A favourite Beeston café

I admit to having favourite cafés, and being a creature of habit they have not changed since all three opened.

One of them, Mason and Mason has recently morphed into The Coffee Shop. 'Re-branding' they call it and the owners of Mason and Mason have just done what others have done before them.

The Coffee Shop is the first café on Beeston High Road (it may be Broadgate, but as far as I'm concerned the High Road begins at Humber Road). They have always served good coffee, salads and sandwiches and they have done all this without a proper kitchen, so you won't get cooked food at The Coffee Shop.

On Saturday, Susan and I dropped in for a sandwich and ended up having a couple of their delicious salads instead. The advantage being it meant no cooking when we got home and my two hours spent playing a secret policeman along the High Road had left me feeling close to knackered.

Susan had a goats cheese, beetroot and walnut salad

and I had a avocado and smoked salmon salad. We each sampled one another's salad and agreed they were delicious. For about a fiver each they were good value and when we both saw a 'Rhubarb Pressé' in the drinks cabinet there was no other choice for either of us. The smell of freshly cooked rhubarb escaped from the bottle as you removed the cap and exploded in your nose as you poured the pressé into the glass.

They say location is everything and I suspect the café has suffered because of the tram. When everyone using public transport arrived by bus from Lenton and the city a good few were in the habit of getting off at Humber Road and walking along the High Road to the shops. The first café they saw was Mason and Mason. Now it's The Coffee Shop.

(The blue 5 marks the location of a blue plaque)

It is not in a good location for passing trade, but it is well worth going to. The service is friendly and everything is freshly made, the coffee is excellent, as is the tea. It has been a favourite café since it opened and remains a favourite.

The trouble with living in Beeston is that we do not visit our favourite cafés enough. I keep promising myself that we will. In the meantime I can at least use BeestonWeek to draw attention to cafés I like and, in the process, encourage other folk, like you, to visit them too. You will not be disappointed I promise.