cafe Archives - Time for a coffee

August 17, 2026August 17, 2026

Double Pistachio

I do enjoy walking around Portishead Marina, it’s a lovely place. There are quite a few places to get food and drink. Reality is that I don’t go to many of these, as lots of other people like the marina too, and a lot of places are very busy. I also seem to be there in the afternoon, so too late for lunch and too early for dinner.

It was a sunny Saturday afternoon in August, so I was expecting places to be very busy, however when I got to Cafe Mokoko I was pleasantly surprised that it was busy, but not too busy, no queues.

I ordered a pistachio oat latte and a pistachio ganache pastry. So, I had one drink and one pastry and even I was a little surprised that the total cost was £9.90. So nearly ten pounds. I know it sounds like an old man complaint, but it did feel a little steep to pay nearly ten pounds for essentially a coffee and a snack!

I am guessing that I have been spoilt with the Three+ app where I was getting £1 coffees from Caffé Nero for the last couple of years. When it was sunny I would often have a pistachio latte, so having to pay full prices was unusual.

I went with the oat version of the latte as I don’t normally have milk in my coffee, and I rarely have milk with cereal either. It was almost an impulse decision to go with the oat milk version, I think it was partly as it was on the sign next to the till.

I did enjoy the latte. I could tell it was made from oat milk, but it worked. There was a good taste of pistachio, and it wasn’t too sweet either. Nice and cold as well. Certainly, would have this again, on another visit to Cafe Mokoko.

The pastry was a croissant style pastry filled with pistachio ganache.

I did think this might be too sweet and sickly, but actually it worked well. The pistachio ganache was not too sweet and was absolutely lovely The combination of flaky croissant style bread with the soft flavourful ganache was perfect.

This was a lovely drink and pasty. Often Cafe Mokoko can be really packed and busy, but today it was just about right, there was a lovely atmosphere. They have outside seating, but I chose to sit inside (it was cooler) and had lovely views of the marina. I will be going back there again.

July 15, 2026July 15, 2026

Cheese Scone

I was visiting Arlington Court, a National Trust property in Devon and headed to the Kitchen Cafe for some refreshment. It was a beautiful hot day so I had a single espresso, iced water and a cheese scone.

It was a nice scone, but I have had lots of cheese scones at various National Trust properties over the years. As I said it was a nice scone, but it wasn’t one of the best I’ve had, it was a little dry compared to others I’ve had. Not sure if that was the scone or possible the weather.

January 3, 2026

Mokoko Mortadella Sandwich

It was a nice sunny day, so I headed to Portishead to have a walk around the marina and I also stopped for coffee.

I went for a coffee and a sandwich at the Mokoko Bakery. I went for a flat white and an interesting mortadella, pistachio, and mozzarella focaccia sandwich.

Though I have had cakes and pastries from the Mokoko Bakery, however this was my first sandwich from the bakery.

It was an interesting sandwich, with thin slices of mortadella, fresh mozzarella, and some chopped pistachio. The bread was quite oily, so much so, I needed more napkins to wipe my hands with. The sandwich was nice and fresh and you could tell it had been made that morning.

I enjoyed the sandwich and the coffee was great as well.

December 14, 2025

Cheese Scone at Hanbury Hall

I don’t always have a cheese scone when I visit a National Trust property, but it is usually my go to snack when getting a coffee after walking around the house and grounds of the place I am visiting.

I had just enjoyed the 1970s and 1980s themed Christmas at Hanbury Hall and was about to head home, when I thought a snack would be nice. I wasn’t really in the mood for anything sweet, so I got myself a cheese scone. It was fresh, light and cheesy. I would have preferred it warm, but that wasn’t an option that was offered. Tasty scone, very nice.

March 2, 2025March 2, 2025

Pistachio Danish

One of the things I like about getting a Too Good To Go (TGTG) bag is trying out new places which isn’t going to break the bank. New places open all the time, and sometimes you think, should I try it out, or should I go to my usual haunts. For me the TGTG bag gives me a way to try out their food and not spend loads of money.

For instance I got a TGTG bag from DoubleShot Coffee – Barbers in Bristol. This is an independent, well I want to write cafe, but they also cut hair.

My TGTG bag was valued at £9.00 and cost £2.99.

In my bag I got

Two pistachio danish pastries
A maple pecan danish pastry
A croissant

By my reckoning that was worth £9.

Have to say the pistachio danish was rather tasty.

I will certainly try and get future bags from them, but I think I might also visit them for a coffee another time (probably won’t get a haircut though).

April 2, 2024

A new cafe to try

On a lunchtime walk I noticed that there was a new cafe on Wine Street next to the Tesco Express. Didn’t have a chance to go in and try it, but I have added it to places I might visit.

