what's your favourite type of cafe?

[sir thomas blanchard]

i like quietish family run places preferably with home made food where i can sit with a view of my bike, deli type shops can be ok

on the other hand i have found myself in the company of obnoxious middle class/trendy twats who are loud/irritating in the above

i'm not that keen on greasy spoon transport cafes or some biker venues/pubs as the grub can be horrible/give you tum ache later

also garages can sell dodgy food that is out of date, had food poisoning a couple of times now so more cautious these days

not that taken with supermarket cafes although they can be clean and good value, often 'middle of the road' pubs can be good.

worst are the garden centre type cafe/restaurants that attract the eldely ( i am elderly come to think) doh

what do you reckon?

[D41]

I owned a restaurant very briefly....maybe 10 years ago? Franchise place called Farmer Boys in Santa Ana, CA.
Anyway....EVERYTHING in food prep/sales centres on just two things really.....cleanliness & freshness - without those two, you're pretty much dead in the water.

Totally agree on the whole garden-centre thing....no-one goes to a restaurant looking for a planter box - why would you go to a garden centre & expect anything other than a compromise-on-a-plate? Doesn't make sense.

[Deegee]

I would happily eat anywhere that was primarily about the food, garden centres, supermarkets, service stations etc are all about something else and offer food as an extra revenue source and as such the food is of secondary concern.

I’m not sure if there’s a simple rule other than the above, to choose a café to eat at, I’ve eaten at places that were run down but clean and some that were gleamingly new - both with fantastic food. The yardstick I use is the humble sausage, anyone using proper butchers bangers has pride in what they do and are normally serving excellent food.

[sir thomas blanchard]

there's quite a good burger van at one of my local bike shops but no facilities as far as i know, i think you need toilets to go with the stop really.

the other bike shop has a cafe in a container unit, like one of those portable cabins you get on a building site but it is claustrophobic and unpleasant to be in

there is an industrial estate near one of the bike shops, that has its own cafe and because the estate is on a former airfield the cafe has a relaxed spaceous feel with seating outside

i think you have to take decent places where you find them, there is actually quite a good cafe on an upmarket garden centre not too far away but these places aren't geared for bikers in so far as you won't be their normal customer type so i try to adopt a relatively low profile, taking my helmet off and leaving it with the bike, that sort of thing.

places to stop can help a ride out, if there's somewhere that you know you will be accepted with nice toilets, not thinking of motorway services here, then it breaks the ride into stages. i go back to places i like, they are hard to find though. i'm not really a fan of fish and chips but there's one town that has a brilliant cook, they get it right to that's a definite call in, bonus is that there's seating in and out in attractive circumstances plus reasonable toilets.

[C00kiemonster]

One thats serves cake.

[sir thomas blanchard]

i know this cake thing is a joke with you blokes but, really, when you get older you don't want to be eating cake on bike trips, you aren't going to be cleaning your teeth anytime soon and it doesn't do your figure any good. having said that i'll eat home made that hasn't got too much sugar in it.

one time i had this thing about going to pubs on bike trips to places a little bit off the beaten track but inevitably there's a risk to that as it doesn't take a lot to bring you over uk limits really but they are often good places for a rest and a chat if not a meal.

[Monty]

I’m with Frankie on the sausage yard stick, with the exception of that place in Matlock Bath. Sh!tty sausage, but I like sitting there watching the world of motorbikes go past. Actually thinking about it the coffee isn’t very good either.

[sir thomas blanchard]

there's a new motorway francishe called pret a manger which is nicer/better than starbucks, macdonalds and costaon the coffee (services) front

[kiwikrasher]

Most of Jess and I riding is to either pubs or cafes, unless it's a trip away to a location for a weekend. We prefer smaller cafes with good coffee and homemade/wholefoods stuff on the menu. Our favourite is a new Cafe in the Blue Mountains called Caffeine and Gasoline. Really awesome bloke owns and runs it, proper bike nut, has a black 900cc Thruxton with twin Arrows on it. There is always a different classic bike in the shop each visit as all the local bike enthusiasts keep asking if they can display their bikes there after he started with his own thruxton in the shop. Coffee and food is top notch. As a bonus, Jess is quite smitten by the owner which always puts her in a receptive mood once we get home

https://www.instagram.com/caffeineandgasolinecafe/

[sir thomas blanchard]

smaller cafes with good coffee and homemade - me too

i did spend quite a lot of time touring the cotswolds in central uk, it is a protected zone without any substantial towns except one on the edge called chipping norton. there's quite a few small museums dotted about, often these have reasonable cafes and facitities.

