The Street Cafe

The gen

‘Breakfast is the most important meal of the day’. Yes mum, I know, stop going on! Jeez, it’s too early in the morning for cliché’s and homespun wisdom, you’re not bloody Aesop. While every other Outline reviewer is slumped in some festival ditch smelling of sin and budget lager (I’m not jealous…) I’m stumping hungrily along Magdalen Street. Fortunately I’m a morning person; my usual morning meal consists of me chewing on a leather brogue while trying to lace a Weetabix onto my foot (FYI, surprising robust footwear until it starts raining). In my sleep deprived state The Street Café appeared as a glowing oasis offering a friendly sanctuary from cornflakey tedium.

The atmosphere

On the north end of the city, The Street Café is not in a traditionally fashionable part of town. Who cares? Do things right and people will come to you. They do things right. The breakfast cafés of my youth all followed a pattern. Low lights and plastic red/white check tablecloths; like eating from the lap of a PVC gingham clad Ma Walton. Reassuring but slightly shameful. My experience of The Street Café was wholly different. Beautiful and bright, all the spoons I saw were decidedly ungreasy. This is the kind of welcoming place I could look forward to getting up for. Clearly many locals are in agreement as the clean, white painted tables soon began to fill and the friendly waiting staff chatted to the customers. Fresh flowers on the tables, a fish tank and a radio playing an amazingly bizarre mix of tunes; a lovely place but I only had eyes for the kerplunk.

The main event

Drinks first – you’ll be pleased to hear a variety of wines and beers were available alongside the usual selection of soft drinks. Jimmy Buffett sang ‘It’s 5 o’clock somewhere.’ I say Jimmy needs some kind of intervention to get him the help he needs, poor bloke. Instead we plumped for a couple of thick shakes; delicious milkshakes with ice cream, topped with whipped cream and sprinkles, much healthier than booze…

To eat? What else could I have but a full English? Of course this is partly because the menu is almost entirely taken up with variations on the theme. One thing I wasn’t expecting was having a fresh and clean tasting full English. Apparently fried food needn’t necessarily be the enemy of my arteries! What the breakfast menu may lack in variety it more than makes up for in execution, a fact attested to by the quality of the locally sourced produce, not the least being the Archers award winning sausages made with free range Blythburgh pork. In true fry up fashion the dishes on the menu are split up by size rather than content and when my bumper breakfast arrived I could see I was in for a treat – one that kept me full for the rest of the day! Perfectly fried bacon, thick wedges of soft white bread from the Ketts Hill Bakery..golden fried slices..oh yes! Forgive me, I just need a moment. Vegetarians are well catered for and needn’t miss out, they too can enjoy a visit, especially the perfectly fried free range Coltishall Dairy Farm eggs.

The café is open until 3.30pm and also serves more traditional lunchtime fare. This may account for the offer of alcohol but hey, I’m not here to judge.