The Butterfly Cabinet, Heaton Road

I've never intended that this blog be about me, it's all about the places I visit, but today due to the grumbling of the general public, tardiness of public transport and general Mondayness (life as an assassin isn't all it's cracked up to be, you know) somehow it had to be The Butterfly Cabinet.  Must be the thought of nailing creatures to boards that did it.  Even the presence of an unvisited fish and chip cafe just down the road couldn't sway me (maybe next week...).

And do you know, as I found a parking space right outside I knew that this was the visit to turn the day round.  Yes, free parking right outside, plenty of seating inside - and what an inside!  Glorious ceiling and chandeliers, mismatched tables and chairs as we would expect, wooden floors and a fab collection of bits and pieces.  I spotted a display case of butterflies (naturally), one of tobacco pipes, old scales, coffee grinder, telephone, oven, fireplace, shelves, confectioners display case, vintage packaging and ephemera.  Did any of this come from Chic Antique at Longbenton, I wondered?  So what with the slightly alternative background music we are talking about an independent, hippyish establishment.  As if the Tiny Tea Tent of blessed memory had landed in Heaton Road and taken root.  You could get to like it, and people do as several customers were obviously regulars and were greeted and treated in a happy friendly way.

Now food.  I had a latte that was just warm and a piece of chocolate fudge cake that more than made up for the grumbling general public encountered earlier.  The couple that came in after me were offered menus, so I guess there is an extensive range of food available.  There is also a quiz night and an acoustic night so plenty to fill up the social calendar.

Yes I liked it, yes I would go back but if I'm honest, can we lose the cabinets of dead butterflies?  If the place is world famous now, surely we don't need them.

Moorside Community Primary School Community Cafe

I doubt I would have found this one at all if I hadn't been working in the building and it hadn't been pointed out to me by colleagues who work there regularly.  There doesn't appear to be any advertising off school premises and you have to walk across the school reception area to get to it - not everyone may be comfortable with that - yet it appears to be open to the public and there's quite a range of very reasonably priced snacks available.

The cafe area is brightly lit and decorated with displays of the children's work (I think it doubles as a breakfast club before the school day starts).  There are plenty of tables and chairs, very close together, all new beech-effect tables and plain but comfy black chairs.  No sofas is definitely a bonus for me! 

I ordered a cheese toastie with salad - it was freshly made and the salad of lettuce, tomato, sweet peppers and sweetcorn was fresh and crisp.  Then I fell off the wagon (was I ever on it?) and had a butterfly cake with lashings of buttercream icing and a cup of tea.  It came in at under £3 so that makes it probably the best value I've had so far.  Everyone else eating there appeared to be staff, the teachers seemed to be taking theirs back to the staffroom.  Someone had a mighty slice of flapjack which will make a second visit inevitable for me next time I am working that way.

It seems that the schoolchildren are involved in the running of the cafe and on that basis I'd say the next generation of Newcastle cafes is in safe hands!

The Hippo House, Collingwood Street

I abandoned the hit list for a week to do this one.  Mainly because I thought it had a kind of balcony about the shop where you could sit and thought it would be quite cool to sit overlooking Collingwood Street.  In the event the balcony is out of bounds to the general public due to steep stairs, so I had to sit in a comfy old leather office chair downstairs and admire the facade of Revolution from there. 
Coffee great, malteser slice ditto and the takeaway menu looked good too. Service excellent.  Ideal for your sandwich lunch to go!  I'm still sad about the balcony though...

Flat Caps cafe at Elula, Ridley Place

Finally got to this one after nearly a year of trying!  I'd seen advertisements for it right at the beginning but it kind of slipped down the list.  Then Wombat and Hamster suggested it again, but it isn't open on a Sunday which is our best meeting up day.  Then Polyglot spotted it, but was put off by the new age-y look of the shop.  So in the end I decided to go it alone and blazed in on the cusp of lunchtime before I lost my nerve.
Actually, the shop isn't that bad (and I will make time to explore it more thoroughly with Christmas presents in mind) and the cafe is, well, different - let me explain.

