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 😊

Fritters and frittatas are Greta for veggies as lots of our options are too bread /carb heavy

I once went to a pub in Belfast that did something that I think was called a boxty? It was a potato rosti, with fried egg on top and spring onions and I think I had chorizo. It was so nice! I’ve never seen it anywhere else. Lots of scope for different toppings with that.

I like soup and a sandwich or soup and toastie. Not many do it with a toastie though. We usually have a cake after. Sometimes have a pot of tea or hot chocolate.

I think lovely brunches in the morning (I went to https://www.boboandwild.co.uk/food and the food was delicious and then loads of salads in the afternoon. Think Ottolenghi type stuff.

Some 'ordinary' options! Good ham, beef, chorizo, salami. Good cheddar and some other English cheeses that are not soft or mouldy and not made from boat or ewe's milk. Proper bread or rolls, sufficient butter. Salad that isn't all fancy leaves and not already covered in dressing - serve dressing with, not on. Good quality tomatoes. Home made quiche and tarts. Maybe some chilled soups? Gazpacho is a favourite of mine.

Good quality, fresh, food that has not been all mucked around with!

Decent non-bread options. Feels hard to avoid when eating low/mid price for brunch/lunch.

A boxty is not a rosti, it is more of a potato pancake. It's the kind of thing every family has their own version of.

Cobb salad
Real iced tea w mint
Lemon Tart

All day eggs Benedict

Whatever you are serving, please don't warm baked goods in a microwave oven.

good to know that’s the traditional way! This one was definitely more rosti like though. like those big posh ones M&S used to do.

It sounds really delicious though I think I’ll have a go.

Gluten free options that are actually safe for coeliac customers rather than just faddy eaters. Happy to suggest ideas if this is something you would consider (if you don’t already do this)

I’m a cook and I’ve developed menus for a long time and can gage what sells and what doesn’t, usually people don’t want anything to fancy . But if you did your menu do it in a way with no waste ie - jacket potatoes with tuna , beans, cheese , chilli etc you can then serve chilli with rice , tuna , cheese on paninis ( massive profit in both of these ) omelettes are also a huge seller mushroom, cheese , bacon etc , proper sarnies on nice thick bread or crusty cobs , different salads including feta , tuna , pasta , ploughman’s ( homemade coleslaw and added bonus easy to make huge profit) lasagna with garlic bread salad, Breakfasts always sell any time of the day , and so do burgers just jazz them up , cater for GF , vegan , vegetarian widen your market . Poke bowls can be made in advance, so people who are in a rush can take away. Quiche is easy to make and you have all the ingredients in most of the above, could even do a crustless one. Have a specials board , do a senior citizen special day ,

Can you not remove the unwanted stuff from the sandwiches? I hate cucumber but like tuna mayo, which often comes with it - I take it out. I am similarly not keen on tomatoes - it's the texture - so I remove them if they appear.

I know I'm likely to be criticised but as someone who can't digest dairy, I'd love a vegan cream tea.
A mix of light bites and more substantial meals is good (salads/soups vs bigger plated meals like pies), and veggie, vegan and gluten free choices (including vegan g/f) would be amazing.
My family between us have a number of food related I tolerances and dietary requirements and it can sometimes be hard to find somewhere we can all eat.

God, just seeing the title of this thread I KNEW there would be a load of pretentious idiots commenting "ooh good gluten free options" or "vegan options". Gtf over yourselves! And if you eat meat, why do you care about these options?

I'm interested what @Swifey40 has taken from this thread.

For me, it'd be "pick one thing and do it really well" because to please everyone on this thread would be impossible. You either want to be known as a greasy spoon with big portions and epic fry ups, the place with the great vegan options, the Mediterranean place... not just the cafe with the huge menu.

Haven’t read full thread but please do not do brownies as your only gluten free option it’s incredibly boring and coeliacs will really thank you if you have another option , if you do gluten free scones they will love you!

Gluten free is for ceoliacs of which I am one, it’s an auto immune illness please don’t think it’s just being pretentious before I got this condition I loved cakes and bread but now I cannot eat them at all, it’s upsetting but if I continued I would be really very unwell and have lots of health issues and a hugely increased rate of bowel cancer.
It’s not a choice I’m afraid it’s so I don’t get ill.

Jacket potato or toasted sandwich with fancy salad. (More than lettuce slice of tomato slice of cucumber) good vegan options that don't involve nuts. (Eg baked beans and bean salad options)

My favourite (before Covid changed my taste) was pasta and prawn salad with interesting salad and seeds.

Give options eg jacket potato with/without butter, with/without coleslaw on the salad to cater for milk and egg allergies vegans, vegetarians.

Don't put mayonnaise in stuff that doesn't need it. (Sainsbury's used to.put it in cheese and pickle sandwiches)

As someone who doesn’t eat meat, it makes me fume when the veggie options are all vegan, with ghastly pretend plastic cheese. By all means offer a vegan alternative, but many vegetarians these days are put off by menus which seem to think that vegetarian and vegan is interchangeable. And condiments - please offer decent mayo and ketchup. (I have been known to have a small bottle in my handbag for places that have the awful cheap runny stuff.)

One thing I’d always choose if it were ever on a menu, is Welsh Rarebit.

After that, a Croque Monsieur.

Homemade hearty soup extra points for chunks of ham hough or chicken in it (lentil, minestrone, chicken) and fresh crusty rollls/bread
Pannis, wraps, fresh crusty bread sandwiches with decent fillings and a good sized fresh baby leaf salad and fresh homemade coleslaw
breakfast/brunch rolls

lunchtime sized portIons (quality over quantity) and lunchtime prices

Fresh homemade cakes - scones, loaf cakes. The kind not covered in buttercream or other sickly sweet cakes

Greek style tiropita ( cheese pie) made with filo, olive oil and feta cheese.