food, reviews and of course coffee
I’ve not had coffee at the Cadbury Garden Centre for a while now. I was there killing some time while my car was getting a hand wash.
I went to the café, I had originally planned to have breakfast there, but I wasn’t hungry, so I just had a flat white instead. You order at the till, but then you take a seat and they will bring your coffee to you.
This was a lovely coffee, beautifully made and delicious.
I was getting some work done on my car and some time to kill. Nearby I had the choice of McDonalds or Starbucks, neither of which would be my first choice for a coffee (or a second breakfast).
In the end I went to Starbucks and ordered a flat white and some fruit toast.
I am not a fan of Starbucks coffee, but I have to say I really enjoyed the flat white. The taste and texture were excellent. I was surprised, but this was a nice surprise.
The fruit toast was good as well. Though I would argue that this is a toasted fruit bun rather than toast, but from the top it looks like toast.
Overall I was pleased with the coffee and the toast.
I’d made my way over to Darts Farm Shop in Topsham to use their bank of Tesla chargers. Once I’d figured out the best angle to get the Funky Cat plugged in, I headed inside to explore.
The shop itself is lovely, filled with so much local produce that I was very tempted to browse. Instead, I made a beeline for the cafe to grab a coffee and kill some time while the car charged up. A nice touch here is that, unlike many other farm shop cafes, they actually offer table service. I had been here before so was use to the process and service.
I ordered a flat white, and it wasn’t long before it arrived.
It was a well made coffee and I really enjoyed it.
I walked to Caffé Nero in Weston-super-Mare and had a skinny flat white. Thanks to the 3+ app I was able to get my coffee for £1. I realised that the full price would be £4.05. I do feel that coffee shop coffee seems to have risen quite a bit in recent years. It use to be a £2 coffee from what I can remember, okay maybe £2.75. I recently complained about the £4.25 I paid for a crap flat white from Starbucks at the NEC, I would say that this flat white from Caffé Nero was in a different league. It was well made and had the right texture and a great coffee flavour. I do have to remember that complaining about high prices and how much better things were in the past, is an old person type behaviour. I am getting older, but I also think that I if I am spending money on coffee, I want value for money. I did wonder if I would pay £4.05 for the flat white I had, I think I would, but I wouldn’t do it very often.
I was in Amsterdam for a conference and was staying at the Hotel Casa which is close to Amstelstation.
I hadn’t been able to book breakfast with my hotel booking and I wasn’t willing to pay €17.50 for a buffet breakfast, which if my other Dutch experiences were anything to go by it wasn’t going to be that good value for money. So, after getting washed and dressed I headed out to the nearby Jumbo supermarket. I got four croissant for €1, some orange juice, and I got some more Illy espresso capsules for the hotel room coffee machine, all for €7.31. Bargain!
On one of the following days, my plan was to head to the supermarket to get some croissant and an orange juice. However, it was pouring with rain. So, I went to the hotel café for a flat white and croissant.
They did make a very pretty coffee.
Either I left it too long as I ate my croissant, or they didn’t pre-heat the cup, as the coffee wasn’t very hot when I came to drink it. Difficult to really judge how good or bad the coffee was, as it wasn’t at the right temperature. They did give me a biscuit though, which I didn’t really want as it was first thing in the morning. So, not really sure about my overall verdict, okay it was pretty.
I was at the NEC and needing not just a coffee, but a place to sit, I went against all my better judgement and ordered a flat white from the Starbucks there.
This is what I was served!
I know it was not a flat white, as the method they used to make it was the same method it appeared they were using to make latte and cappuccino as well. They frothed up some milk and then added it to espresso coffee!
Then they had the cheek to charge me £4.25 for it as well. Coffee seems so much more expensive these days.
I really should know better and not bothered.
I was visiting the Netherlands attending a conference in Delft, I had some time before my flight home to explore part of Amsterdam. After walking around a bit, I decided to stop for a coffee.
I quite liked the look of Screaming Beans, even if the name was a little unnerving. I ordered a flat white and took a seat.
This was hand crafted coffee which looked great and was delicious. Though small and cosy, it was a welcoming environment and a pleasant place to spend some time drinking coffee.
I was visiting the Netherlands attending a conference in Delft, I had some time before my flight home to explore part of Amsterdam. After walking around a bit I remembered that the last time I was in the Netherlands was in October 2023 where I was in Amsterdam for a conference. Back then I had some time to explore the city as well and had a delightful coffee at Kaldi.
I decided I would try and find Kaldi again, though the obvious solution would be to be to use Google Maps, what I actually did was use Apple Photos find the picture of the coffee I had taken which had the geo-location data. I did then need to check Google Maps to see where I was and in my head work out a route.
I actually found it more easily than I thought I would.
I went in and ordered a flat white, and took a seat. It certainly is a popular place, more for coffee to go, than sit in. It wasn’t long before my coffee was ready, it looked great.
The coffee was delicious and I really enjoyed sitting in Kaldi, drinking coffee, and watching the world go by through the window.
So, I guess, the next time I am in Amsterdam, I think I will try and find Kaldi again.
I had driven over to the Darts Farm Shop in Topsham, which has a bank of Tesla chargers available. After working out the best way to position my Funky Cat to charge I headed into the Farm Shop.
This was a lovely farm shop with lots of local produce. I was very tempted. I did though head over to the cafe to get a coffee and pass the time as the car charged up.
Unlike many other farm shop cafes this cafe had table service, which was nice. They had a lovely sounding menu, however, firstly I wasn’t hungry, and even if I was, they had just finished food service when I arrived.
I ordered a flat white, and it wasn’t long before it arrived.
It was a well made coffee and I really enjoyed it.
Had a lovely flat white at Caffé Nero. Smooth and full of flavour.