Scone Spy: Our cafe critic checks out Edinburgh's Tigerlily

Sometimes Scone Spy loves to discover a teeny tiny cafe down a leafy country lane, run by upstanding members of the community, with everything being made and sourced by local vendors.

And other times, Scone Spy likes to go all out on the glam, decadently enjoying the most opulent scones Edinburgh’s posh New Town has to offer.

Tigerlily is hard to miss if you know what to look for. The front door is shrouded in fake (but very pretty) cherry blossom trees that spill out on to fashionable George Street.

Inside is a sleek boutique bar and restaurant, where the decor is just as inviting as the food and drink. It’s interiors are a work of art, and it’s the perfect spot for those who love an Insta-friendly location for their afternoon brunches and cocktail boomerangs.

We are whisked to a plush side room for our cocktail afternoon tea, and I wash down my delicious finger sandwiches with a Fuji Mountain Swizzle cocktail, alongside my regular cup of breakfast tea.

Then it’s on to the all-important scones. Like everything else in Tigerlily, the scones are visually perfect. We are presented with two identical round doughy domes – these are not the rough and ready scones you are perhaps used to in your local farmer’s shop. I wonder if they taste as good as they look – and as far as plain scones go, by the time they are swathed in clotted cream and strawberry jam, they taste pretty darn excellent.

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We move on to the cakes which are very decadent, even by afternoon tea standards, featuring a gooey (in a good way) lemon meringue tart, strawberries and cream cupcake and a salted caramel eclair. You know me, reader, I take every culinary challenge on head first, but even I had to admit defeat in the face of the carrot cake with cream cheese icing. It turns out there is a limit to how much sweet my tooth can take – well, who knew?

If you are looking for somewhere to brunch with the girls, or a place that can really jazz up your Insta feed, Tigerlily is well worth a jaunt to Edinburgh’s city centre.