The Cathedral refectory, Durham and then al fresco!

I had a little day out today as I wasn't working.  It turned out to be as warm as a summer day, blue sky, sunshine, fab weather for Durham.  I'd been on quite a long walk (for an old person) so the tea and Victoria Sandwich in the refectory was very welcome.  Still reviving pilgrims 1000 years on - beat that any fast food chain!  It's so cosy in there, and proper tables and chairs for all I'm pleased to report.  Thus restored, I went to Cuthbert's shrine and then into the market place which was basking lazily in the sun.  It was so lovely I bought a takeaway tea and cake and just sat and enjoyed it soaking up vitamin D and listening to a busker in 70s mode playing the soundtrack to my teenage years.  Magic!

Sainsburys Superstore, Coach Lane

This was a new venue suggested by a friend for meeting up.  Great!  Ample parking in the car park, a huge and fairly new Sainsburys with a great range of clothes (I'd forgotten they did clothes) and then upstairs to the cafe.  It's spacious, clean and basic i.e. tables and chairs, no sofas, no carpets and you don't feel crowded.  The ideal place to sit and talk and you could people watch over the store too.  We spent well over an hour. 
As to food, I was well pleased with my tea and half price fairtrade chocolate cake offer, and the rest of the cakes and drinks looked good too.  You could save about 60p by having a scone here. 
I'm going back for the Victoria Sandwich and a pair of trousers.

Cafe at Debenhams, Eldon Square shopping centre

I've always liked Debenhams and always associate their cafes with nice views - probably none better than from the old Exeter shop.  I wonder how John Lewis will place their cafe when they open?
The Newcastle branch has a third floor cafe where you have nice rooftop views and it's all very pleasant.  On the ground floor is the cafe at Debenhams.  It's just inside the door opposite The Gate and seems to be squatting in a corner of Menswear.  It's ideally placed if you are just dashing in and out of town as I was, and just the spot for a bit of people watching.
There are sofas, comfy chairs and proper tables and chairs for the enlightened, tiled floor, unusual canvasses of local landmarks on the walls, friendly staff.   I may be getting picky in my old age, but the cakes did seems a teeny tiny bit pricey, I will go compare and report my findings.
And there's the music.  In confined spaces music can be intrusive, but in a larger area, like the ground floor of Debs it actually seemed OK, like a sound wall that blocked out Menswear and let you focus on the cafe.

Cafe Yum Yum, Blackhall Colliery

Surprises are always nice, and on this day (roses, chocs etc being off the agenda) a new cafe to visit was great!  I'd done the Hospice charity shop in Blackhall - always worth a visit - and was going to buy a sandwich and cake and drive down to the rocks to eat them when I noticed Cafe Yum Yum to one side of the Hardwick Hotel.  I don't go to Blackhall often, but I couldn't recall seeing it before and so in I went.

And what did I find but a small, newly redecorated space (neutral colours), a couple of round dining tables with tablecloths!, a large pine table and some diner-style seating.  There was a sofa tucked away I suspect for the benefit of those waiting for takeaway orders.  A notice exhorted us to keep calm and eat cake.  That said I ordered a cheese savoury sandwich with salad and a cup of tea.

The teapot gave two good cups of tea and I was offered a top up if I wanted it (that's a first).  And the sandwich - well to my relief a torpedo turned out to be a soft bread roll and it came with oodles of cheese savoury and oodles of salad and tortilla chips.  Did I enjoy?  Yes.  Was I stuffed?  Yes!

Overall impression?  Nicely decorated, friendly staff, good food reasonably priced, a nice little find on the Durham coast I'd say.

Greggs' Blueberry Burst doughnuts

Have you tasted one?  Where did you get hold of it?  Every Greggs I try has sold out!  They look sooo gorgeous and my disappointment at being told they contain raspberry not blueberry jam as only momentary.  I want to try one - the hunt will continue!

Cafe no 95, Gosforth High Street

A bit like buses, cafes are coming along in twos and threes at the moment.  Cafe no 95 was one that I didn't quite make it to last year, so when the opportunity arose I took it.  I had a feeling that Gosforth was under-represented anway, and lo and behold there is another cafe I wasn't even aware of right opposite no 95 - the list goes on!
Anyway, to business.  No 95 struck me as functional and businesslike.  Plain, clean decor, proper chairs (but I bet they had sofas lurking somewhere) and high chairs in evidence, so this is obviously somewhere the young parents of Gosforth hang out. 
I ordered tea and a caramel slice and was served cheerfully and efficiently.  I have to say that the caramel slice was very nice, almost a minty taste, don't know what they put in it - mint?  From the corner table I had a good view of the street and all the comings and goings, that's how I saw the cafe opposite. 
Plus points to no 95 for staff greeting regulars, and I might have to go back and check that caramel slice again...

Poppyknots, West Denton shopping centre

This venue couldn't be included last year as I've been a frequent visitor even in the days before it moved to its current location.  The decor is contemporary and unfussy - white walls, black tiles floor and dark tables and chairs - but it's light and bright due to the glass front.  It's also holding its own against a nearby Greggs and Morrisons, independents can still flourish!
Expect a good takeaway sandwich or potato with a wide range of salad and fillings.  I sat in and had the daily special - lasagne with chips and garlic bread - and very tasty it was too.  Price very reasonable. Newspapers available.
Lots of locals in, which is always the sign of a good place, and I noticed the staff meeting and greeting their regulars and giving that bit extra in the way of community support.

The Park Cafe, Queen Street, Newton Abbot

I was off to Plymouth for the day today with my oldest and best friend.  (She'll hate the oldest bit!).  And I thought it would be nice to have tea and cake on the train, but would there be a buffet car?  The solution was to visit The Park Cafe for two takeaway teas and a pack of two rock buns.
The Park Cafe has been a fixture in Newton for as long as I can remember. I walked past it when I was a child, I went in as a young adult brandishing zillions of Readers Union luncheon vouchers and getting in the cigarette orders for my colleagues.  Now the counter has all but gone and the interior is given over to a chairs and tables.  Where were they before?  Must have been out at the back.
We entered at the same time as a 'regular' who my friend had met before around the town.  Generously he allowed us to be served first.  I must confess I found him difficult, but the staff treated him with care and understanding and courtesy - signs in my book of an establishment that is fulfilling a valuable social as well as an economic role.  Hurrah for the Park Cafe!
The journey to Plymouth was made all the more fun by attempting to open polystrene cups in a crowded carriage and spreading crumbs far and wide (my mouth does occasionally miss a few).  And I had better record our other food sins of the day at the Strand Tearooms on the Barbican and in the coffee lounge of BHS.  I myself rounded off the day with chips from Jacksons.  Happy?  I certainly was.

Coffee Republic, Lovegate House,

Today is market day!  So after doing the market we went again to Coffee Republic for scrummy cakes and comforting lattes.  It's such a wonderful setting - and yes, I do know about the huge ASDA store right behind it.  But that lovely old house and the even older cobbled pavement in front, all hidden for years in a builders yard and behind the houses on Highweek Street!  I remember my father showing it to me when it was surrounded by building materials and I was still captivated.
So, cakes and coffee good, staff friendly, having to carry trays upstairs to the seating is a downside but while I still can I happily will.