wildberry's directory - places to eat

Blog post 7 may 2007: In an attempt to convince myself that decaff coffee really does taste as good as the full-fat version (which of course it doesn't!) we took ourselves off yesterday to one of our favorite coffee vendors. The Market Coffee House in London's Spitalfields, it is the sort of place you can imagine Samuel Johnson hunched over the table writing his dictionary. One thing's for sure you can't plough your way through over 40,000 words powered by only decaff!

Anyway I digress, inside the Market Coffee House is all wood-panelled with bare wooden boards on the floor. The tables and chairs are all mismatched, but this all adds to character especially when so many coffee shops are now chains and therefore near identical. It's worth going to the toilet, which is downstairs, you feel at any moment the Artful Dodger's going to run past being chased by Bill Sykes ("Bulldog come 'ere Bulldog!").

But let's cut to the chase - the coffee - it is very good, it's on the strong side without being too strong, but it's also smooth. The 'guy who makes the coffee' (that's me trying to avoid the Starbucks terminology), and it's generally the same one, really knows his stuff. Even his decaff is better than the full-strength you might get elsewhere. I'm not enough of an aficionado to tell you from the flavour where it's grown, but I can thoroughly recommend it.

They do serve food, although I've not partaken beyond the odd cookie, it looks good, lots of toast with marmalade, pastries, smoked salmon bagels that sort of thing. But the reason to go, especially if you're not on a stupid "I'm off the decaff" thing, is the coffee. Enjoy, but just don't clutter-up the seats outside on a Saturday morning.



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the directory cafes
I've started trying to identify Cafes serving Fairtrade products please look for the F in the listing. I would also recommend checking out egg, bacon, chips and beans and a good place for a cup of tea and a think both by Russell Davies, both are well written sites with humorous reviews.
cafes in the UK

