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You know you’re in for a bumpy ride when your waiter asks, ‘What can I get you?’ and you go, ‘Er, menus?’ At this cycle café, we were mentally willing the guy serving us to remember his lines. It’s a shame he didn’t, because everything else was spot-on.
The café’s basement workshop will serve refreshments with your repairs when it opens later in the spring, but for now, the cycling theme is purely cosmetic: bike hooks in the spacious entrance, framed Tour de France jerseys and dishes referencing legendary cycling routes. There’s takeaway Allpress coffee at the colour-blocked counter, a three-sided bar, and leather booths for sit-down meals.
The kitchen does thoughtfully enhanced versions of brunch faves: creamy, sticky ‘100-mile’ porridge packed with mashed banana, date syrup, crunchy seeds and a vanilla hit of cocoa nibs; avo and poached eggs on sourdough toast, lifted with a sprinkling of citrussy dukkah. Pizzas, too, are made with obvious care: my stelvio had a crisp, chewy, evenly browned base and high-quality toppings – smoked scamorza and sprigs of gloriously scented fresh oregano alongside courgette and mascarpone.
So the kitchen is a winner, and the space is smart – only diffident staff put a spoke in the wheel. Perhaps they can book a service at the workshop.