The Real Food Cafe Exeter

Well here I am sitting upstairs looking at a lovely slice of orange and poppyseed cake and sipping real leaf just like mother used to make and looking very busy tapping away at my phone.
The place is hummily busy (a writers group?). It's basking in early spring sunshine. The decor is fizzy green side walls, wooden venetian blinds, zingy red/orange lampshades. Plenty of space between the tables and free wifi!
It was recommended to me and I'm happy to recommend it to you - as long as you can manage the stairs up from the shop on the ground floor.
I'll try to add a photo now but that may be too much technology!

The Milkmaid, Exeter

There's only one Milkmaid. Place of happy childhood memories, queueing up the stairs for a seat in the restaurant with my mother and father.
It's different now, well a bit. I sat downstairs and enjoyed coffee and shortbread mid-Christmas shopping. The coffee machine looked all hi-tech, but the staff are still friendly and the place was bright and clean.
I popped upstairs to use the 'facilities' and cast a nostalgic eye over the empty restaurant tables neatly laid for tomorrow's customers. The layout was still the same though the decor has changed.
Times change, but good food served in a good atmosphere will never go out of style.

The Plant Cafe, Cathedral Green, Exeter

Looking back nostalgically over last week spent in Devon, Exeter comes top of the sighs league.  I love the city because I was born there and because of happy family memories and special places.  That said, it is always nice to find somewhere new, and when my relative and I were looking for a place to grab a quick coffee we noticed The Plant Cafe tucked into a little corner.

We sat outside and enjoyed views of the wonderful cathedral.  I munched a slice of raspberry and beetroot cake and sipped a chai latte. M chewed on a buzz bar (plenty of healthy things) and drank coffee.  We were both pleased with our choice.

Right:  on to the pen picture.  Small, historic-looking building in a quiet area of the Green.  Tables outside - ideal for this weather.  Inside it's cosy and crowded -  a mix of locals and visitors.  The food is wholesome - possibly organic, possibly vegetarian (how vague!) - and you could certainly try something a little different here.  It's also a bit of a community hub by the looks of the huge noticeboard advertising all manner of events and services locally.  Again, I didn't examine in detail but it would be a good place to start if you wanted to get to know what's on in the city.

Yes, The Plant Cafe has atmosphere.  Exeter was once castigated as a clone town.  Hmmm.  Cafes like this give the lie to that.

The Boston Tea Party, Queen Street, Exeter

This is an old favourite!  Usually I'd be sitting in the large upstairs room on an old Sunday School-type chair while others wallowed on old sofas.  But this day I sat downstairs on the bar stools in the window and watched Exeter go by on a rainy lunchtime.  Let others trek up the stairs with their trays and their shopping.
The coffee was good, ditto the coffee and walnut cake.  Going back to the Boston Tea Party feels comfortable, and yet also allows an old person to feel ever so slightly boho, it felt good.

Debenhams coffee shop, Princesshay, Exeter

Pardon me, but is this the most spectacular cafe view in England?  The majestic cathedral in the foreground and the Devon hills behind.  The scones weren't bad either.  The big question is what will John Lewis make of the old Debenhams building?  Will there soon be another cafe on the sixth floor with panoramic views?