… but sometimes we need a little luxury.

I just had a fabulous cheesecake experience.  If you are ever visiting Edinburgh, Scotland, swerve off your eaten path and try Artisan Cheesecakes, 104 Bruntsfield Place, Edinburgh.

I had been viewing this shopfront from the top of a passing bus on journeys into town (the shop is well served by a large number of bus routes, as befits a place of importance).  Today, the weather was so glorious that you can see a neighbour sunbathing – but that just happened to be today.

I am at the start of a demanding project, so having made some progress this morning, I stopped off at this emporium of unctiousness, as a treat.

A really good cheesecake is a happy memory.  A middle of the road cheesecake is an incredible disappointment and every mouthful has the same no-taste-but-cream pointlessness.  Not today.  Not on my watch.

There are around 8 varieties of cheesecake on offer here daily.  I began with simple vanilla and strawberry, so I could have the simplest one first.  I will eventually progress to the lime one and definitely the white chocolate, among many.  The server tried to tempt me to try one flavour: “the Scottish Tablet is very popular”, obviously failing to recognise that I am the type of customer who, the minute she hears that everyone else is having something is bored with it, and tries something else.  (Such a recommendation from a server also sounds like they’re rushing your decision-making process.  Today there wasn’t even a queue.)

You can have your chosen cheesecake flavour made into a milkshake – reader, I will return and explore, bravely, so I can report back.  But do be aware that the report may be full of exclamation points, superlatives and needless drooling.

Drinks – the coffee machine looks encouraging, but apart from that, the cool drinks are retro bottles of fizz which are variations on coke, fanta and “rosewater lemonade”. They didn’t have ice today, with the temperatures extremely hot, which was a tiny bit disappointing.  I had a variation on cola and it was sublime.

The cheesecake was just what you’d want – served with towering peaks of real whipped cream, delicious fruit and a luxurious sensation to eat.  It’s not cheap but it’s heavenly food.

There is very little seating in the store – a table for 4 at the window, a tiny table for 2 to one side, and 2 stools at the other side of the room.  Outside, there is a blue painted bench if you don’t need table space.

The retro dresser has inside it little bunting for cakes (!) and also a plastic candelabra which takes multiple birthday candles.  And yes, you can buy an entire cheesecake and take it home as a birthday cake.

Hmm… I wonder what words can be used to describe a wonderful cheesecake experience – I may need to find some more adjectives for my next visit…..