There’s only one way you can improve a 4-day Bank Holiday and that’s by going out for a leisurely breakfast; so that’s just what The Man Bird and I did! We did a cheeky little hop over the county border into Nottinghamshire, landing at Underwood’s 1958 Coffee House.
It’s a lovely compact venue; nice, bright, and modern with its herringbone pattern wooden floor. There’s an exposed brick wall on one side and a white painted, black-framed print adorned wall on the other. The seating is simple and sleek too, and offers you the option of traditional height tables with brown chairs and tan banquette seats or higher stool-set tables. There’s also a little outside patio with a table and four chairs; perfect for sitting at on sunny days, or if you’ve got a pooch with you.
The staff gave us a lovely warm welcome when we sat down and said to order at the counter when we were ready. His Nibs has been overdoing it on the caffeine lately so he decided to dakker things down a notch and have a decaffeinated coffee (£2.20), but I was on the full fat, juice-me-up-baby stuff with my Latte (£2.50). The Latte came with one of those fancy fern patterns on the top; I’d love to learn how to do that, but no doubt mine would turn out like an illegible toddlers scrawl!
I was in one of those “I want a full brekkie, but I’m not quite that hungry” sort of moods so the Lighter Breakfast sounded perfect. As usual, The Man was ravenous so he had the 1958 breakfast (i.e. The Full English); these came in at £4.50 and £6.50 with Coffee Friend voucher code respectively. His Nibs is sensitive to Gluten, but rather than ask if 1958 Coffee House do gluten-free bread for the toast that comes with their brekkie, he asked if they’d swap for fried Potatoes, which they cheerily did.
My lighter breakfast really packed a punch nutrition-wise with protein rich Bacon medallions and fried free range eggs, and vitamin and mineral hits from the wilted Spinach, Mushrooms and Tomatoes. The Spinach was cooked superbly; its stalks still had some crunch and firmness to them, but the leaves were softened, and it tasted beautiful. You can’t beat the richness of a good egg, and this one was spot on – as were the sliced mushrooms (no trace of sogginess or greasiness here!).
At 1958 Coffee House they use thick meaty medallions of Back Bacon in their brekkies and the taste came bursting through on my tongue. I liked the fact that the tinned Tomatoes came in their own separate pot; not everyone likes the juice running over the other elements of their meal. Personally, I don’t mind a bit of the juice running on my plate but it was nice to be in control over the moistness on my plate.
The Man Bird was tucking into his full brekkie with his customary gusto, and like me, he was impressed with the quality of the Bacon. Country Sausages are also on the full breakfast plate and super, thick specimens they were too. The bangers were fairly heavily herbed, so I probably wouldn’t have been their biggest fan, but His Nibs was a happy little soul and that was all that mattered.
With the 1958 Breakfast you get the choice of Beans or Tomatoes, so The Man opted for Beans and they also came in a separate pot. I got the Mushrooms or “slugs” passed over (no complaints here!) as he cut into his sunshine-yolked Egg and scooped it up into his mouth on pieces of Bacon. The fried Tatties were gorgeous with their lightly crispy outers and yummy soft inners; these also got dunked into the creamy, liquid yolk at frequent intervals.
A pair of squeaky clean plates was soon before us and we managed to resist the call of the yummy cakes and treats on the counter! The Tiffin and Rocky Road looked absolutely stunning though, so we may have to visit again and try those beauts with a coffee for elevenses one weekend.
Hot Wings given to this lovely team, no hesitation. And thank you for the recommendation Mr Tree Hugger!!
