Ziferblat Albert Dock - Pay for the time you stay

When we arrived in Liverpool we decided to go for a stroll around Albert Dock which was over the road from our Travelodge. The way that Liverpool has kept the heritage of its old dockland is brilliant. There is gorgeous architecture all around the dock as they've re-purposed old warehouse buildings to use for today's shops and restaurants. There is a lovely chilled atmosphere around the dock welcoming a gentle stroll allowing you to take in everything.

As we were walking we stumbled across Ziferblat. Intrigued by the concept, in which you pay 6p for each minute you are in rather than what you consume, we decided to go inside. The interior was very homely and old fashion with lots of different chairs, tables and sofas around the room with people of all ages taking a pew.

We sat down and decided to make a beeline for the kitchen to see what delights they had in store. I found it amazing everything they had on offer. You could get a cup of tea and a piece of cake or indulge in cereal and a fancy coffee with flavoured syrup. There was numerous yoghurt flavours in the fridge, nibbles on the counter and many biscuits. You could help yourself to as much as you wanted and only pay for the time that you stayed. 

At 6p a minute per person it works out at £7.20 for two people for an hours stay. Now if you get your fill of food and drink I think this is reasonable, however, if you only get a tea and a small piece of cake many it's not so good... 

We had some flavoured water and a piece of cake each. It was a good cake and the water was refreshing. After we ate we had to do our own washing up! That's kinda part of the concept too. It's like a home from home so you have to wash your plates and cups and put them away. 

After nearly 30 minutes we decided to get back on the road after checking out and paying our fee. I think this is a great concept which gives people a cosy place to get away, although the rising charge may pray on your thoughts. There are currently three of these places in the UK; one in London, Manchester and Liverpool, with numerous others throughout Europe. I would definitely come back for more cake and biscuits when I'm in the area.

Chadwick & Co - Coffee House and Kitchen in Barker and Stonehouse

Following a late-night (early morning) watching WWE Wrestlemania at the end of March, myself and Matt both had Monday off. With this, we decided to visit the brand new Barker and Stonehouse store. We are big fans of B&S owning many items from the shop. The items they sell are unlike anything available in normal furniture shops. It fits our style perfectly as we love chunky wood, industrial metal and quirky accessories. Walking around B&S in Middlesbrough always made me excited so you can imagine what I was like walking into the newly opened shop on Teesside Park, it's MASSIVE!

In the new store, they have added a café on the top level. B&S have partnered with restaurateur, Daryl Chadwick, to run Chadwicks & Co Coffee House and Kitchen. Daryl has been a part of some of Teesside's top restaurants including D.P Chadwick's in Yarm and Café Lili in Norton. Now he has turned his hand to this new venture and created a menu full of treats for B&S's customers. We were very peckish so headed on up to see what we could have.

Up on the top floor is lovely as you get to look over on the store and also out of the large glass windows. All the tables and chairs featured in the café are available to buy in B&S which I thought was a nice touch. There isn't a huge menu here so we both decided on a piece of cake. I chose chocolate and pistachio gluten-free cake and Matt chose carrot cake accompanied by a pot of tea to share. When the cake arrived I did think the portion sizes were a tad on the small side but once I started eating I could see why. It was so tasty but very sickly. I didn't manage to finish mine! Matt really enjoyed his cake and loved the large pieces of carrot on top.

I will definitely be back to have some more cake and maybe more of a savoury snack. They also do afternoon tea which looks amazing so I am sure that I will be visiting to try this.

Have you visited yet? What did you think?

Time for food and a movie - Tyneside Bar Café Review

A typical date night for the majority of people involves going out for a meal and then on to the cinema for a film. So what could be better than the place you are visiting for food being right next door to the cinema! Established by the same people who run the Tyneside Cinema, the Tyneside Bar Café is their latest venture combining great food and drink with the delights of cinema.

Me and Matt visited recently to see what it was all about and try some of the lovely food. We arrived at around 1.30pm on a Saturday afternoon and the place was very busy so we struggled to find a seat we were comfortable in. After playing musical chairs as people left, we finally settled right at the back of the venue in some cosy seats. It seems the cafe has tried to fit in as many tables as possible which means everyone is a little bit on top of each other and trying to get through the tables is a bit of a maze. When it is less busy I'm sure this is fine but when all the tables are taken it is a bit of a hazard.

When we were settled we went up to the bar and ordered our food which was done quickly and with ease! They have a great selection of alcoholic drinks but we both settled on soft drinks, I went for a Fentimans Cherrytree cola for a change. For our meals, I picked the Tyneside cinema hot dog in a brioche bun with onions and fries and Matt settled on the royale with cheese which was a ground rib burger in a soft bun with Olgeshield cheese, gherkins and fries. Mine was lovely but a tad messy to eat especially when I added the tomato sauce! Matt enjoyed his and said it was a really good burger.

For dessert, we decided to get the cookies and milk and the popcorn pannacotta. I picked the cookies and they were delicious and warm! Not sure if I had milk or cream with them though as it was quite thick and frothy but it was lovely on the cookies. We picked the pannacotta to try between the two of us but we weren't really keen on it. I think as neither of us had had pannacotta before we weren't sure what to expect!

Overall we had a lovely time at the Tyneside Bar Café, the food was lovely, the service was brilliant, we just thought it was a little overcrowded. If we were local I think we'd be down quite a bit to catch some of the free films they screen whilst enjoying some food.

*Food was provided free for review. All comments are honest.

Sherlock and Speedy's - London

Now I don’t know if you know but recently I have become a HUGE Sherlock fan. If you haven’t watched it, you must! Even if you think "oh heard of it but don’t fancy it", trust me you will. For those of you who do watch it and appreciate the brilliance, you will recognise this place that I dragged my mum to whilst we were down in London. After browsing the Sherlockology site I found the location of Sherlock’s famous door and subsequently the little cafe that sits next to it. So that meant we had to visit.

After getting off the tube at Euston it was only a 5 minute walk (less if you get off at Euston Square) to the door and Speedy’s cafe. There were a couple of people around taking photos of the site, so I wasn't the only weirdo there. After a couple of snaps, we realised we hadn't had breakfast so I convinced mum that we should go to Speedy’s for food. Inside they have adorned their walls with photos of the staff with Benedict and Martin as well as photos they have taken of filming.

We both ordered a tea and then I had toast with tomatoes and mushrooms whilst mum had toast and scrambled egg. It wasn't the most impressive breakfast I've ever had but hey I was in Speedy’s cafe!

If you love Sherlock then you have to visit to get your photo taken with Speedy’s cafe and Sherlock’s door, although I must warn you the number has been changed back to the number it should be on the road, not 221B like we all want it to be.