The Scottish Café, National Galleries of Scotland

http://www.thescottishcafeandrestaurant.com/home.html

Score 4/5

Great for: Afternoon tea with a view

Price: Cream/ tea £5.00, Cappuccino £2.50, Tea £2.00/2.50, Cake £2.95

A trip to the National Galleries wouldn’t be complete without visiting this great café, which to be honest, is worth a trip all of its own.  Cakes are of your traditional British variety, and whilst they do carry with them a great sense of nostalgia, they don’t quite hit the mark.  The cakes aren’t as good as your mum’s (though they are good) and the scones, whilst delicious themselves, come with whipped not clotted cream.  As a south westerner, this is a big no-no.  If you really can’t provide clotted cream, go with butter.  Whipped cream just doesn’t cut it, the texture isn’t right and if you leave it for too long it starts to melt and lose it’s air which is very off putting.  As for the tea, it was good not great.

So, if the food isn’t amazing how come this place gets a 4 and not a 3/5.  Well, that all comes down to the beautiful surroundings.  You just can’t beat the view and the huge windows frame it beautifully.  The service is fantastic, the tables are spacious and it never feels overcrowded.  It’s a very relaxing place and manages to be sleek and sophisticated without being snobby and pretentious.  Come here to while away an hour or so with a special friend for a good gossip.  Bliss.