ottawa foodies

I have a mixed bag of British Isle roots--but mostly at our house it was about the presentation--"scones" were a big round marked out in sections (kind of like a pizza) and biscuits were rounds--either cut out or dropped depending on which grandmother made them! They were all delicious but in one extended family they varied alot! They came in sweet/savoury with various added ingredients. As a note--I tried cheese biscuits at "Pat's Sweet Temptations" at the Carp Farmers Market--very good, but grandma & gramma (irish & welsh!) just were better (they probably used lard or bacon fat to achieve that ultimate lightness!)

The cheddar and chive scone from Art-is-In. I didn't find it any more sweet than the cheddar scones you can pick up at Loblaws, but can't compare it to the Scone Witch. I did find it had a nice soft crust and great texture.

Oh, great. We just got home from there where I purchased two of those same scones. I hate sweet cheese scones.

I had my very first disappointment from art-is-in this morning. I purchased a cheddar and chive scone at the farmer's market and it was... Not good. SO Sweet!! Cheddar scones should not be sweet. Their raisin and raspberry scones are good, but this was a huge miss. I was expecting something more along the lines of the cheddar scone from the Scone Witch.

I ate it anyways since I paid three bucks for it, but what a disappointment!

Was offered a complementary scone to take away and try when I picked up the double chocolate cake, 3 chocolate almond croissants and an order of smoked rib. Added to the crazy bread and 3 desserts the previous it has been very Art-is-in couple of days.

A decent scone and not too sweet. A little big for my taste since it is a lot of white carb.

I would probably prefer a 6 pack of smaller scones to share, maybe half the size of these individual scones.

Now if I can find the Clotted Cream and some of the nice jams I had when I did tea at Fortnum and Mason, I will be set.

As is, the chocolate almond croissant has this beat every time.

Raspberry scones! Compliments of my friend Ziggy. What a good way to start a Friday morning.

It is a good scone. Nice and moist, not too sweet. I personally would like to see more raspberry in in.

On the whole it is a very nice little scone and definitely worth eating... but I wouldn't go out of my way to find one.

hehe... I know Chimichimi can take it because I have nothing but respect for his knowledge! :-)

We had the scone vs. scawn debate here: ottawafoodies.com/forum/646

psst... it's "scawn" ;-)

FF that was a righteous burn on chimi, but I'll have to admit I had NO IDEA that a scone and biscuit were considered one in the same.

A quick google for recipes does yield results indicating that scones have baking soda added, but boy was I surprised to see those wikis!

Here's a better debate - is it "s'cone" or "scawn"?

Foodie: I think the major difference is that a scone contains a baking soda/powder combo, where biscuits (to me, anyway) just contain baking powder. This results in a different taste and texture. Minor differences are that scones are sweet or savoury, where biscuits are typically plain or savoury.

Martha: I definitely agree that these are probably the best commercially available scones in Ottawa, along with Scone-witch. I just would have preferred some more berry in my scone! :( I think I got a bad one, since my raspberry scone was packed with berries

Well I am by no means a scones connoisseur so my review is not very legit! These are probably the first scones i've had in a few years! Nonetheless I was very pleased with them! Chimichimi, after reading your review, thinking back they definitely weren't buttery but I was told that art-is-in bakes their stuff with a lot of oil and less butter. I guess it's just a matter of taste? Anyways, this isn't really a review but I just wanted to comment back. What makes a scone a good scone? What a weird name.

Chimichimi, to help me understand your comments can you tell me what do you consider to be the difference between scones (en.wikipedia.org) and biscuits (en.wikipedia.org)? Thanks. :-)

Unfortunately this great spot recently closed:(
m.facebook.com

I never realized that I eat so many different scones, but apparently they are my breakfast of choice. I stopped in to Herb and Spice to buy groceries this morning and brought home a berry scone to try. The berries weren't all the way through the scone (it looked like they were in the centre of the round of dough from which the scone was cut), but the scone was an excellent size and the flavour was incredible. I would put this up there as one of the best scones that I've ever had. Definitely worth a try the next time you're looking for breakfast.

Since this is the first entry on Bridgehead's scones, I figure I will add a bit of background information: Bridgehead usually has two types of scones, one sweet and one savoury. They had been carrying a cheese scone and a lemon scone for quite some time, and added a maple oatmeal scone recently.

