The past couple of weeks have been rather inconsistent here on the blog, with my PhD application, holidays, and a small personal issue, but we’re back in the full swing of things starting this week!

Last weekend my partner and I went for a short beach escape to Portobello. It’s smallish, and it was freezing, but the sun was out and it was beautiful! After a walk on the promenade we went for lunch and tea at a place recommend to us by a friend: Dalriada.

This restaurant/pub is by the beach, in a beautiful stately home. There’s a lot of seating outside, which is optimistic but always nice. As stated above this is not really a tea room at all, it’s more of a gastro pub that has tea and cakes. So don’t go expecting the best afternoon tea you’ve ever had!
That said, you should expect a decent cup of tea with a slice of delicious cake. 

I went for a refreshing cup of peppermint tea, it was a standard bag and I don’t know what the brand was but it was quite alright (peppermint tea being hard to get wrong). The absolute star of the show was the Caramel Shortbread Cake. Maybe it’s because I’m on a strict diet (the logical outcome from being an afternoon tea fanatic, unfortunately..), but this cake was perfect. It was slightly moist, but certainly not wet, it had subtle hints of (salted?) caramel, and a slight trace of chocolate. So. Yummy.

This place is pretty good. It feels a bit strange to have this cosy pub thing right by the beach, and to have tea and cakes in it, but my God was that cake beautiful. It made me cheat on my diet but it was well worth it!
The staff is very friendly, but don’t really seem to understand what’s happening around them. It took a while to get the order in, and the waitress looked absolutely lost. That said, they are friendly and the food is good.

Overall, I would recommend Dalriada. If you’re out by the beach and need a quick refreshment, go and have a slice of heaven there. You will not be disappointed!