Lunch at the Willow tearooms, buchanan street

When I first came to Glasgow a year ago, I had read any guides that ever existed on the city. I wanted to make sure I wouldn't miss anything.

I became obsessed with going to the Willow tea rooms as every guide described it as a must do, designed by Mackintosh in the 1900's.

For some reasons I had trouble finding it, until one day of shopping with Matt on Buchanan street:
"Oh my god it's here! Can we go please, please, pretty please?"
I wish I hadn't insisted.

Because you see, the Willow tea rooms is to me, the biggest disappointment of my career (I'm still young so I assume there will be many more).

So back to one year ago, we went upstairs. Matt moaned about the queue, I smiled and said: "This means the food must be fantastic".
So we waited quietly, I was really excited. When it came to us, the reception lady looked over my shoulder and asked: "two people?" to the next couple. I waved at her and said that we were here first and she totally ignored me. She asked the same thing again, and the couple behind me confirmed to her that we were here first.
How rude. What was the problem there, I asked. Seeing the irritated look on my face she finally gave us a table.
I never felt so insulted.
I wanted to leave but Matt said that after all the trouble we went through we might as well eat.
Which we did. Terrible. Matt ordered a cheese sandwich, which was basically two pieces of toast and some grated cheese for about 5 pounds. I was "raging". The food took ages to come, I still felt hurt, we left and swore never to come back.

BUT...
As Susan and I met in town today for a ladies lunch, I figured that now I am writing a blog on the matter, I should maybe give them a second chance, as I have to admit, the 6 pounds lunch deal was quite tempting.

So same again, queue etc... Not a problem, I was prepared.
We got a table pretty fast, and also ordered pretty fast as we knew what we wanted.
Susan went with the soup of the day, lentil soup, and I went with the lunch deal which was chili con carne with tea of my choice (I chose rose petal tea).

We waited half an hour. 25 minutes for the tea itself. I don't know, maybe they were waiting on a delivery from China.
When I asked what was taking so long, they said our particular meal was quite long to prepare.
"Oh I hadn't realized they were making my chili from scratch" I told Susan sarcastically.

But this gave me the time to stare at the Mackintosh chair. Yes, very pretty.

Giving me a table by the kitchen was not the smartest idea either, as I caught a glimpse of how the scones were prepacked. For a tearoom I think that's a bit big.
I was also delighted to see a tray full of cakes being put down on the top of a bin as there was no room elsewhere. Yummy.

We then enjoyed a feast of watery chili with microwaved pitta (you know the ones that are hot for 30 seconds  and then get hard and dry, deelish!), and an obviously not homemade soup.

The positive thing I will remember and want to stress though, is how lovely that young waitress was.
Susan is lactose and gluten intolerant, and the waitress came up with suggestions and made sure every food was safe. Good one.

For that reason we decided to order desert, which turned out to be lovely (no scones for me though, jeez!)
We both had the meringues, which I very much enjoyed.

So what I would say about the Willow tearooms is: go there for tea and cakes, and the chairs; not for the manager's attitude or the food or you would be as disappointed as I was.

As for me, I give second chances, but no third ones.

Hidden lane tearoom

The rain, always the rain.

I was sitting in my room with melancholy, watching the rain pour, hating my friends back in France who were probably getting a tan on the beach when I heard my Spanish flatmate Raquel in the kitchen.
"Surely she can relate to what I'm going through" I thought, then got up and met her for a chat.
"I would kill for an afternoon tea" I said. Seeing the surprised look on her face I talked her through what I can honestly say is my favourite British tradition. "And then you get the scones..." "What's a scone?"

That was it.

We grabbed our coats and took off.

Living near Argyle street, I passed the hidden lane a few times, and was always curious about the tearoom.

As I entered, it felt like I had finally found my dream tearoom. Everything screamed retro, pink and sweet.

