Some coffees are better than others

It's difficult here in Edinburgh during August to find great deals - you get the feeling that the restaurant and shop keepers are making sure that they are making the most of the opportunities of the multitudes of tourists.

So my post this week relates to a high quality coffee shop on Broughton Street called Artisan Roast - number 57 in fact. Earlier this year we were in New Zealand and one of the great things is an almost country wide quality of their coffee.

Despite the quantity of "quality" coffee shops - I am usually disappointed by the flavor and strength of the roast. But at Artisan Roast there is excellent coffee in a very chilled / relaxed atmosphere. Have even taken the opportunity of a take away flat white. The staff seem to be truly interested in quality of the coffee they are providing. My only disappointment was the hot chocolate - despite the range of flavours available I wasn't fully convinced.

I have forgotten cheeses

The demise of stores such as Woolies and Victoria Wine has led to some interesting changes on the high street. In Musselburgh it has led to more charity shops and a B+M Bargains. In Tranent, on the High Street, a small cafe - Coffee Lounge - has replaced what I am led to believe was a former off licence.

We've been to Tranent a few times and most recently needed to be around at lunchtime. Both of us were peckish - but weren't looking for a big meal as we had friends coming for dinner. So we only ordered a sandwich.

Cor blimey - and what a stonker arrived. Filled with bacon and brie - and with a great range of side salads it was a very filling sandwich. This place is well worth going to if you are in the vicinity. And this was a meal in itself and came in at around three quid fifty pence.

Sweet and tender Gullane

Ahh - it's all about food!!!

Another weekend - another cake fest. We've had friends visiting this weekend and as they were interested in all things ornithological we thought of a trip to the beach out at Gullane in East Lothian. As well as the delights of a Bethany shop, a fine butcher and a great beach - there is the delight of Falko - a German patisserie.

Excellent coffee - despite the views of our US cousins - not from a chain - accompanied by a yoghurt scone which was light as a feather. This was accompanied by butter and two types of jam - mmm. One of our team felt that the fruit in his cake was so refreshing that it meant is was almost beyond indulgence. I have to say that my scone and coffee came to three ponds sixty pence - but it was lovely.

Even at 11:30 on a Sunday we just managed to get a seat as can be seen from the queues which were there by noon.

Wallpapers of the world unite

Ahhh - the delights of August in Edinburgh. There's a choice - hide at home chunterring about "bloody tourists" clogging up Princes Street and your favourite bars. Or embrace the hordes of humanity shifting aimlessly around the town and thank the street artists - such as the Zambezi choir on Rose Street yesterday - for keeping you amused and engaged with the diversity of the arts.

So yesterday I went with a chum to the Martin Creed exhibition at the Fruitmarket. No entrance fee to an excellent gig which I would recommend for its playfulness. Don't miss taking the lift - and please try and play Three Blind Mice on the stairs.

After this - and a not so successful theatre piece - it was food for the body rather than the mind time. I have been a fan of David Ramsden's Dogs enterprises. So we went to the Seadogs - the third incarnation - which as you can imagine, focusses on fish dishes. My chum had posh folks Fish Fingers, chips and beans whilst I had battered Smoked Hake with chips and mushy peas. They didn't look like large portions but were wonderfully filling. We couldn't resist the desserts. My chum is a sucker for jelly - so she had this with a lemon sorbet. She looked particularly chipper afterwards. I had the banoffee fool - mmmm. All this came to about twenty quid for the pair of us.

Fresh, satisfying and tasty food right in the heart of Edinburgh. Oh - and great wallpaper!!!

Take me back to the rainy city

Manchester was a wonderful place for deals and sales last week and so I have to give it a second reference. But I'll focus on the bar that is 57 Thomas Street.

The bunch at the Marble Arch have some great boozers in Manchester. There is the Knott off Deansgate and the Marble Arch up Rochdale Road. But now they have a central - in the Northern Quarter - hostelry called 57 Thomas Street. There is a simple food menu - plates of cheeses and salamis / meats which you can eat sat around the central (and I think only) table.

They have around 3/4 beers in barrels sat on the bar - and I understand they don't sell fizzy pop. And in a city centre pub we had a pint and a half of beer for the magnificent three pounds sixty pence.

And talk about - This and That

A few days in Manchester gave a number of opportunities to try out the food, museums and bars.

Friday afternoon saw us visit the best of a number of places - This and That on Soap Street. To describe its environs as inauspicious would be an understatement. A rubbish strewn street with a faint odour of well used vegetable oil leads to a scruffy looking door. But inside it was rammed with folk tucking into the home produced curries. The most popular - and another of Manchester's gifts to the World - is the three curries and rice. A stonking portion of rice has your choice of three of the six curries available ladled across it. The price you pay depends on the number of meat curries you buy but the basic three veg curries comes to three pounds fifty pence. And it is a delight - no frippery - big jugs of water to wash the monster food down. Bowls of fresh coriander and chopped green chillies to add extra flavour if necessary. Sat cheek by jowel with the other diners on Formica topped tables with the seats welded to the floor.

So all this scran plus an onion bhaji came to 9 quid.

It doesn't come better than this.

Staff of Leith

I remember that Scotrail used to advertise the Glasgow to Edinburgh train journey by using two genteel ladies extolling the virtues of the rival cities - saying "Morningside, Kelvinside: Morningside, Kelvinside" the smarter part of the two cities. I always think of Leith as Edinburgh's slightly louche cousin - the sort of aunty you would always want to turn up at family parties because you knew she was fun and, with a wink and a finger to her mouth saying shhhh, would pour a little vodka into your pop.

Though it's been suffering a little with the tram works - Leith Walk still offers such a wide range of shops that it would be difficult to think of anything you couldn't buy somewhere along it.

Which brings me to Storries!!! I have been aware of Storries at 279 Leith Walk for ages - and there are loads of references to their steak pies. I think they used to do a breakfast pie - containing bacon and egg. They also do cakes / scones etc and I think they now offer hot drinks. Not sure of the opening times - but definitely early.

Having given up buying bread for a while, I was shocked to see how much a decent loaf had got to in the local supermarket. Well the Doctor was looking for a sausage sarnie for her brekkie, so on the way home I dropped in for some rolls.

Unfortunately they had sold out but I was offered one of their Wheaten Loaves - for the princely sum of 45p. What a great loaf, tasty bread with a crusty top - and with Findlay's sausages made a breakfast fit for a doctor.