[Kwacky]

Pret has been going for years It's a high street brand.

I've yet to find a dedicated biker cafe that does decent food. To be honest I'm not into the social side of biking. Turning up at a biker cafe, going on massive ride outs, Ride to the Wall and sort of stuff - no ta.

Lucy's in Stow is spot on for me. It's friendly, in a nice location, the food is really good, the cake is homemade, the owner knows us and is prepared to open early if we're on a ride out. They don't rush you either.

[sir thomas blanchard]

Pret has been going for years It's a high street brand- didn't know that

Lucy's in Stow - i'll have to try and find it

https://www.tripadvisor.co.uk/Restauran ... gland.html

right, found it - i'll try that place next time i'm up that way, thanks

[StMarks]

My favourite Cafe is the ones you come across on the Piste, when it's (eg -5 degrees & the snow is horizontal ) & you're borderline frozen to the bone.
Ditch your skis & poles in the drift outside, stumble & slide to the entrance where you open the outer door into the foyer. In the protection of that haven you brush off the worst of the snow from your outer layer, stomp the packed snow from your boots & remove your gloves, lid etc..
Finally you prize open the powerfully sprung doors & enter the establishment,
Now I've done this in France, Austria, Italy, Switzerland, America etc... but the effect is largely the same irrespective of location,: A claustrophobic interior that is swelteringly hot with a roaring open fire(s). Your scent is assaulted by the aroma of hot steaming clothing mixed with strong coffee, chocolate, garlic, strong alcohol. The noise of cheerful conversation is booming, amplified by a combination of the cramped conditions & bonhomie making any background muzak entirely superfluous.
Yes, a coffee will probably cost you £3-£5, and a slice of cake is unlikely to give you any change from £10, but right at that moment it will be the best coffee & food you ever had, and worth 10x what you're being stung....

Well, IMHO that's ^ the best cafe, and generally any conventional one is (for me) something to be tolerated for the sake of social acceptability.

Well, you did ask..

[D41]

Come to think of it, fast-food places like McDonalds aren't really THAT bad. Main reason being that they're not hit & miss....for sure they're not great, but at least you know what you're in for.....worth considering, as Mickie D's usually tastes better in the UK than in the US.

And if you play you're cards right, you can even score a toy with your Happy Meal. Win/win!

[sir thomas blanchard]

yes i guess mcdonalds are a known quantity, the same throughout the country so you don't get any local ambience. recall stopping at one in some remote part of south wales, in a really exposed position on a hillside, near the top - somewhere near mountain ash i think. had all the charm of some kind of ice station in the artic.

[C00kiemonster]

yes i guess mcdonalds are a known quantity, the same throughout the country so you don't get any local ambience. recall stopping at one in some remote part of south wales, in a really exposed position on a hillside, near the top - somewhere near mountain ash i think. had all the charm of some kind of ice station in the artic.

McDonalds are useful for a McPiss, Milkshakes and good priced coffee.

[kiwikrasher]

yes i guess mcdonalds are a known quantity, the same throughout the country so you don't get any local ambience. recall stopping at one in some remote part of south wales, in a really exposed position on a hillside, near the top - somewhere near mountain ash i think. had all the charm of some kind of ice station in the artic.

McDonalds are useful for a McPiss, Milkshakes and good priced coffee.

The coffee at McD's over there must be better than Aussie because here it's utter garbage, wouldn't drink it if it was free!

[StMarks]

.....The coffee at McD's over there must be better than Aussie because here it's utter garbage, wouldn't drink it if it was free!

Actually the coffee that McDonalds have over here is surprisingly very good IMHO.
I was utterly amazed first time I had one, as I was expecting the usual corporate watery tasteless piss.
Proper coffee, acceptable price.!

[C00kiemonster]

Exactly. McDonalds coffee is one of the few things that is good about the place tbh.

[Kwacky]

Agreed. It's nice coffee and well priced.