A cute stand was featuring the cakes of the day which today included cupcakes and meringues.
We went upstairs and  grabbed a table by the balcony.
Just like downstairs, every detail was perfectly coordinated, un-matching chairs with matching floral cushions, mint-coloured walls, fresh flowers.

We went for the cream tea which was 8 pounds (different from what the website said but let's pass) which entitled us to a teapot for two and a scone each.


One negative point though, the table had been cleared but not cleaned, and was sticky from the customers before us.



Those scones were the best ones I had in Glasgow so far. Sugar coated and served in halves with fresh whipped cream and jam, topped with a strawberry. The teapot was massive, the teacups weren't. As part of the shop's collection (collected over 2 years the owner told me), the teacups were obviously a lovely retro set, but, for the huge tea drinker that I am , I wish I did not have to refill every two mins.
But at least the tea stayed warm all throughout, so I was quite happy in the end.



I was also pleased to hear that the cakes were freshly baked daily, so if I was to come back the next day (tempting) I would have a new range of cakes waiting for me.


An overall charming experience, bravo.

So charming that, as Raquel and I were chatting on our way out, the waitress called us in, we had forgotten to pay the bill. Embarrassing. But I guess this was the best compliment we could have made, feeling so cosy and nice that it felt like leaving a friend's house. Oh well, at least we all had a good laugh.

Taste of Edinburgh: the dining experience

One major aspect of the taste is that you actually get to taste some great restaurants food that you could not normally afford. I am gonna stop you right there, you still can't afford them, they just came up with one third of a portion that you pay one third of the price (around a fiver a course)

So it's basically like when you can't afford a car, well they will give you a third of it, let's say hand break, seats, and wheel for one third of the price.

I know I'm sounding sarcastic but I'm not, I'm just a cheeky person by nature.

No seriously now, I really liked the concept, as I was able to eat mini things which is my passion in life.

So here is what I chose for my own mini three courses:

For starters I went with a "pomegranate bellini and olives" from Whole foods market.

Ok it isn't a starter, it's more of an aperitif but let's not forget that my blog is about great food on a shoestring, could not possibly afford a three course meal that day.
The olives were lovely, very tasty. The bellini was nice, not too sweet.

For the main course I chose the "Confit of Kirriemuir lamb, caramelised celery puree and fondant potato, mint crisp and tarragon jus" from The Balmoral.


For some reason, I cannot stand mint. I mean, mint tea is fine, a mint leaf from time to time, but mint in a savoury dish, non merci, and yet, I was drawn to that one.
I must say, congratulations Balmoral, for making me appreciate mint with meat for the first time.
The lamb was so tender, almost melting in my mouth, the potato fondant was exquisite, I wished there was more in my plate. Makes me want to try their full menu. Good one.

And for desert I picked the "Summer berries, vanilla mascarpone, raspberry crumble" from Angels with Bagpipes.

When I first saw it I thought : "oh lovely, a barbie doll sized dessert!" but as soon as I tasted the mascarpone,  oh my god. It was light but so tasty at the same time, paired with the berries it was just an enchantment.

Taste of Edinburgh: actual tasting

Let's be serious now, I have some tasting to do.

When I entered the festival I thought "Mon dieu, where do I begin?"

Turns out it was a piece of cupcake, as some stalls just naturally caught my intention. And here they are:


Hamlyns oats



Liz and Tracey from Hamlyns were oh so welcoming, Their company uses premium oats, grown and milled in the Scottish countryside, using no additives or preservatives. They nicely gave me a porridge sample which I'm sure will do me an excellent healthy breakfast this week.






Yum yum tree fudge


I was greeted by a nice wee man. He talked me through Yum Yum's products which are made with local British sugar and natural flavours. He pointed out to the strawberry flavoured fudge, and asked me to smell it. It did smell like fresh strawberries. "What a delight" I thought, while the fudge was melting in my mouth. "We even supply Harrods!" he added proudly. I am no Harrods regular unfortunately but to me that's an extra reason to trust the wee man.


