Roving Rothbury Reporter and a bonus Pit Stop!

Sunday on our round up the family outing had us heading to  Toffee factory at Ouseburn for the Spring Salon Sale, and we also took in the http://www.thebiscuitfactory.com/  It is always a nice trip out to see what the big city creativity has to offer as well as keeping an eye out for new trends.

We couldn't not take the opportunity for coffee and cake, even although we have had our treat this week. I have enjoyed the refreshments at The biscuit factory on a few occasions so automatic pilot had me walking straight there, when a voice in my ear said you can't just follow familiar paths, be adventurous, try somewhere new! Back to the car we went and without much guidance it was pointed in the direction of Heaton.
Many times over the years we have driven up Chillingham Road and Heaton road but have never stopped at any of the many eating places before. The voice in my ear knew which establishment we were going to try.
http://www.skyapple.co.uk/                                                                 

 The exterior confidently sported a vibrant shade of pink so we couldn't miss it. We were in the heart of Student Land! We  managed to park outside so puppy dog was able to keep an eye on our whereabouts. We managed to squeeze ourselves inside, it is quite a small cafe and it was also very busy which was good to see as its popularity assured us that our choice of pit stop was a good one!
Initially when going inside I thought" help, we must be the oldest here!" even although I still consider us to be on the young side of middle age! Didn't bother me too much though as I don't think I am too grey yet.

So the customary Americanos and Brownies were devoured and enjoyed for the second time this week, I would recommend you give this place a try even if pink is not your colour as the service was friendly and quick even with the girls being very busy and the coffee in particular was excellent!

There is no picture of our order this time as the voice in my ear said it is a bit repetitive to post pics of coffee and traybakes all the time, and also as it is a very small and busy cafe, it was difficult to take a picture without getting other customers in the photo and it is not good practice to just snap people wthout permission!

Roving Rothbury Reporter and The Penny Toss Trail!

Normal day off trips out all have the same destination, Durham, to visit family, which way we go there is usually determined by either weather or a particular purpose.  Last week, with blue sky and sunshine we knew we wanted to head to Tynemouth first , to enjoy fresh sea air as well as coffee and cake. However yesterday we had no agenda. This is when the "The Penny Toss Trail" comes in to play, so it is all up to chance where we end up for coffee and cake.

Heading out of Rothbury the B6342 was the road we chose before The penny Toss trail actually started.The first flick of the coin came at Scots Gap, heads left, tails right, so right it was, passed Wallington and in the Hexham direction. Next penny toss was the A68 junction, heads left , tails for straight on to Hexham, so left won that time. Tootling along, on very familiar territory we had a brief puppy dog comfort stop at Allensford with a stolen chance for a swim in the Derwent (puppy dog, not me!) We began to think about our coffee shop options. We have read about http://www.sweethart-cakes.co.uk/ in Appetite magazine and we knew we were 5 mins away, decision made.

We were welcomed in to a busy but relaxed atmosphere, it is obviously a popular place. The shelves of freshly baked bread behind the counter, the array of cakes in the cabinets and under the cloches were so deliciously decadent that I felt as if the calories were already being devoured through my eyes.

Two delicious Americanos were ordered alongside chocolate orange brownie  and a strawberry and coconut tart. I do love my chocolate brownies, but unfortunately I am not a fan of chocolate and orange together, so my choice was the coconut tart, it was gorgeous! The chocolate orange brownie was getting lots of positive Mmmms as well. I believe that Sweethart Cakes are also very famous for their egg custards so if that is your preference I can tell you that they looked very tempting, and that is from someone who wouldn't touch any sort of custard.                          

Our service was quick and efficient and we again had change back from £10 So "The Penny Toss Trail" served us well!

Roving Rothbury Reporter Loves Cafe Culture!

With beautiful sunshine and bright blue skies, outing this week had us heading to the seaside.......with puppy dog in tow of course!
If I didn't live in the beautiful village of Rothbury I am sure this place would be top of my list of nice places to live. Tynemouth!

Cafe Culture is thriving in Tynemouth, there is no end of choices for morning coffee, afternoon tea, delicious lunches etc and with it being such a lovely day there was a lot of outside seating being occupied, there was indeed a real buzz about Tynemouth that Thursday seemed as if it could have been  a sunny Sunday.

As I said we were spoilt for choice for our taste of " Cafe Culture" but  Dil & the Bear, with it's tempting treats in the window  drew us inside.

