Day Tripping

Well, the kids have gone off back to school (waaa waaa, me crying, not the kids).  This is actually good news when I think about it deep down, as it gives me an opportunity to do what I love doing best, drinking coffee in places other than my house.

Don't get me wrong, I can make a 'damn fine cup of coffee' to steal Agent Coopers words (c Twin Peaks) in my kitchen, but there's nothing better than having one made for you with love, care, and attention.

Yesterday my pal Sophie and I had a lovely jaunt around Woodbridge which is good fun as the charity shops there always have great stock.  Before we got delving into the 2nd hand goodness that they had to offer we needed caffeine!

Went into Honey + Harvey, a gorgeous indie coffee house.  It's looks are rustic yet stylish and it's cakes were seriously tempting, but as usual I only wanted a black coffee.  Oh yes, with an Anzac cookie of course (my sugar levels were feeling low, honestly).

It's situation right on Thoroughfare near the Turban Centre means that it gets more than it's fair share of passing trade, it has much better positioning than Nero (Groan) and Costa (Double Groan).

Honey + Harvey's popularity is well deserved.  The staff were really friendly and welcoming, young and hip. My black coffee was really good (not a hint of the gruesome bitterness that you get in some places regularly), Sophie's Cappuccino was the best she's had in a LONG TIME, she wasn't joking or exaggerating, she was mmming and aahing the way I usually do, about the froth on the top!!!  The Anzacs were absolutely bleeding lovely.  I could have easily scoffed more than 1, but was behaving myself.

 

(this pic is of Sophie obsessively playing with the froth on her beautiful cappuccino).


Final note on the delightful Honey + Harvey is that the breakfast menu looked drool-worthy, and I'm looking forward to trying it out, maybe next week!




Find Honey + Harvey on Facebook - https://www.facebook.com/honeyandharvey?fref=ts
on Twitter - https://twitter.com/honeyandharvey

And So It Begins....

Well!!

So far so good.

Fleeting visit to the new Marks & Spencer Simply Food cafe in Martlesham Heath.  Just the cafe you understand, not the actual shop.  I was meant to just get the kids a little something as they'd behaved as promised in Pets At Home over the road, but then I saw them......  The Almond Croissants.

They really were saying audibly (well maybe not quite) "Eat Me, Eat Me" like the mice on the mouse organ in Bagpuss speak, all squeaky and squealy. I just had to do as I was told.  They looked rustic and gorgeous, dusted with powdered sugar, all chunky and divine.  Am I allowed to call things like this divine?  Will I get in trouble with certain people?  Who cares huh.  Anyway, back to the gorgeousness.

I was actually eating loudly, making noises. MMMing and AAHing, much to the annoyance of the hardcore M&S peeps at the next table.

And then the coffee, I wasn't even meant to get one, just like I wasn't meant to get a croissant.  It was good. Some people I know think I'm strange that I can love a cup of filter coffee.  It's my main love when it comes to coffee, just a straight black.  Some like to call it an Americano, I call it black coffee, each to their own.  I do also like a Skinny Mocha (contradiction right there), and I'm also quite a lover of Praline Soya Latte's. Today it was a Fairtrade Black Filter Coffee, and it was smooth.  No bitterness of an over-boil, and just the right temperature to drink.  V good.  Maybe along the road I'll do a totally geeky marks out of 10 system, but until then I'll keep it semi-simple.

And on a final note, not to be ignored, the people working in the coffee shop were LOVELY.  Really friendly, helpful, just really nice!  Couldn't ask for more!

Do You See What I See?

Well, here's to it!!!

After many years of complaining bitterly about the bitterness of coffee, or tutting at the rudeness of waiting staff I thought I'd start a little blog and tell EVERYONE about it!!

Don't get me wrong, I RAVE about good coffee, and about the choices that I (being a strict and fussy veggie) can have in some places.  Customer Service is of course majorly important, and I'm not scared to name and shame certain establishments who's staff don't seem like they particularly want to be at work that day, or who'd rather chat to their mates standing behind me whilst mid-serve!  I adore friendly waiting staff and want them to like me too, so am as usual never rude (unless the server is a cow of course).

Right, back to business.  I'm going to be sampling the delights (food and drink of course) that Ipswich has to offer and reporting back to, well, maybe to no-one, but maybe to 1 person.

So, Coffee.....Cake.......Good Food......Drink.

I'm not anti-establishment, I visit chains, but I prefer the indies.  I WON'T be going to McD's or other such 'restaurants' (?), not because I'm vegetarian as they do vegetarian alternatives, but because they serve crap (my opinion).

I want this town to be somewhere my kids enjoy growing up in, there are NO coffee shops where we live for them to hang out in (when they're old enough to shake me off).  At the moment it's still quite tatty, but it's getting cool I think, but then again I'm too old to be cool now.

Drink Up!!