Melville's fruit craft lager


Ok I'm just gonna say it: I don't like beer. Aaargh I know, terrible, you are in the UK you must know how to appreciate a good lager, well I don't, I'm sorry, it's too bitter for me.
But (because there is a "but" ,of course), when I saw that Melville's craft lager were offering strawberry and raspberry flavoured beer, I thought I would put my fear aside for a second and give it a go.
How nice is this lager! It was sweet, fresh and fruity.
For the first time in my life I appreciated the taste of beer, so well done!
On top of that, they don't use juice from concentrate but only natural ingredients: malt, hops, yeast, water and real fruit.

JoJo's Danish bakery

I came across three cupcakes stalls that day. JoJo's was not only offering the cheapest ones (£1.50 compared to £3 pounds elsewhere), but she happened to be the only one who smiled at me.
I believe purchasing is not all about the products, it's also about contributing to someone's business.
So when I approach a stall and I am given a big smile , well, I am  pleased to give my money away.
The cupcakes also tasted great of course or I would not recommend them. The icing was so pretty and tasted like fresh vanilla fluffy butter.
I just wished she had more flavours in, as I was left with either chocolate or vanilla.

Taste of Edinburgh: Interviews

Merci beaucoup!

So I was watching this cooking demonstration, building up my genius plan to get to Channel 4 Eric Lanlard or Loyd Grossman when I realized that Lanlard was actually standing next to me in the crowd, watching the show just like I was.
So I introduced myself in French and he happily accepted to give me an interview later on. Still cannot believe my luck.

During his demonstration, Lanlard showed the audience how to make a modern version of the lemon curd tart using revolutionary ingredients such as green tea powder or yuzu lemon.
The audience laughed from beginning to end as the pastry chef told us some funny career stories of his: like this time when he went to the doctor for a check up:
"so the doctor said "everything is fine, but do you wanna talk about this? I said "what?" and he said "the marks on your wrist" (big laugh from the audience) and I said "hmm I'm a pastry chef, I get this from the trays out of the oven, I wasn't self harming because my shit pastry didn't rise or something (he laughs)!"

In the interview, Eric tells me all about his love for Scotland and his addiction to Jam rolly polly and custard.
To listen to our little chat click here.



As if I could get any luckier than that, once another demo was over, I approached the chef to ask him a few questions when a lady came up asking who I was. Turns out she was Loyd Grossman's PR person. Next thing I know, I am invited to the VIP room and meeting Mr Grossman himself.

Just one of those days...

During the Q and A, Mr Grossman was wearing a smart black suit with a surprising pair of flashing raspberry coloured socks. In my head I thought "nice one Loyd, you show them!".

He was very relaxed and easy to chat to. When asked about a possible coming back on screen he admitted he "really much hoped not" as he thinks there are way too many cooking shows on TV at the moment.

He then shared his love for travel and food, and how they are so powerfully connected, and he told us all about his influence number 1: Italy

To hear more from Grossman, click here.

Taste of Edinburgh

There are many things I adore about the UK, but the weather is my (and my hair's) arch enemy.
I have seen on Twitter that the week end sessions of the Taste of Edinburgh were cancelled due to bad rain, so cheer up everyone, I was there on Friday and will tell you all about it.

When I first got to the meadows, I saw an army of wellies splashing around in the mud.
I looked down at my wee black Primark shoes (oh maaan!) and started my journey through the deep mud to get to the door. At this point I was quite mad that no one let me know. Anyway, I got in.

It looked like one of those huge Sunday markets we have back home, only some highly regarded restaurant were exhibiting.



I went to the press tent to arrange some interviews and was annoyed to hear from them that the celeb chefs would be way too busy to talk to me. If you know my blog you will assume that it did not stop me. But more on this later.

I decided to go on a tour and taste things; after all, this was the reason I came.

What a plethora of flavours: Oatcakes, jam, pickles, olives, nuts, whisky, beer, organic yoghurts , cheeses (click to hear my Scottish cheese tasting experience, FYI my eyes watered a lot).