We chose to sit inside rather than outside as the interior looked so stylish and welcoming so we had to enjoy the interior ambiance. Dil -the-bear

We splashed out on a cake each this week with our Americanos, gooey chocolaty brownie and treacle and ginger loaf were the choices, my brownie was by far the best choice. The velvety chocolateness |(not sure that is a proper word!) complimented the coffee perfectly,I was soon filled with coffee and cake contentedness! We had change back out of £10 this week but there were two cakes!
To ladies, the "Ladies" is always an important necessity and has the ability to influence your opinion of a place just as much as the food served. "Dil & the bears stylishness flowed through here with a flourish as well and if I thought posting a picture of the loos on my blog was appropriate I would have, but I don't so I won't!
I think we made a good choice for our treat this week, wonder where we will wander next week!

Roving Rothbury Reporter and Dark Matter!

This weeks day off outing had us heading to "The Land of Prince Bishops", the fine old city of Durham.
Very familiar territory, a city full of many options for our obligatory coffee and cake treat, but unfortunately we have never been in any of them.
Before heading south we did a little bit of Internet search so we could decide which coffee shop was going to win our hard earned cash, they all sounded very tempting, so the answer was to get there then decide.
We parked up, followed our noses and our instincts directed us into "The Dark Matter Cafe"   http://www.dark-matter.co.uk/

Now you may gasp in surprise, we have no interest in gaming or comics, to be honest we are probably not the typical customer of this establishment, but it had bucket loads of quirkiness so we were tempted in.

If you like big comfy sofas, steaming big mugs of delicious coffee, bright colourful ambiance and efficient friendly service I recommend that you head in the door just like us!

I was being saintly yesterday, cutting down on my sugar intake, so we decided to have one tray bake  to share, it was a decent size slice so didn't feel I was being denied. The coffee though, was definitely the star of the show, it arrived in a big mug and it was filled to the top. We both have our coffee without milk so sometimes in other places the cups always seem as if they are only half full, not at "The Dark Matter Cafe"

the mug was brimming with deliciousness, and do you know what......... we got change back out of £5!!!

Roving Rothbury Reporter, Comes out of Hibernation!

Sun is shining, it is a day off, (one of many for me at the moment) so what better way to make the most of it than to head off to find coffee and cake for the Rothbury Roving Reporter.

If you are a regular reader of my blog you will know that we are avid readers of / http://www.appetitemag.co.uk/wp/    so when looking for a direction to go in, out comes the magazine for perusal. On this occasion we were tempted by The Shoreline Cafe in Craster

The advert  said that

Remember to bring your Dog!

So our very lovely lively puppy dog was invited to come in too, only if she promised to behave! She did.

It was a Monday after all, not sure I would have felt brave enough to take her in on a busy weekend day in the height of the summer.

The Shoreline is a lovely bright cafe in the beautiful coastal village of Craster, with the added bonus of The Mick Oxley gallery opposite. Two Americanos (ok predictable I know!)  a slice of coffee cake and a lemon and lime scone was our order and it was served to us with a smile. I think my coffee cake was definitely the best choice as it was so deliciously moist and tasty without being too sickly sweet.

As it was a bright sunny dry February day we had a little wander around Craster, in my TIC days I sent any number of visitors here for the famous Craster Kippers and the lovely coastal walk to Dunstanburgh Castle, but it had actually been a long time since I had been here my self. It is definitely one of the many gems of Northumberland

Flow gently sweet Coquet!!!

There has been a wee bit to much rain in Rothbury last night and today, so the Coquet is flowing anything but gently! Rabbie Burns' tune "Flow gently sweet Afton" is the music in my head though.

Roving Rothbury Reporter, At Last I have caught the Fox!

Friends have been raving about The Running Fox at Felton to me for such a long time now that I have been desperate to go there. Sunday 2nd Nov was the day that I eventually managed!

 It was a lovely bright Sunday morning, but a wee bit cold and windy though,when 4/5ths of our clan plus puppy dog were heading to the beach for a puppy paddle and hopefully some beach treasure finding. While driving through Felton my morning coffee taste buds danced with joy as I spotted The Running Fox and I remembered all the recommendations to go there, so go there we did!

Through the door we all piled, to be welcomed by a colourful counter of delicious looking cakes and tray bakes all enticing us from underneath their glass domes. The cafe was very busy so it was touch and go as to whether there was room for us or not, luckily there was a table upstairs that was ours as long as we vacated it for a Sunday lunch booking at 1pm. So half an hour was ours to enjoy The Running Fox and our coffee and cake stop.

Enjoy it we did! Two Americanos, tea and a steaming cup of hot chocolate were invited to our table along with caramel shortbread traybakes and a Raspberry polenta cake.It was soon all devoured in this beautiful little gem of a coffee shop. Four happy customers , who would recommend The Running Fox and are already looking forward to a return visit, hopefully for lunch next time!