From what I'd read and seen, I'd imagined a largeish, stainless steel ultra modern outfit, maybe too posh for the likes of me.  What greeted me at the bottom of the industrial spiral staircase, was a cosy, homely space.  The tongue and groove wall cladding was painted a bright bottle green, an upholstered bench ran round the walls with the upholstery taken up the walls in circle and leaf patterns.  There were comfy cushions too.  Blue and cream tiles on the floor had me in mind of a ludo board, and the whole thing I decided at last made me think of a gypsy caravan.  I sat at a table with the name Maxine on a brass plate, other tables had other names (why?), and because the cafe is square I could look across to the business meeting in the far corner, the two groups of friends chatting, the visitor clutching his tourist map of the city centre, the girl curled up on the bench scribbling in a notebook (the next J K Rowling perhaps?).  All the while new age music played from the shop above, but it was quite relaxing.

As you would expect from an award-winning barista, the coffee was good, my latte was served with a neat little pattern in the foam.  And they served fudge!  Yes, alongside the scones and cakes you could buy a whole or half a bar of fudge!  I had half of vanilla honeycomb and it was fab.

So, this week's lesson is never judge a cafe by its advertising. Without a visit I would never have known what it was really like - very much in the spirit of the blog, really.  I may not be out in the Amazon but I'm finding myself in Newcastle cafe by cafe.

Greggs Moment, Northumberland Street

Greggs seems to be one business that is riding the recession and indeed in hard times where would we be without good old comfort food like sausage rolls, jam doughnuts and so forth?  And now they have gone into the cafe business as well.  I spotted this one maybe a month ago and I am told there is one in the Bridges at Sunderland as well.  Expect them to sweep the country within weeks - seriously!  I can remember when Greggs was unknown outside of the north east and now you can find them in deepest, darkest Basingstoke (but without the stotties).

So did the Greggs cafe experience live up to expectations?  I have to say that it did.  The menu was different from the shop fare but all looked and sounded good.  I chose a chicken and chorizo foccacio which was heated well and quickly, and a coffee choux bun stuffed with cream, and a pot of tea.  That cost me £5.50 - I must have been undercharged - that's outrageous value!  The tea came in a proper pot, with proper milk in a proper jug, and china that my mother would have approved of.  Full marks so far.

The decor seems to be aiming at a retro, granny's house, traditional values kind of vibe.  Downstairs the seating area has small dark wood tables and chairs with some high stools overlooking the street and outdoor tables too.  The walls are half papered with retro wallpaper patterns (think 70s) and old photos of the area hang in gilded frames.  Notice the lampshades featuring black and white Newcastlescapes.  I want one.  There's an upstairs too where the dreaded sofas lurk.  I imagine more retro wallpaper and probably flying ducks and a photo of the Queen Mother over the mantelpiece.  The spacious serving area is all gleaming white tiles and a Welsh dresser.

I know I'll be going back.  I have to try the Brekkles cake (something to do with a yogurt compote), and the individual bar cakes, and the cupcakes, and the vanilla latte, and the breakfast items.  It's definitely Greggs' moment - today the toon, tomorrow the world!

The Village Tearooms, Whitburn

I've been doing a bit of cat-sitting in Whitburn this week, and as it's been so nice and sunny - yes and freezing cold too - I decided to treat myself to tea and a scone at the Village Tearooms.  They'd been recommended to me years ago but as yet, no visit has been made.  I have to say the cakes etc looked delicious and the locals were out in force to buy, which is always a good sign.  The inside tables looked a bit dark, but the tearooms are fortunate to be in a sheltered corner, making it possible to sit outside in comfort (and a warm coat) even in October.  So it was that Polly Parrot and I sat on a bench, under a parasol munching our cream scones and sipping beautifully strong tea.

There was a sudden rustling on the parasol!  Rain?  No, the sky was clear!  Hail?  Frogs?  Nothing less than masonry from a distinctly lopsided chimney.  I'd recently read an article about a poorly maintained chimney crashing down on a parked car, but sensibly kept this to myself as Polly is a worrier, and was still fretting over the fact that the cafe assistant and handled our scones without glove, tongs or wellies.  But thankfully all was well. The chimney stayed up, the scones stayed down and life in Whitburn continues unhindered.

Loose ends

Just a little note to report that my last birthday 50p was spent in Procters bakery on Fenham Hall Drive on a rather delicious white chocolate caramel slice this lunchtime.  I'm grateful to my cousin, but he will never know as he doesn't do the interweb...

This evening I drank tea from a proper china cup at the Watch House in Sunderland.  There were three of us, and we were celebrating and closing the circle dance group that has run there for a number of years.  Thank you Lawrie, and thank you everyone else for the dance.