St Werburghs City Farm Café: Review

“Hobbit house” is probably the most appropriate description for the St Werburghs City Farm Café building – or like something you’d find in Alice in Wonderland. Just across the road from the farm itself, the small, whitewashed building – complete with decked outdoor area that overlooks the children’s play area – looks intriguing enough from the outside, but step through the door and it’s like being transported to a whole other world.

Crafted from gnarled wood and with a log burner keeping the place warm on colder days, it’s a higgledy-piggledy building that oozes charm. And the same charm extends to its menu, with meat, vegetables, salad and more coming from the farm itself, and local allotment holders encouraged to trade any surplus with the café in return for a meal or something to drink.

The tiny kitchen behind the counter turns out a variety of brunch and lunch options, as well as hot drinks and a selection of pastries and sweet treats – which included huge peanut butter cookies; a chocolate, beer and beetroot cake; and a beautiful looking date and walnut flapjack on the day the baby and I visited.

The food menu is up on a wood-framed blackboard on one wall, with breakfast options (served 10am to 12pm), brunch (10am to 3pm weekdays, 10am to 3.30pm weekends) and lunch (12pm to 3pm weekdays, 12pm to 3.30pm weekends). And the choice is certainly varied, with meaty, veggie and vegan options galore: think fermented buckwheat pancakes with poached rhubarb and kefir; a Sri Lankan cauliflower, butternut and coconut stew; or a pulled pork burrito with pineapple salsa and fermented slaw.

As soon as I saw cheese scones on the menu, my decision was an easy one: a black onion seed and Cheddar scone with poached eggs and nettle hollandaise, with buttered greens, was one of the pricier items on the menu at £8.

And St Werburghs City Farm Café bake a cracking scone. Dense, chewy and with a crisp crust, they were undeniably cheesy – and with a mild onion flavour coming from the nigella seeds, too. It was perfect for mopping up the runny yolks of the poached eggs, and the accompanying deep green cavolo nero was decadently buttery and cooked perfectly.

It was a real shame that there was only the tiniest dollop of hollandaise hiding behind the scones, I’d have loved more of the thick and creamy, tangy sauce. But honestly, that would be the only negative to a delicious meal.

I had Oscar with me too – it’s a lovely baby-friendly place. I especially loved the beautiful wooden highchairs provided! Kids have their own blackboard menu with both breakfast (a cooked breakfast or toast with various toppings) and lunch (sausage or fish with chips and beans or greens), or the choice of beans or cheese on toast at any time of day.

I ordered the housemade fish finger with chips and beans (£4.50) for Oscar: the fish firm and meaty, the stack of chips soft and fluffy and perfect for a little person who still has no teeth…

The beans weren’t your regular Heinz from a tin – they appeared homemade too, and had plenty of flavour – and were a massive hit!

The St Werburghs City Farm Café is a great little place that really does champion hyper-local food – and it’s a stalwart of the Bristol food scene, too. Interesting menu choices, a great place for children and with a lovely relaxed and friendly feel, it’s no surprise that it’s so perennially popular.