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• Blue Brick Cafe - A Great Neighbourhood Cafe

The Blue Brick Cafe is quite simply charming. Catch it on a sunny day and the outside, clad with bold blue tiles, wouldn't look out of place on the harbour in some remote fishing village in Cornwall. But here it is, just off the beaten track that is the Northcross Road, in it's recent reincarnation as a vegetarian cafe. The simple, quaint style is continued inside, with old wooden school chairs and an eclectic array of bottles, vases filled with daffodils and other bits and bobs adorning the walls and windowsills. Our first visit was on a bright sunny Saturday morning for brunch. The few tables on the pavement outside catch the morning sun and inside it streams through the large windows to brighten up the single room which houses half a dozen tables. Word has it though, that on a cold day it struggles to get warm inside. I quite like the fact that the short, simple menu is typed out in old school typeface and you'll find specials up on the blackboard on the wall. I also love that the cup and saucer my coffee was served in matches the blue tiles outside. I'm clearly easily pleased. We've been for brunch a couple of times now, so haven't ventured into the lunch or main meal menu. From what we've tasted, the food is simple and rustic. It's all homemade. I'm a sucker for homemade baked beans so their beans on toast suits me down to the ground. The mushrooms came sauteed with some baby spinach leaves. The rest of the menu is similarly short which in my view is no bad thing. I always wonder how places with long rambling menus can possibly cook and serve fresh food (or maybe they don't...). They have soups and salads by way of lunch fare and mains like squash, spinach and ricotta lasagne and vegetable curries (none of which I've tried, so I can't vouch for them yet!). They seem reasonably priced at around £6-£8 for the heartier dishes and it's BYO (£2.50 corckage). Last visit: April 2011 Cost: approx £2 for coffee, £4 for homemade baked beans on toast Service included: No Food: Breakfast, brunch, lunch, take away, coffee, cake Buggy Ratio: Low (we were the only people with a child on both visits, but they do have a great old highchair so children and babies are more than welcome) Outdoor Space: Yes (a few tables on the pavement outside) Will I go again?: Yes