[Invited] I had the pleasure of being invited to try the food at 19 Café Bar. Two of the dishes I paid for, however, two were complimentary.
19 Café Bar is an independent eatery in the heart of the Northern Quarter. Famous for their fantastic breakfast/brunch menu, I was eager to visit! Having followed them for a while on Instagram, I already had an idea of what I wanted to try.
Pancake stack – With bacon & drizzled with syrup / £8.50
I went straight for something that I have seen on my Instagram feed many times, their ‘Pancake stack’ with bacon and syrup. I was greeted with this picture perfect stack of pancakes that looked light and fluffy, topped with a healthy layer of crispy bacon, which happened to be soaked in syrup. Wow, that was a mouthful.
It’s pretty hard to describe how good these pancakes were. Cooked to perfection and the right balance of salty/smokiness from the bacon and then sweet from the syrup. The only thing that would have improved the dish would be a little more syrup, for those who have a sweet tooth like me. I am sure if I asked the staff would have accommodated this too.
Overall I will give this dish 9/10. The plate was priced well, and the taste was well worth it, good portion size too.
Salmon open bagel – With cream cheese, smoked salmon & topped with two poached eggs / £9.50
I was greedy and wanted to try a different dish, so I went for one of my brunch favourites — smoked salmon. Bagels were the right texture; the cream cheese wasn’t too overpowering, eggs were cooked to perfection, and the Salmon was most definitely the star of the dish. My only complains were that I wanted more… I attempted to get a sexy shot of the yolk oozing as we cut into the eggs, but this failed miserably. Definitely learnt my lesson for next time!
Overall I would give this dish 8/10. It is pretty hard to go wrong with this classic combination, but I would have preferred a little more salmon and maybe a little less cream cheese.
Veggie Burger (V) Spiced sweet potato, chickpea & spinach patty, topped with grilled halloumi & spiced tomato mayo, with lettuce, red onion and tomato on a brioche bun. Served with homemade smokey ‘slaw / £8.95 (ordered without mayo)
On this visit to 19 café bar, I took my Mum and Nani along. They are both pure vegetarians so no eggs for them! Being excellent cooks, both of them, they are hard to please. The veggie burger was cooked to perfection and tasted great. The textures and flavour combinations were the perfect match. I tried the smokey slaw and enjoyed this, would happily have eaten as a side with almost anything!
Overall they gave this dish 9/10. The burger was great. I don’t think you could elevate it more unless with the addition of some chips for the price.
Toasted ciabatta (VG) – With fresh tomato, peppers, red onion, spinach, garlic oil & pesto / £8.00
Now to the most disappointing dish that we had. This was more for Mum and Nani as I was suffering from a severe food coma after attempting to finish both mains that I ordered. The feedback wasn’t great. The bread was okay but very tough to eat, and the overall flavour was very bland. With many other enticing dishes on the menu, we were disappointed with our choice with this one. I don’t think this stands up to the rest to the menu, which is a shame as it is one of the main vegan options.
Overall we would give this dish 5/10. Slightly overpriced for what you get and there are plenty of better options on this menu. Do the right thing and go for the pancake stack rather than this…
Our visit to 19 café bar was overall fantastic, despite the disappointing last dish. Everything else that we had was terrific, and the staff went above and beyond to make sure we were taken care of during your visit. This place gets jam-packed on a Sunday so make sure to book in advance to save your spot as you need to try those beautiful pancake stacks!
Ratings:
Service – 9/10
Price – 6/10
Food – 8/10
Recommendation
Overall good, would recommend visiting 19 café bar just to try the pancakes.
