Spicer and Cole - Bristol Food Review

Posted on: 2017-06-21

Our rating:

"Cakes, sandwiches, pastries, salads and more are displayed in a manner that calls to mind still life paintings; the delicious abundance makes decision-making very tricky!"


Spicer and Cole have three branches across Bristol; Clifton Village, Gloucester Road and Queen Square. I’ve visited the Gloucester Road branch in the past and was filled with gratitude to find that there were several vegan cake options for me as I did Veganuary. I had a delicious cookie with my almond latte. I’ve since returned to being an omnivore, but I still order almond lattes over cows milk.

Spicer and Cole - Bristol Food Review

I was invited to the Clifton Village branch to try out their food. The first thing you’ll notice when you enter a branch of Spicer and Cole is their wonderful food counter. Cakes, sandwiches, pastries, salads and more are displayed in a manner that calls to mind still life paintings; the delicious abundance makes decision-making very tricky! As well as the food counter, there are various hot dishes, written up on wall mounted chalkboards behind the counter. In addition to the mainstays, there are also weekly and weekend specials. Drinks-wise, there’s the expected teas, coffees and cold drinks, as well as a small selection of home-made smoothies. Tea and coffee fans will find a comprehensive and thoughtful selection including a guest tea and guest coffee.

 

I chose a ‘raspberry, lychee and rose’ smoothie (£4.25) which is made from raspberries, lychee, rosewater, honey, Greek yoghurt and has bee pollen sprinkled on top. This was really delicious; the dominant flavour was the raspberry and Greek yoghurt, and there was a subtle hint of rosewater. I couldn’t taste any lychee but didn’t miss it. The bee pollen apparently has various health properties but didn’t really taste of anything other than a slight sweetness. My husband went for (I think!) a flat white (£2.55) and he said it was very nice.

Spicer and Cole - Bristol Food Review - Smoothie and Coffee

After much deliberation, Simon decided to go for the Spicer and Cole Breakfast (£8.95) and I went for the Veggie Breakfast (£8.75). The meaty option has poached eggs, smoked bacon, sausage, morcilla, roast sumac tomato, field mushrooms with thyme, and sourdough toast. The veggie option replaces the meat with avocado and halloumi.

Spicer and Cole - Bristol Food Review - Veggie Breakfast

The breakfasts are a generous size and beautifully cooked. Morcilla is a subtly-flavoured blood sausage which has rice in it, so it’s ideal if you’re not quite sure if you like black pudding or not. The sausage and bacon were really tasty, and are clearly great quality. The eggs were nicely runny, the tomatoes were soft and flavourful (roasting is the best treatment for a tomato on a breakfast, I think). The mushrooms still had a bit of bite, and the addition of thyme worked really well and wasn’t overpowering. The halloumi and avocado work perfectly alongside the other components to make a really satisfying breakfast, and it’s good to have avocado included as standard.

Spicer and Cole - Bristol Food Review - Breakfast

To finish, we shared a lemon curd and poppy seed friand (£1.75, gluten free) and a slice of spiced Tunisian orange and almond cake (£2.95, gluten free and dairy free). The friand had a crispy top and I loved the little pocket of lemon curd inside it. The orange and almond cake had a wonderful syrupy top and was exceptionally moist. Both the cakes were delicious and clearly very fresh.

Spicer and Cole - Bristol Food Review - Cakes

All the staff were pleasant, friendly and helpful. The decor is simple and clean, with cosy touches like the shelf of cookery books above the armchairs at the back of the restaurant. Spicer and Cole is a busy, bustling café which is perfect to grab a quick, delicious meal, with bonus points for the fact that anyone with dietary requirements will be well catered for. Even though the café was very busy, our food came really quickly (and food is given to you immediately if you order from the counter). As well as sitting in, I can imagine getting one of those wonderful salads or sandwiches to take away for a picnic at one of the green spaces around Clifton.

 

Service - 4

Atmosphere - 4

Food - 5

Value - 4

For further info please visit www.spicerandcole.co.uk



Article by:

Sarah Starling

Sarah is a writer and blogger, as well as running workshops and teaching. Her passions are food and travel, and you can follow her on Instagram at YesStarling and find her website at www.yesstarling.com .