The Black Douglas Beach Street, Deal, Kent, CT14 6JB
Blog post 10 March 2008: The Black Douglas is the perfect example of something that used to be almost impossible to find in the UK; a great cafe on the seafront. Sitting on Beach Street, Deal, the Black Douglas is literally a stone's throw from the beach and yet is a great cafe. If you've been around long enough to have visited an English seaside town in the 70s and 80s you'll know what a rarity this used to be. But this isn't a greasy spoon type cafe, it's rather more of (and I hate to bring class into this, but it is) a middle class hang-out. There I've said it but please don't dismiss it for that. Founded in 2006, it still manages to give the feeling that it's been on this site since Dr Johnson strode the earth. There is a bookshelf full of books (lots of cookery books), and newspapers, for browsing. There's no doubt that the coffee here is very good, they offer a range of cafetière - my favourite is the Ethiopian with a lovely deep strong flavour, but the real selling point here is the food. All the food is home made, there are lots of cakes including several naturally gluten-free, great soups, sandwiches and a range of daily specials. If you have any doubt of the veracity of the home-made nature of the food you can walk through the dining room into the kitchen and there it is all going on in front of your eyes. They say of their food "The Black Douglas Coffee House is founded on the principles of good simple food, sourcing locally or direct from the producer with an emphasis on traceable and sustainable produce. "We take great care creating our menus and only serve the coffees, drinks and food that we love to eat and drink ourselves. Here is our current menu and you will always find a range of daily special menu items on offer." I certainly can't disagree. Highly recommended.
Centre for Alternative Technology F Machynlleth, Powys.
You have to pay to enter the Centre for Alternative Technology, so this isn't a place to eat unless you're visiting the centre itself. If you are in the area and you just want to eat, then go to CAT's off-site cafe 'The Quarry Cafe' in the centre of Machynlleth. But back to CAT, the restaurant is a large cafeteria style building that does offer a great selection of whole-food vegetarian meals. They normally have three or four main meals, supplemented by jacket potatoes etc. There are also great salads, the majority of which comes from the centre's own organic gardens. Seating is at long wooden tables in a great community style, which gives a great feeling about the place. There are also lots of interesting information and magazines to read.
Eighth Day Co-op F 111 Oxford Road, Manchester, M1 7DU
The Eighth Day Co-op sounds fantastic, I'm afraid I've not had the opportunity to go there but it sounds well worth a visit. If you have been please let me know what you think. They say - 'On the Eighth Day Co-operative Limited is a democratically run, worker-controlled business. Together we run the 'Eighth Day' cafes and shop. Our constitution demands that we promote the physical, mental and spiritual well being of the community, especially those who participate in the co-operative, whether they are employees, customers or suppliers. This we try to do by trading without the exploitation of our employees, our customers, the planet and ourselves. We try to deal with other ethically minded businesses, especially other co-operatives.' 'All our products and services are vegetarian or vegan, cruelty-free and fairly traded, wherever possible.'
Filmhouse F 88 Lothian Road, Edinburgh EH3 9BZ
The Filmhouse is part of the same group of Europa Cinemas as our old favourite The Watershed in Bristol and they are remarkably similar both offering excellent independent films, good food and a welcoming atmosphere. The Filmhouse is also one of the founding organisations to make Edinburgh a Fairtrade City. Thoroughly recommended.
Mickey Veg 187 Parrock Street, Gravesend DA12 1EN
Our local veggie and vegan cafe offers fantastic home cooked meals six days-a-week. It's open from 8.30am to 4.00pm with evening & Saturday 6.00 to 10.00pm.
Market Coffee House 52 Brushfield Street, Tower Hamlets, London, E1
Blog post 7 may 2007: In an attempt to convince myself that decaff coffee really does taste as good as the full-fat version (which of course it doesn't!) we took ourselves off yesterday to one of our favorite coffee vendors. The Market Coffee House in London's Spitalfields, it is the sort of place you can imagine Samuel Johnson hunched over the table writing his dictionary. One thing's for sure you can't plough your way through over 40,000 words powered by only decaff! Anyway I digress, inside the Market Coffee House is all wood-panelled with bare wooden boards on the floor. The tables and chairs are all mismatched, but this all adds to character especially when so many coffee shops are now chains and therefore near identical. It's worth going to the toilet, which is downstairs, you feel at any moment the Artful Dodger's going to run past being chased by Bill Sykes ("Bulldog come 'ere Bulldog!"). But let's cut to the chase - the coffee - it is very good, it's on the strong side without being too strong, but it's also smooth. The 'guy who makes the coffee' (that's me trying to avoid the Starbucks terminology), and it's generally the same one, really knows his stuff. Even his decaff is better than the full-strength you might get elsewhere. I'm not enough of an aficionado to tell you from the flavour where it's grown, but I can thoroughly recommend it. They do serve food, although I've not partaken beyond the odd cookie, it looks good, lots of toast with marmalade, pastries, smoked salmon bagels that sort of thing. But the reason to go, especially if you're not on a stupid "I'm off the decaff" thing, is the coffee. Enjoy, but just don't clutter-up the seats outside on a Saturday morning.
Moonbow Jakes F 275 New Cross Road, New Cross, London 325 Brockley Road, Brockley, London 9 Eros House, Rushey Green, London
Moonbow Jakes has been recommended by Big Tom a listener to Whole Wheat Radio. I haven't had a chance to visit yet, but I hope to shortly. They have three cafes located in South-east London, specifically, New Cross, Brockley and Catford. All three venues host live music and I'm told have a good atmosphere. Traditionally south-east London has been a bit thin on the ground for the small informal music venues that you seem to find many more of north of the river. I'm still amazed that these places can be on your doorstep and you don;t know of them. Apparently they also serve Fairtrade coffee, another mark in their favour. Thanks Big Tom.
Peter de Wit's Cafe 21 Greenwich Church Street, London SE10 9BJ Tel: 0208 305 0048
This small cafe located in the centre of Greenwich has a great eccentric air. It's a family affair and I been a customer for at least 10 years. During the day they serve coffee, tea, excellent all-day breakfasts, sandwiches, home made soups etc. On Friday and Saturday evenings they have jazz nights with dinner and good performers. This is definitely one to book this place is small, so if you don't book you won't get in.
Pete's Eats 40 High Street, Llanberis, Gwynedd, LL55 4EU
I've been going to Pete's Eats for over 20 years now and it just seems to get better and better. Opened in 1978, it used to be a very good small cafe frequented mainly by the climbing/walking community and local residents. In the last few years it has seen a major refurbishment, extension in to the adjacent shop and the introduction of an upstairs space with armchairs, computer access and an impressive climbing and map library. The food is always excellent, the standard menu consisting of every combination of traditional English breakfast, jacket potatoes, baguettes right up to the 'Big Jim' a tray sized plate, consisting of liver, bacon, sausage, onions, fried potatoes, fried tomatoes, mushrooms, chips, peas and gravy! I'm not sure who Jim was, but he must have had on hell of an appetite! My favourites however are the specials, usually two or three dishes are available such as chickpea & spinach curry, mixed bean casserole, spaghetti bolognaise, all served with a mountain of rice and always of the best quality. Pete's has a stated objective to always buy locally, where they can and to make the majority of their food on the premises. This is a cafe worth travelling to and you won't be disappointed.
The Quarry Cafe F Maengwyn Street, Machynlleth, Powys
The Quarry Cafe is an offshoot of the Centre for Alternative Technology (see above) which is based just outside the town of Machynlleth in mid-Wales.
The Watershed F 1 Canon's Road, Harbourside, Bristol BS15TX
The Watershed has a great cafe bar with a really good atmosphere that serves excellent food (several veggie selections) and fairtrade coffee. In addition to the food & drink there are three cinemas, though two are currently being refurbished (February 05). They also host a large number of courses in all aspects of film making, photography, animation, they have conference facilities, I can't recommend it enough. Really worth a look.
cafes in the USA

