This welcoming, friendly Café-bistro, is fashionably furnished with farmhouse style oak tables, quirky Vintage décor and mix-match crockery.
Day and night, this is such a popular place from breakfast/brunch (porridge, croissants, Bacon Rolls, Eggs Benedict), coffee and cake, to lunch (soup, pasta, bruschetta), suppers and dinners.
Ken and I arrived at 5.45pm for an early supper and given the choice of the Pre-Theatre menu (superb value at £12 for 2 courses), or the A la Carte which we selected. There’s also a Specials Blackboard.
From the starters, (Antipasti platters, Salads), I selected the Spoon Crab Cakes and then Grilled Cod. Other main dishes included Pork Loin, and Filo pastry stuffed with butternut squash and goat's cheese.
Spoon is proud to offer a menu which includes 25% Vegetarian and also Gluten free dishes. Ken was keen to try two of the daily specials, Puy Lentil Chowder, and then a Coley fish dish.
We ordered a bottle of Tempranillo and with this came a jug of water and a basket of chunky bread and butter, which we nibbled as we watched the Restaurant begin to fill up quickly. By 6.15pm, not a table left free all taken by students, couples, groups of friends, locals and city visitors.
Spoon has a fine location for pre-theatre meals - many diners like us were going to the Festival Theatre just over the road.
My generous portion of two fat crab cakes were so tasty, not like spicy Thai ones which are chewy: these were soft, pink and fishy inside with crispy coating. I also tried a spoon-full of the Lentil Chowder which was absolutely divine – thick, creamy lentils with chunky root vegetables, a meal in itself.
This bowl of soup sums up the ethos of Spoon – quality ingredients, to create REAL food with its menu of classic and contemporary homely, hearty, home-made dishes.
My Cod was an artistic slab of white fish, delicately cooked, with tiny new potatoes, delicious char grilled artichokes and sweet tomatoes. Simple yet perfect as any kind of sauce would have drowned the essential flavours of fish and vegetables.
The Coley was also voted very good, complemented well by Sweet Potato mash and pea shoots.
No time for Pudding, but you can expect all the favourites - Sticky Toffee Pud, Chocolate desserts and Cheesecake.
The Day and Dinner menus change regularly as fresh produce is locally sourced and seasonal. Spoon also run a Catering business for weddings, parties and events supplying it all, Canapés to Buffets.
If you have not yet tasted the good food at Spoon, I warmly recommend a visit - and do reserve a table as it does get packed out over busy meal times.