Today, I went in and noticed that there was in place of the lemon scone a lemon-blueberry scone, which I was quite excited by. They looked a bit darker, but I didn't think anything of it. The girl who rung me through a was surprised by the existence of the new scone, so I'm guessing today was the first day.

Anyway, I suspect that either an ingredient was missing or that the dough had been mixed for far too long, because these might have been the driest and toughest scones I have ever tasted. Certainly, they were an anomaly for Bridgehead. Although, my general experience is that they need a few batches to work out any kinks in the recipe. I'm just surprised that they released them, given how tough they were...presumably previous batches weren't as bad.

ETA (September 4): I emailed Bridgehead about this and they agreed with me. The lemon scone returned and they've been working to improve their other scones in the kitchen. Meanwhile, they compensated me a lemon scone on my next visit and since then, their lemon scones have been the best they've ever been!

The last two times I've had scones from here, they haven't been cooked through. Needless to say, rewarmed, undercooked pastry is as bad as it sounds.

Scones here are served warm, with butter, whip cream and jam on the side...mmmm! Grab a cup (or a pot!) of tea and it makes for a great catching-up session with friends after work!

Hi - I bought rasperry-scones from swissly two weeks ago: that was 2die4!! try that - really a different to the usual scones from anyone! Art-is-in was before that buy my favorite - but now: they are moved to the second place!

Almost like a cross between a biscuit and shortbread, these were different from the texture I'm used too, but very, very tasty, especially with a pot of earl grey tea.

Life of pie is their name. Baking is their game.

Finally a place where I can grab a coffee and a breakfast treat in the morning before I make my way to work.
I didn't have my coffee at home this morning, a ritual that I have been doing for a while now to save a few pennies. As I hopped out of the bus, I said to myself "I deserve a little treat, what a great way to try the new little bakery that just opened up around the corner!"

I have had their scones and cookies here before... stick with what you know! I grabbed a delicious tripple berry scone and a coffee. The coffee is excellent and the scone was still warm and moist inside. You don't need butter or jam, it has a great flavour and it's not too sweet, which is what i like most about the scones.

It's so refreshing to get a fresh local treat and coffee that doesn't have the green circle on it :)

Have a great morning!

A little history lesson:
Life of pie was originally located in the residential area of sunnyside and Bank in a mud room type enterence of a home. It was the size of a closet! Obviously this didn't stop "the pie lady" to grow her business and open her store on hustling and bustling Bank Street! Congratulations on the growth of your local business!

Check their website for the dynamic menu of freshly baked goods :)

Check out my Ottawa blog theovalley.blogspot.com

Scones are wonderful - rich and crumbly, with raspberry, blueberry, strawberry or cranberry added. They usually don't make it home from the store.

Hands down the best scones in town. Not much choice, but blueberry is my personal favorite. They are huge and cheap!

I spontaneously picked up a sandwich scone today. This is the poached salmon and cucumber on a herb and onion scone. It came to over $5 which I thought was a little high for the small size of it but I don't mind paying for deliciousness!! The salmon was perfectly cooked, the cucumber was thinly shaved, and it was made with a little mayo and mixed greens. I knew I wasn't going to be dissappointed here and I definitely wasn't! Yummy yum...can't wait to try other sconewitches.

Finally got to the Scone Witch on Crichton this morning....the square scone is Cheddar and the round scone is Lemon Poppyseed (wanted to try one savoury, and one sweet). They were very flaky and light, a little different than the ones the bakery I work at make....but still yummy all the same. On their menu, they had 3 or 4 savoury selections and about 5 sweet. I was dissappointed that they didn't have Herb and Onion, Feta, or Vanilla Cream, so I had to re-choose. :(

I asked the lady if they were calling this location the "Scone Witch Takeaway", she said no but they still are tagging it this way so people don't arrive and think they can get a table and sit down like their location downtown. It is very tiny and if anyone remembers Delish that used to be there, it is renovated now and looks a little different.

Quite nice, and good for the price ($5.95 with a pot of tea), but served with canned whipped cream instead of the Devon cream you get with the $40 "high tea" at Zoe's lounge Zoé's Lounge.

Fantastic, huge, buttery scones. Seemed pricey at over $3 but they look to be nearly twice the size of scones at some other bakeries. Had blueberry.