Wildberries Supermarket F 13th & G Streets, Arcata. California.
Within Wildberries Supermarket they have an excellent help-yourself salad bar, juice bar, soup bar and bakery. Sitting at the one of the tables behind the checkout and watch the amazing parade of customers passing through their checkouts while you eat is nothing but a delight!. I have to admit that the prospect of eating in your average supermarket cafe would be fairly near the bottom of my list, but I am pleased to say I would happy pass up many a good restaurant meal for the opportunity of eating here.
Alpha-bit Cafe F I-126, nr. Mapleton, Oregon
The Alpha- bit Cafe, great atmosphere, great books, great coffee and simply the best fig-slice anywhere and I mean ANYWHERE!
The Bisbee Breakfast Club 75A Erie Street, Lowell, Bisbee, AZ 85603 phone: 520-432-5885
This recommendation came from Bisbonian a listener to Whole Wheat Radio, he said.... 'If you're ever in Bisbee, AZ...the best restaurant, both for food, an enjoyable atmosphere, and happy, contented employees is The Bisbee Breakfast Club, owned by Pat and Heather Grimm. They restored an old and decrepit storefront on the main street of Lowell (a small town incorporated into Bisbee, but mostly abandoned until they started its revitalization), right next to the Bisbee Food Co-op. They are open 7AM-3PM Thursday through Monday, serve breakfast all day, and have interesting lunch specials.' Thanks Bisbonian.
Out of the Fog Cafe / Morning Glory Bakery & Café 450 Willamette, Eugene, Oregon
The 'Out of the Fog Cafe' used to be in a building of its own on the other side of Eugene and I think it's lost a little bit in moving in with the Morning Glory Bakery, but nothing stays the same. The food is still good mostly organic, locally grown (we like that), vegetarian or vegan and you still get the feeling you're in one of the last outposts of west coast hippie-dom.