In March this year Sainsbury's announced it would be closing 200 eateries in a shake-up of its indoor dining, but that its café at Emerson's Green would remain open. Out of all the Sainsburys cafe's in Bristol, why is this one remaining open, is it their food? Their service? Their coffee? BristolLive thought we would go and check it out.
Upon arrival I was greeted by friendly staff, there was only one person in the queue before me so I took a few seconds to look around. It wasn't so busy that I couldn't choose a nice spot to enjoy my food, everyone was enjoying themselves with friends and family.
There was a range of ages dining in - two young mums and their children having some breakfast and a few older ladies meeting up for a coffee. There was also a woman completing some work on her laptop - the café has booths that you can plug in and work from, which is very convenient.
Read more:
It's not just normal plug points either, there are USB ports which I thought was a great extra detail. I can't tell you how many times I've grabbed my lead and not the plug point, so they would certainly come in handy. I asked a staff member what the go-to grub was and he replied "Definitely the full English breakfast" in the morning, and probably Fish and Chips in the afternoon" - well I can't argue with that. So quintessentially British.
Full English breakfast sounded great to me, accompanied by a large latte - I ordered at the counter and by the time I had picked a seat and sat down the food was on its way to me, talk about fast service. I forgot to pick up some cutlery from near the counter, but that was no issue for the friendly staff who got some for me.
An All Day Breakfast from Sainsburys café costs £5.20 with two sausages, an egg, two rashers of bacon, a hash brown, fresh tomato, mushroom, baked beans and a slice of toast. Sounds great and very grand - although I have to say the portion size wasn't as big as I was expecting from the description.
However I left very feeling very full and satisfied and I didn't manage to finish my toast, so I may just have eyes bigger than my stomach. Whilst at the counter ordering, I asked whether I could swap my toast for an extra hash brown as let's be truthful in a toast vs hash brown debate, hash browns always win. Leave a comment if you agree.
It turns out I couldn't swap my toast, however I could swap the tomatoes for an extra hash brown, no complaints from me as I was going to ask for the breakfast without tomatoes anyway.
Let's get down to the actual food, if I'm being brutally honest - the sausages weren't great, they tasted cheap, the bacon was dry, the mushroom could have done with a bit of garlic on it, it tasted quite watery and also I definitely saw some dirt on the bottom of the mushroom - come on Sainsburys, do you not wash or wipe your mushrooms?
However all that being said, for a £5.20 breakfast that was served to me around 30 seconds after paying, along with a large latte for £3 I really can't complain. All together it was an £8.20 breakfast that left me feeling full, and if you're in a rush it was certainly fast!
But the star of the show was most definitely the large latte, it was amazing. Better than some coffee's I've had from some of the big chains.
Whilst enjoying my coffee I spoke to a local resident from Lyde Green called Deb, she told me that Sainsburys café is the place to be and that she always brings her grandson here and meets her friends here. 'It's just as good as Costa around the corner, if not better, and a lot cheaper', she said. I agree Deb, the coffee was a bargain.
All the regulars were so friendly, I can see why it's the 'hip' place to be, a lovely 84-year-old woman told me all about how she stays looking glam, sharing her lipstick secrets she learned from her daughter-in-law.
Would I go back to Sainsburys Café Emersons Green again? Yes, next time I'll order a large latte again but maybe I'll try their Beer Battered Cod and Chips from the main menu or perhaps the vegetarian breakfast.
Also I'm not sure what a babyccino is but it's free and it sounds like the cutest thing ever, I'm guessing that it's for babies and is made from milk only - a free little treat for your baby sounds wonderful.
Do you live in Fishponds, Emersons Green, Downend, Staple Hill or Lyde Green? Sign up for our weekly newsletter to keep up to date with everything in your local area:
If the sign up form is not showing above please click here.
