, a very short moment. Cakes looked good and some interesting sarnies on display, but not at all sure about the atmos - just a tad hipster. A young couple came in with their wee treasure in a buggy, moaned about all the other buggies before starting to divest themselves of all manner of ill-matched, shabby over-clothing. Shabby, but enormously expensive. Nah, too up itself, but might have had people-watching potential.

I wandered across to Sweet, a patisserie in the French style. A glance in the window and my decision was made - Portuguese nata. Is there a finer treat to be found anywhere? Friendly and helpful staff served an excellent coffee (Ethiopian blend this week) and the aforementioned nata. Sweet it certainly was, a little too sweet perhaps, and could have done with more nutmeg. Not really a complaint, coffee, cake and the paper, huge windows to watch the world go by, I was at one with all things. The locals began to come in and order salads from the extensive range. I had wondered how they were going to shift all that food, but plenty of people were buying lunch at 11:30, they would have been fine. Coffee and cake was £4.50, certainly not cheap, but I was not rushed and in London you will pay a lot more for a lot worse.

Just the name. Sweet. It's rubbish, why not doux or le sucre or le sucrier. What do I know, I would still happily return.