And The Dish Ran Away With The Spoon

It’s always nice to feel that your opinion is valued, so Bailey and I were feeling very flattered that the lovely Anna and James – owners of And The Dish Ran Away WithThe Spoon had chosen little old us as two of the lucky few whose expertise (or in our case, gluttony)would be called upon to give feedback on their new Baked Breakfasts.

“Baked Breakfasts?!” I hear you cry. “Why that’s the most delicious sounding idea I ever did hear!” – These were our thoughts exactly and we were very excited about taking time out of our busy homemaking schedule to attend the Saturday morning breakfast bonanza.

As we arrived we were greeted by Anna and James who were very pleased to have us and made us feel most welcome from the minute we walked through the door. And The Dish Ran Away With The Spoon is on Burton Road which is a sea of top quality cafés, restaurants and bars but none of them are quite like this little place, which I simply cannot describe without using the word ‘cute’ (sorry).

There is plenty to look at with bits and bobs all over the place including fascinating vintage kitchenware, carefully chosen pages from old cookbooks and quirky cookware used for unusual purposes (mini jelly moulds holding up cake signs? See, I told you, CUTE).

Let’s not forget the mouth-watering display of beautiful cupcakes and baked treats on the counter which I couldn’t stop gawping at.

While we waited for everyone to arrive James brought us some lovely drinks – I sampled one of their loose leaf teas – English Breakfast to be precise, which was delicious, and Bailey had a strong, rich black coffee. A great start to any Saturday morning.

Once we were all sat down, Anna explained that their main focus has always been cakes, afternoon tea and the like, but that after a recent trip to that London where baked breakfasts seem to be all the rage, she and James decided they wanted to offer their customers an alternative breakfast option to the usual fried full English that would also allow them to showcase their fabulous range of teas and coffees as well as their wonderful locally-produced jams and preserves.

We were then able to have a little sneak preview of the new Baked Breakfasts menu (which is now available – yay!) and choose what we wanted to try. Well we thought that in the name of research (ahem) we would simply have to try and eat one of everything.

First up we nibbled on a Pear and Ginger Breakfast Muffin. This was a great start and I don’t know why but I always enjoy any cake I eat more when the implement I use to eat it is a vintage cake fork. I don’t think this is psychological either, it must be scientific. The muffin wasn’t too sweet for a morning, was perfect alongside a cuppa and I loved the juicy bits of pear running through the cake. If I were nit-picking I’d say I couldn’t taste the ginger much but Bailey said this was a good thing.

Next, we tried the Sourdough Toast which comes with the invitation to help yourself to And The Dish Ran Away With The Spoon’s lovely little pots of locally sourced jams, marmalade, lemon curd, honey and good old Marmite. Although this could prove dangerous when people like my dad come in who can do a third of a jar of lemon curd in one sitting (no joke), I really liked sampling all the different delicious preserves and Anna was really happy to tell me the story of where the jams had come from (a company called Wild and Fruitful – so called as the lady who owns them has a garden that is literally groaning with all types of fruit). The toast itself was excellent – at first Bailey thought the portion might have been a tad small but once we got stuck into the dense, crunchy toasty goodness we both found it very satisfying.

We literally couldn’t wait to get our chops round the Baked Banana Bread with Nutella. I really don’t think there are many people who don’t like Nutella but there are alternative toppings too. My experience of banana bread is that it is quite cakey and stodgy, kind of like Soreen. So we were quite surprised that this version was much lighter and more bready and walnutty – exactly the type of thing you’d want to spread with Nutella and eat for a less sweet breakfast. I’ve actually spent some time thinking of this dish wistfully since eating it so would definitely recommend it.

However, our very favourite item of the day had to be the Pecan and Caramel Roll. I have never had the pleasure of eating a cinnamon bun before but have heard about a lot of people coming back from the States with a cinnamon bun addiction and if they’re anything like the ones we tried, I don’t blame them. 

We knew it was going to be good as Bailey spotted one of the members of staff actually struggling to get a roll out of its tin due to its sticky gooiness. Woah. The roll arrived looking pretty as a picture and the taste did not disappoint. The dough was soft, with a smooth, sticky, cinnamonny caramel and a nice crunch from the pecans. These are definitely going to be a winner.

I am sorry to say this finished us off and we were unable to try out the Blueberry Oat and Walnut Muffins and the Dish & Spoon Granola – although I did have a look at our neighbouring table while they chowed down on these treats which both looked delish.

We were really glad that Anna and James were so keen to get some feedback from us – as I’ve said we were rather flattered – so we told them honestly that we thought their Baked Breakfasts were an excellent idea, really reasonably priced and delicious. Bailey suggested that they might like to add a savoury baked item to their menu – some sort of cheesy muffin perhaps that might appeal to the less sweet toothed customers?

Anyway we had a brilliant time over breakfast and genuinely loved everything we tasted. You also cannot beat meeting people who love their business and want to offer their customers the best they can; Anna and James couldn’t have been more lovely and we hope that their lovely gaff continues to go from strength to strength. We loved it all so much that we wanted the fun to continue so purchased a nice box of cupcakes that we took home to share with my parents who were coming over that night. These went down a treat, particularly the Red Velvet and Lemon Cheesecake. 

Thanks so much to And The Dish Ran Away With The Spoon for having us for such a fab breakfast and we hope that everyone else has been enjoying the new menu as much as we did!