Here in Long Ashton, the village is reeling from the sad news that The Old Library – our only coffee shop (bar a few small tables outside Parsons Bakery) has just shut its doors for good.
It now means travelling further afield for a great coffee shop experience – and the other week we did just that with a trip to Heaven Coffee House in Backwell, which is open seven days a week.
Since it opened on April 10th we’ve driven past the place plenty of times but with parking a challenge (as confirmed by Heaven’s owners) we hadn’t stopped. Until now.
Backwell’s Dark Lane was jam-packed with parked cars but after finding what we told ourselves passed as a space, we headed into the bright and airy two-roomed coffee shop to order.
Festooned with plants of all types and with a mix of wooden tables and chairs, cosy sofas and armchairs and even an egg chair (which I imagine is in pretty high demand), Heaven Coffee House has a modern, welcoming feel which is carried right through to the service from the team. Only around 30 seconds after approaching the counter – still perusing the drinks menu and the tempting display of sweet treats on offer – we received an apology for the delay and were told someone would be with us soon.
That someone was owner Ian, who seemed genuinely excited to hear that it was our first visit, and who couldn’t have been more welcoming.
As well as their range of hot drinks (including Bird and Blend teas and Extract coffee), Heaven Coffee House offers Shmoo milkshakes plus various smoothies and bubble teas, perfect for the warm weather.
All of their cakes and pastries from local businesses in the Nailsea area – the impressive choice when we visited included plum & almond cake, chocolate fudge cake, rocky road, berry flapjack, a Victoria sponge, croissants, pains au chocolat and plenty more.
We headed outside to one of the picnic benches by the main road to wait for our order: two flat whites (£3.30 each) and two slices of cake.
Across the table, the caramel shortbread (£2.60) was proclaimed to be beautifully buttery, the caramel rich and sweet…from a personal point of view, though, he’d have preferred the top two layers to be slightly thicker. My carrot cake (£2.80), though, was faultless: a light, fluffy cake with tons of walnuts and dried fruit and a good, thick layer of cream cheese frosting slathered across the top. We were impressed with the flat whites too, dark and smooth with a perfect microfoam finish.
If the parking weren’t such an issue we’d definitely head back to Heaven Coffee House more regularly. With its prime location on a busy road, varied drink and snack range and fantastic service, I hope it continues to be just as busy as it was when we visited.