"Oot and Aboot" part 2: Food Edition

So as I was jokingly explaining to my parents earlier, my activities lately have fallen into three categories: studying/class, working out, and eating.  I've also discovered a setting on my camera that lets me take really artsy, professional-looking pictures of food.
So far I've been trying really hard not to eat out too much, since it's expensive and I haven't found a job yet.  Sometimes though, it's nice to get little treats.  To celebrate the end of the first week of classes, some friends and I went to dinner at Hispaniola, a restaurant around the corner from my flat that's Treasuer Island themed.

The building used to be Rutherford's Bar, which opened in 1834 and was apparently a favorite haunt of author Robert Louis Stevenson...thus the theme based around one of his books.  The inside was charmingly kitschy, and the food was really good (Italian).

These came out really dark...but here we are inside!  The antique pistols on the wall were really cool.

We also had some uninvited guests!

I've also discovered some cheap/quick places to grab a bite, but mainly my food adventuring takes the form of post-study treats!  Last night, I'd planned on going to a favorite, Chocolate Soup, after working on my paper.  Unfortunately, when we got there it was closed.  Nicolette ended up introducing me to Piemaker, which is down the street from my flat and has traditional British savory pies in addition to a few sweet offerings.  Plus, it's cheap and open until 2am, which is rare here!  Most things close at 5 unless it's a restaurant.

The name always reminds me of the TV show Pushing Daisies when I walk by.  On the back of my pie wrapper was printed "Piemaker and the Story of Pies":
Pies were first made by the Romans in ancient times.  They used to cook the filling and sealed it in a clay shell which could be reheated on their travels.  Later they introduced a 'paste' layer made from maize which could be eaten when moisturised and cooked. (The origin of the word 'pasty')
In Britain the Welsh miners introduced the famous double crust Cornish pasty, which was made with succulent meat, potato and vegetable fillings and puff pastry with a dough rim on one side.  As cleaning of dirty coal hands was a time consuming exercise, they held on to the rim while eating the rest and then discarded that.
During the industrial development and mechanisation of the previous centuries, pies lost the quality (which had made it food for Kings), when fillings were minced and liquidised to be able to fill inferior pastry shells.
Cute!  Of course, it then goes on to talk about Piemaker pies and why they're so yummy.  I'm not arguing-mine was really nice.

But even with that, I was still craving the hot chocolate Chocolate Soup is known for.  So today I went to the library and then headed over to the cafe for a late afternoon treat.

YUM.  I decided to try "Autumn Harvest," which was dark hot chocolate with whipped cream, cinnamon, and nutmeg.  Definitely worth the wait!

There are a few more places I want to try, including a Frankenstein-themed pub which reminds me of the Jekyll and Hyde Pub in NYC.  Seems like a perfect place to go for Halloween!  I also need to check out The Elephant House, which in addition to being the cafe where J.K. Rowling wrote Harry Potter, is also supposed to have really delicious tea, which I've definitely been missing!
Hopefully I'll have gotten over my picture-taking phase by then...