Not being vegan myself, I haven’t always looked out for vegan options in restaurants and cafes. Now having a friend who is vegan who has opened my eyes to the number of items that are available for her including a vegan style cafe in the centre of Birmingham. Getting into the cafe was good as it was flat access and the main door propped open, so it was easy enough to get inside. Having not been there before I cannot confirm if there was a disabled toilet as we didn’t stay there. As it was a small cafe, I can only say that a disabled toilet would most likely be a standard size facility.
The accessibility and space within cafe was moderate, there was enough space to manoeuvre around but at the time of my visit the tables were near enough occupied and this made it difficult to manoeuvre through as the tables were positioned quite close together. But I did manage it and was able to use the one-way system. Due to covid-19 we did not choose it to sit on one of the tables but from what I have observed some of them were too low for me to be able to use and had benches in front of them so I would have found this difficult.
The counter where we went to order, however, was at eye level and I could line up to it easily enough to see everything on show and the menu boards behind the counter. From the limited time we spent there the staff members were very polite and pleasant enough and had good customer service skills.
We went to the cafe during the afternoon and it wasn’t very busy at all and the atmosphere was nice and relaxed. Comparing this to somewhere like Costa, which would have been nosier and more crowded, I think because it’s a vegan cafe not as many people visit it or know about it. I could definitely see myself sitting in there and doing some work.
I wasn’t sure at first whether to try anything as I didn’t know if I’d like it or not but, in the end, I did decide to buy a slice of cookie dough with white chocolate and dark chocolate chips. It tastes slightly different to the desserts I’ve had previously; Ben and Jerrys cookie dough and hot cookie dough. The cookie dough itself is not too different but the chocolate chips make it a bit richer.
My friend, who is vegan, purchased several items from the cafe including cakes and sandwiches. On a separate visit she tried a chicken tikka wrap which said was fine, but she felt that there was too much sauce to chicken, but the sauce was really nice. On this occasion she bought a chicken salad sandwich, a BLT sandwich, a slice of Bakewell tart, mocha cake, and Victoria sponge.
She tried the chicken salad sandwich first and enjoyed it. She thought that there wasn’t enough chicken in the sandwich again and the taste of the chicken was quite bland, but she was happy to be able to enjoy a sandwich that wasn’t the overrated and unoriginal sandwich/wrap of falafel and houmous. When we got home, she tried some of the mocha cake and said it was delicious. The sponge was really moist and had the right amount of coffee in there; not too overpowering and not underwhelming. The filling and frosting was lovely she said and not too sweet.
The next day she tried the BLT sandwich which she was pleasantly surprised by. She said that the bacon had a good texture, like smoky thick bacon, and well-seasoned. As she left it a day, she wasn’t sure if the bread has soaked up the mayonnaise or if the BLT didn’t come with it, but she did have to add some mayonnaise herself. Then she ate some of the Bakewell slice, which she had tried their previously, and she enjoyed it just the same. She said it tasted just how she remembers a Bakewell tart. She also had a mouthful of the sponge cake which she said was lovely and moist and again not too sweet. Overall, she was really pleased with the food she bought.
I would direct vegans to this cafe and will be returning in the near future with my friend for some more delicious food and cake.
The Life of Sophie 