Tucked away on the corner of a busy road in Liverpool city centre is a warm and welcoming café that's been gaining five stars on TripAdvisor for its "fantastic food".
After hearing good things, I paid my first visit to Lovelocks Coffee Shop last week and found a cosy atmosphere, with plenty of charm. Inside, the café has a slightly retro feel, with mismatched upcycled furniture, lots of lovely hanging plants, plenty of natural light - and a view of the Walker Art Gallery if you sit in just the right place.
You can buy bits and bobs from local independent makers, there's a stack of old board games, a piano in the corner, and you'll even find disco balls and fairy lights in the toilets. As soon as I stepped through the door, a friendly face handed me a menu and said they'd be over to take my order.
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The menu is breakfast heavy, with a plenty of vegan and veggie options as well as a 'meat' brekkie. There's also porridge, cinnamon and raisin French toast, pancakes with all sorts of delicious toppings, toasted fruit bun and sourdough toast.
If you're not in the mood for breakfast, there's a small selection of sandwiches, including bacon, brie and cranberry and Halloumi, spinach and salsa, plus soup of the day and a Louisiana Gumbo, which I made a mental note of to try next time.
Arriving mid morning, I opted for the £8 Meat breakfast, which came with two slices of bacon, two baked eggs, mushrooms, tomato, BBQ beans and two slices of sourdough. My mini breakfast companion wanted a bowl of porridge (£4.50), with blueberries and maple syrup.
The breakfast arrived in around 15 minutes (just enough time for a couple of rounds of dominos) and I realised I perhaps should've asked for a small bowl of porridge for my four year old as it was far too big for her. But that did mean I got to try some without her complaining.
The porridge is made with soy milk and the oats were cooked perfectly, with the blueberries nice and plump and the maple syrup as deliciously sweet as you'd expect. It was a hearty start to the day for my little one, as was my breakfast, which I enjoyed with a strong, yet creamy flat white (£2.70), decorated with one of those pretty leaf patterns on the top.
The breakfast was just the right size for me and while some might grumble at the absence of sausages, I enjoyed having two pieces of perfectly cooked, thick salty bacon. Less is more sometimes when done right, I think.
I wasn't overly keen on the mushrooms, they tasted a bit overcooked for my liking, and the BBQ beans had a lovely flavour but came in an unnecessary miniature tea cup, and were a little lukewarm.
But the baked eggs were one of my favourite parts of the dish - there was just something so comforting about the taste and the richness of the orange yolk - with the seasoned cooked tomato another highlight on the plate.
The breakfast included two thick slabs of sourdough, covered in so much salty butter it was practically dripping, but that didn't stop me from eating nearly all of it, despite me telling myself I'd just have one slice. During our time there, people came and went, the staff chatted to one another and the customers, and as cheesy as it sounds, it felt like a really unpretentious, happy place to be.
I can certainly see why this place gets such glowing ratings on TripAdvisor and it's one to seek out away from the hustle and bustle of the main city centre. Lovelocks is on Old Haymarket, Liverpool, L1 6ER and you can follow them on Instagram here.
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