If you went to a cafe.....what would you have?

[Swifey40]

I'm just revamping our menu for the summer and could do with some help please.
So....meze boards, what would you have on it for meat eaters, veggies and vegans.
Or poke bowls, or paninins or salads??
Please throw your ideas at me.
TIA 😊

So....meze boards, what would you have on it for meat eaters, veggies and vegans.
Or poke bowls, or paninins or salads??

You lost me here.
If I'm going to a cafe, it's for a cooked breakfast and a big mug of tea.

OR

It's for coffee and cake
or
Afternoon tea.

Out of interest, what is a 'poke bowl' ?

My favourite café locally does a selection of fillings e.g. cheese and pickle, tuna mayo, shredded ham hock, coronation chicken, pesto with sundried tomato and mozzarella, chicken and bacon etc and then you can choose whether to have it as a sandwich, baguette or on a jacket potato. All served with a really nice side salad and some homemade coleslaw. It's a simple idea but I love it.

I also really like a slice of quiche (served warm) with some decent side salads.

Ploughmans is a good shout in which case I want a choice of ham, cheese or both and have it with coleslaw, pickle, sliced apple, nice bread and butter and a boiled egg.

I do like a mezze board. Falafel, halloumi, bread, hummus, olives and roast veg etc but am less likely to order that in a café I think.

I'll always be happy with a panini at lunchtime, whatever is in it, with some nice salad on the side. Or a jacket potato with something. Afternoon tea-wise, lemon drizzle cake, victoria sponge or millionaire's shortbread.

The term 'poke bowl' is a strong repellent by the way.

What is with the contemporary obsession with sending out packets of butter in cafes? I hate buttering my own toast in cafes. The butter is either too cold or part-melted, and I find if bread is not buttered straight away it becomes useless. Plus I didn’t sign up to do additional labour for my cafe breakfast.

I’m not into paying for sandwiches or jacket spuds as they’re cheap things I can make at home easily. I like homemade quiche (my number one pick!), breakfasts or brunch dishes, and anything unusual like a Korean chicken rice bowl - basically that I wouldn’t have normally.

With allergies and sensory eaters in my family I really appreciate some items without nuts, some cakes without fruit.
Salads with dressings served seperately.
Simple combinations of good quality ingredients - like a ham and cheese sandwich with side salad (dressing on the side)
Something trendy - poke or rice bowl, I have had rice bowl with katsu chicken several times recently and it's filling without feeling heavy - some edamame beans and salad, drizzle of spicy mayo. Really good.
Something gluten free
Fresh scones ❤️
Lemon blondie/almost any cheesecake
My favourite local cafe does great panini's with interesting fillings, wonderful soups with cheese toasties and fabulous cakes
Always jacket potatoes

Oh and decent veggie sandwich fillings would be nice. Roasted vegetables, dips, different cheeses, chutneys etc. In a lot of cafes the veggie sandwich options are very limited.

I'm the total opposite. I can't stand already-buttered toast where it has all melted and made the toast go soggy.

My husband's gluten free and we are always looking for good gluten free options, so jacket potatoes, salads, omelettes, soup, risotto - don't often see that in cafés at lunchtime, it's more an evening restaurant thing. And please have gluten free chips, so many cafés have the wheat coated ones, and then he can't have ham, egg and chips which he loves!

I don't want butter in my sandwiches, or margarine. Mayo or olive oil please. And whatever fillings you offer, please fill the sandwiches relatively generously.

Some really good salads (as pp said - it's SO difficult to find good, tasty salads!); wraps; fruit bowls with yoghurt; some great banana bread not packed with sugars

Salads and bowls involving multiple ingredients that I’m generally too idle to want to prepare myself for a casual lunch / don’t want to have to go out and buy different packets and jars of when I might not use them again for ages.

But who are your main clientele? It’s probably not of great use everyone suggesting things like the above when your day-to-day bread and butter customers are e.g. traditional pensioners who really like soup and a roll, or SAHPs who bring in small DC and mainly want simple sandwiches and jacket potatoes and egg or beans on toast.

We have a cafe near work that does pasta / rice salad bowl things which I love for lunch as they're (semi) healthy and you can pick and choose what salad goes in there.

I wouldn't bother with Poke or Meze - most people going to cafes aren't arsed about this type of thing.

I would say:
Breakfast butties
(Really) good coffee
Baguettes / barms / fresh bread with a variety of fillings
One or two different homemade soups
Jacket Potatoes
Possibly homemade pies if viable
Salad bowls
Fresh juices
Homemade cakes

Proper bacon sandwiches on granary bread with back bacon, none of that streaky rubbish, and all visible fat cut off.

Paninis can get in the bin, I want a sandwich made with lovely fresh, springy bread and choice of fillings (hot and cold), served with a smattering of salted crisps on the side.

I’d also be tempted by a good quality sausage roll, or a proper old-fashioned ploughman’s - even better if the pickle is home made and tangy.

Lovely fresh coffee, and tea served by the pot, not a bag in a mug.

chocolate and orange porridge https://madeleineolivia.co.uk/chocolate-orange-oats/ made with water is fine as I can't tell the difference

https://simple-veganista.com/spicy-carrot-hummus-sandwic/ carrot and hummus sandwich is just a little different

https://shaneandsimple.com/creamy-chai-spiced-rice-pudding-vegan-healthy/ cream chai rice pudding pots

https://www.bbc.co.uk/food/recipes/vegan_mushroom_80921 mushroom stroganof

All the above could be labelled dairy free and vegan along with being vegetarian

Mushroom stroganoff?! In a cafe?!

Mushroom stroganoff?! In a cafe?!

I've had mushroom stroganoff in a cafe - is it now banned or something?

Why not? It's a very simple dish to prepare and can be made in advance / frozen in portions.

Breakfast served all day
Omelettes
Nice healthy salads- chicken Caesar, Greek erc
Variety of fillings and then option of breads/ baguette/panini/ jacket potato
Toasted sandwiches
Homemade quiche & sausage tolls

Good selection of cakes- always seems to be the same old same old

I really like freshly scrambled eggs on a lovely thick brown bread toast, not supermarket sliced bread but something special like Guinness bread, wholemeal spelt or wholemeal Irish soda bread. If it comes with something on the side like salsa, chutney or guacamole it's even better.

I guess because I was thinking more of the cafes I know which serve breakfasts and brunch / lunches (avocado on toast, soups, omelette etc). And then close at around 2-3pm.

But obviously there is some exotic world out there where cafes serve stroganoff and poke bowls which I was not aware of so apologies!

Personally I’m not going to a cafe for a poke bowl or mezze board. Guess it depends what type of cafe you are but I go to a cafe for the traditional options. Good poached egg on toast, a nice omelette, a big jacket potato, a good salad with lots of ingredients I.e things I can’t be arsed to chop up at home

Afternoon tea is different from a cream tea.

I'd like a few low-carb possibilities for lunch. Nothing fancy, but a cheese, tuna or chicken salad (not drenched in balsamic dressing!) would keep me happy.