Artisan Cheesecakes

 

Tucked away in Bruntsfield in Edinburgh is a wonderous place called Artisan Cheesecakes. A teeny tiny cafe absolutely devoted to cheesecake. I don't want to be dramatic or anything, but visiting might chage your life. There's so many cheesecake options you just won't know what to do with yourself. Luckily when Ben and I visited on Sunday the man behind the counter was absolutely lovely, chatting away as we uhmd and ahhd over what to take away with us. 

The cheesecakes are in quite industrial fridges, which is a shame because the rest of the shop is so cute, but I suppose needs must, and those cheesecakes definitely deserve appropriate sheltering from the heat that's currently engulfing the city. 

Eventually we went for one classic and one that was, well, a little bit out there. Creamy vanilla cheesecake with rice krispy cake on top of a chocolate biscuit base, studded with homemade marshamllow and drizzled in chocolate ganache. It was unlike any cheesecake I've ever seen, but it was also absolutely delicious. You can sit in, if you can squeeze in somewhere, but I think taking it away and sitting to relax in the Meadows which surround the shop is a much better option. You can get the cheesecake in little plastic boxes, which is very handy for this!

  

 

  

Our second, classic choice was raspberry and white chocolate, and if I'm honest I think for me the classic had the edge. We bought a minature whole cheesecake, rather than a slice of this one because it was just too cute not to, and it too came in its own little box which saw it safely transported home because we couldn't squeeze the two in whilst we sat on the grass.

I will undoubtedly be returing to Artisan Cheesecakes, as I hear rumour they have over 170 different flavours on a rotating basis. So it would be rude not to give a couple more of them a go.

If a cheesecake craving hits you, you can find the shop at 104 Bruntsfield Place, or their original shop out in Bathgate, 87 South Bridge St.

Nobody Likes You When You're 23

Yesterday I turned 23. I baked myself a pink ombre layer cake and covered it in sprinkles - because who doesn't want pink and sprinkles on their birthday? Nobody, that's who. I sat in bed and sleepily opened presents and then wandered down to the West End to tuck into some sushi from Sushiya - somewhere I highly recommend if you get that sort of craving whilst in Edinburgh. 

I decorated my flat with paper pompoms and filled it with tasty treats for all of my friends. In return, they topped my cake with candles and sang to me. Some of them went to the enormous effort of making me a cake too, and I will be forever grateful for the effort - they are not kitchen types usually! They also put up with my project for the evening, which was snapping a photo of everyone with the Polaroid camera Ben got me for Christmas that I hadn't had chance to use yet. I now have a pleasing pile of polaroids waiting to find a home. It's such a change to have physical photographs.

 

It was a wonderful evening after a really lovely day, and I really wanted to write a quick post about it to give me a chance to reflect on how lucky I am. (I'm fairly sure despite the warning from Blink-182 my friends do still like me now I'm 23.) Do you sometimes find that when you sit down to blog about something it gives you reflection time that you wouldn't otherwise take? 

The Outsider

When food can be eaten next to a view like this, you know you're on to a winner. Luckily, the Outsider, nestled unobtrusively in Old Town doesn't just rely on the view to pull in the hungry people of Edinburgh.

When Ben and I popped in for a late lunch, we were greeted by polite staff and shown to our seats in the light and airy restaurant. We ordered some bread to munch on while we made our choices. The bread, though delicious, fresh and cut into enormous chunks, was fairly standard. However, the green dip that came with it was out of this world. Essentially, I think it was just garlic infused oil, but there was another taste I couldn't identify, and I stupidly forgot to ask the waiter what it was later on. So you'll just have to take my word that it's worth ordering the bread just to get some of that dip on your taste buds!

For mains, Ben went for a crab and crayfish linguine with lemon, herbs and spinach. It was absolutely jam packed with crab and crayfish, which is so satisfying, as so often you come across meagre sprinkles of the key ingredient on the top of dishes like this.

I decided to stray a little bit away from my comfort zone and went for the rabbit, leek, mushroom and tarragon pie, served with mash. Pie is something I wouldn't usually order - I don't enjoy vast amounts of pastry - but I love rabbit, so I decided to risk it. Luckily, my risk paid off! The pie was definitely filling heavy not pastry heavy, and the rabbit was pure melt in your mouth deliciousness. 

All of this plus two soft drinks (I highly recommend the ginger cordial with sparkling water) came to around £19, which when you consider the price of other restaurants in the area, the size of the portions and the quality of the food is very reasonable. I had a nose at the dinner menu, and while it's a bit more pricey, it's definitely something I'm going to be back to sample soon. There also seemed to be a really good range of daily specials.

You can find The Outsider at
15 - 16 George IV Bridge,
Old Town, 
Edinburgh,
EH1 1EE

Clerk's Bar

The idea of one day living in Edinburgh has always been the dream for me. Some people want to climb Everest, others want a different pair of shoes for every day of the week - I just wanted Edinburgh. I never had a rational explanation for it, the closest I could get is that my Dad's never ending, as yet unexplained fascination with the city rubbed off on me.

When moving suddenly and quite unexpectedly became a reality, I was both completely overexcited and completely terrified. Terror that it wouldn't live up to my expectations, excitement that, well, it would! One of the things that most excited me was the prospect of some really good food (shocker). Not to put down the Frozen North, but after four years in a pretty small city, I was well versed in all of the affordable yet delicious options out there.

So far, I've struck lucky with eating out, very lucky. One of the first places I stumbled into was Clerk's Bar. It specialises in slow cooked meat and craft beers, and I've been back three times. In three weeks. The food is that good (their Monday night quiz is a good one too!)

On my first trip I basically fell through the door after climbing Arthur's Seat on just a bowl of weetabix. Spoilt for choice by the menu, I was pleased that there was a good variety of food ordered by the table, and I got to have a little nose at each thing.

First up, a burger, which comes with onion rings and salad anyway, but a hungry climber also topped it with cheese, bacon and pulled pork. Personally I think I would have died from the sheer volume of meat if I'd have eaten it, but it got a big thumbs up from the person who had to actually eat it, and that's all that matters!

I opted for a small portion of ribs and some sweet potato fries, and I'm not sure which bit was better. There was heaps of meat on the ribs and it fell off the bone as soon as you started to pick them up. The sauce was tangy and, happily, not overwhelming. The fries were crispy on the outside, soft on the inside, and there's a high chance that I could happily live off them for the foreseeable future if I had to.

Although the both the pulled pork (below) and chicken burritos hit the spot after our energetic afternoon, it has since been concluded (after rigorous taste testing) that actually, the beef is the one to go for.

With it's cool decor, mouthwatering food and a beer collection that gets the boys very excited, I'm not surprised Clerk's is packed out every time I go in. It's got a fantastic atmosphere. But, really, top marks go to the staff, who are possibly some of the nicest I've ever encountered.

You can find all of this goodness at: 

74-78 South Clerk Street

Edinburgh