Tea With Rachael – Edinburgh Tea Break

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The delights of Edinburgh…
A classic girly weekend – Tea, cake, banoffee pie, Prosecco, Cava, shopping…

I just had a lovely girly weekend with one of my very best friends in Edinburgh – my first trip to this fair City and a very pleasant one!

We shopped ’til we dropped, both admiring all that the city has to offer and doing some window shopping, as well as making some fabulous bargain purchases!

We were were well set up for our long days of shopping by staying at the delightful Rick’s on Frederick Street – a comfy, luxurious twin room with a well-stocked mini bar, organic tea and coffee, a fantastic power shower and White Company toiletries – fabulous! I particularly liked the purple colour scheme and copious plump pillows on the beds!

The breakfasts at Rick’s were hearty and traditional, providing plenty of energy for our adventures! Yesterday I had yummy Eggs Benedict with Scottish Smoked Salmon, tea (of course!) and freshly squeezed orange juice, and today a wonderfully filling full Scottish breakfast with grilled bacon, sausage, poached eggs, mushrooms, tomato, potato scone and wholemeal toast – along with two pots of tea and more orange juice, setting me up for the long journey back to Richmond!

We booked using Rick’s Sunday Escape Offer – with dinner and a (very good) bottle of Prosecco included in the price of Sunday night’s stay, as well as breakfast. Dinner was also excellent – I had haddock fishcakes which were meaty and filling, served with a light balsamic salad. Main course was chicken in mushroom and Marsala sauce with sweet potato mash – fresh, comforting and downright delicious! For dessert we shared a slice of melt-in-the-mouth lemon curd cheesecake with a home-made shortcake base.

After all our shopping on Saturday, we ate a late lunch in the bar at Rick’s, where we munched on a very generous charcuterie and cheese platter with salad, olives, hummus and wholemeal pitta bread, a selection of cheeses (including the creamiest Feta I have ever tasted!) and Parma Ham, Bresaola and Salami.

We were impressed by the relaxed yet trendy decor and the hotel/bar/restaurant all have a laid-back, fun atmosphere. The staff were incredibly helpful and friendly and we were impressed by the excellent value of the offer. We thoroughly enjoyed our stay and will definitely return to Rick’s. We highly recommend it and are both also keen to try their other establishment, Tigerlily.

On Saturday, we had another tasty meal – this time dinner – at Whigham’s Wine Cellars on Hope Street. I ate home-made chicken liver pate served with Scottish oatcakes, which was meaty and had a lovely taste of fresh herbs. For main course I had rare roast beef salad, with wonderfully pink slices of the finest Buccleuch Scotch beef. My friend had a very generous portion of roasted pepper risotto (I sadly couldn’t sample it as I’m allergic to peppers) but it looked and smelled delicious and my friend agreed! We washed it all down with an incredible rose Cava, which was also an appropriately girly shade of pink, and followed the meal with yet more tea! Thoroughly recommended for the great food and wine, cosy atmosphere and attractive decor.

On Sunday, after walking around Edinburgh all day and lots and lots of shopping, we stopped off at Frederick’s Coffee House on Frederick’s Street for their famous banoffee pie and a pot of tea. It was very tasty indeed, and Frederick’s Cafe has a lovely, relaxed atmosphere, with a fashionable turquoise/teal interior, comfy sofas and large windows that let in plenty of light.

I rate each of these establishments very highly and would definitely recommend – I am keen to return with other friends and my husband in the future.

Rick’s 5/5
Frederick’s 5/5
Whigham’s Wine Cellars 4/5

Rachael X
You can read more about what Rachael loved and purchased on her amazing blog http://teawithrachael.blogspot.co.uk/
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