I am a farm shop fanatic. Arguably, this one isn't on a farm, but it has the feel and is packed…read morewith local (and some not) produce.
I like coming here and buying a handful of things whilst ensuring myself that one day I shall buy all of my food from this sort of place. Fresh vegetables, local (and gorgeous Edinburgh) gin, fill my spice rack, and my fridge with black bomber cheese and rabbit pate and fancy scotch eggs.
They have handmade chocolates and macarons in a little counter at 100g for £4, which I believe is the same, or at least very similar to Thornton's servery, and less than my local card shop. I'm always drawn to the large array of bagged dried fruit (I've had a problem for dried papaya since childhood). There's always some chocolate with stupid, bright, badly designed packaging with silly, soppy slogans all over them. The baskets are big and cute, and there's loads of great meat, interesting tea, coffee, jams, beer, wine, gift ideas to keep you searching the store.
Charmingly, and kind of irritating, the staff are so lovely and helpful and quick to say hello with a smile, you feel super guilty if you leave with nothing, and that's already hard with the produce on offer. I "oohed" at some passion fruit vodka earlier, and out of nowhere popped a woman with a sample (there was a stand, the staff weren't casing customers), I didn't partake because I was driving, but it smelled gorgeous. I can't mark it down because of the price, because there are some steals- and that's the nature of quality stuff.