Looking online later, it was apparent it is part of a wider chain of Bristol based coffee places.

On our menu, there’s a rich selection of coffees, teas, chai and matcha lattes, and refreshing cold options like our fresh fruit smoothies and protein shakes. For lunch and light bites, we offer seasonal homemade sandwiches and wraps, toasted sourdough sandwiches, fresh salads, Cornish pasties and sausage rolls. A variety of vegan, vegetarian and meat fillings are included. For those seeking a sweet bite, we have freshly baked pastries, muffins, cakes, and more, perfect alongside a hot drink.

February 7, 2023

Pretty Coffee

We were up in the Mall doing some shopping and decided to stop for some coffee. In the basement was the John Lewis espresso bar, which I have visited a fair few times before. More recently it has been revamped and is now a branch of Ori Caffé.

Ori Caffé is a partnership between John Lewis and Massarella, a family run business with Italian origins. Massarella dates all the way back to 1864, when the family came over from Italy with a view to move to America.

The cafe area has been re-decorated, and their is a Mediterranean inspired menu sandwiches, and more traditional British cakes, as well as Italian cannoli.

As we entered it was a little awkward, in that we had to wait to be seated, but it wasn’t table service, you went up to the counter to order your food and drinks. I ordered a tea, a flat white, a vegetarian sausage roll, and a cheese and ham rarebit.

We took a seat and waited for our food and drinks to arrive.

My flat white looked very pretty.

It was an excellent coffee, which I enjoyed. The tea was very nice too.

The rarebit, was not a rarebit. It was a cheese and ham sourdough toastie.

It needed a lot more cheese, and to be a rarebit, needed a cheese sauce. The ham was good quality though. Overall I did enjoy the toastie.

The vegetarian sausage roll was rather good, or so I was told.

Overall it was a nice place for coffee and the food was tasty.

April 6, 2022April 5, 2022

Excellent Eggs

Up in Manchester I joined a colleague for breakfast at the Federal Cafe Bar.

I really liked the atmosphere. We found a table and I went to the counter to order a coffee. Having had some toast at my hotel I only wanted the coffee.

My colleague with the Turkish Eggs. Two free range poached eggs on whipped garlic yoghurt with hot chilli butter and za’atar and served with sourdough toast.

It looked amazing and my colleague said the eggs were excellent.

I had a great flat white.

Later I decided to go back there for a coffee, only to find the place full and no free seats. Well maybe next time I am in Manchester I will return for a coffee or even breakfast.

August 13, 2021August 15, 2021

Birthday Breakfast at the Brunello

I have been to the Brunello Lounge before on the seafront at Weston-super-Mare, though mainly for coffee. We did go there for a Christmas Eve breakfast back in December 2019 (though I didn’t write about it).

The Brunello Lounge is one of a range of lounges across the South West. They all have their own names, the one in Gloucester is the Portivo for example. They have a pretty eccentric decor, where we sat in the Brunello there was a huge soviet era painting of Lenin on the wall. I actually quite like the eccentricity of the decor.

We were celebrating a birthday, so we headed out to the Brunello Lounge. We were given a nice warm welcome and we looked over the menu. One of the things I like about the Brunello Lounge is that their gluten free menu is extensive and wide ranging. No limited choices here, the menu is nearly as wide at the “normal” menu.

We looked over, and we made our choices. I went with the muffin with bacon, sausage and a fried egg.

We placed our orders at the bar, gave our table number and waited.

We didn’t have to wait long and the breakfasts arrived.

They were eaten with gusto and I enjoyed my muffin. The sausages were excellent, but I found the bacon a little too salty, probably because it was slightly overcooked compared to how I like my bacon.

Everyone enjoyed their breakfasts.

January 13, 2015

In the Birdcage

Walking up Corn Street in Bristol over the festive break and wanting a coffee, we decided to pop into the Birdcage. There are quite a few cafés and restaurants in this area of Bristol, so you have quite a bit of choice.

It looks like the building use to be a bank or similar, however once inside, the interior decor is very quirky, retro and quite refreshing if you are use to the decor you find in the main coffee chains such as Costa or Starbucks.

In the Birdcage

The lighting for example comprised a series of non-matching lampshades hanging together form the ceiling.

Shades

The furniture was mis-matched wooden chairs and tables, combined with leather sofas. Across the walls and in the windows were signs, old bicycles, even mannequins wearing old fashion.

In the Birdcage

This is very much a coffee shop, and though there were cakes available, the main attraction is the coffee. The coffee was certainly made well and quite nice.

In the Birdcage

I liked how after asking for coffee at the counter, we could sit down and they bought the coffee over. That is a much more relaxed experience than the busy somewhat hectic experience you can find, and I have certainly found in the chain coffee shops.