Tell me your favourite foodie cafe meals

[whatisforteamum]

I've got an interview for a cafe that wants to go upmarket.As a chef I have some ideas.I thought I would ask your fav cafe dishes and snack meals.

Buddha bowls is a great idea

Really good panini with interesting fillings

A good vegetarian selection that can be made vegan - I was out with a vegetarian friend at the weekend and she was having a bit of a moan about the fact that a lot of cafes/bistros are now defaulting to a vegan option and bypassing vegetarian, which as a cheese lover is a bit of a pita!

No offence OP but I wouldn't eat in your cafe if you served those. Lots of cafes do that, I'd want something different, something less healthy if I'm treating myself eating out
I suspect I'm not your target audience 😜

Have a look at Gail’s?

The one near me used to do lovely savoury and sweet breakfast muffins, gorgeous salads and some fancy versions of classics, so sausage rolls with nduja or something -don’t eat pork so didn’t pay too much attention. Fried chicken with Harissa, had some large pots of various dips.

Lovely bakery round the corner does variety of breads and different eggs such as duck egg or the burford browns. Had my best ever scrambled eggs with truffle oil on olive sour dough there. Amazing.

I would do a lot for any place that has deliciously chewy bread and salted butter. I appreciate it isn't very cheffy but I love the basics!

I suggest using a search engine to look at menus.
It depends what meals they are serving and their client base.
If it’s a breakfast menu, a locally sourced organic full English might suit some, but a beach cafe near here (Appley Cafe) does avocado with chilli/lime on sourdough with crispy bacon and poached eggs.
Alternatively English muffins with eggs Benedict or Royale or overnight oats layered with fruits.
I don’t think you can just give random food items. It has to be based on their target market and vision with consideration of the whole market end rather than just odd items. .

I love cheese on toast made with quality thick fresh white bread, a really mature cheddar and a homemade spicy pickle as a side. I wish more cafes would serve it for lunch!

One of my favourite cafe do simple dishes but very well. In house cooked meat in sandwiches with locally sourced salad options and twists like crispy chicken skin salt etc. They do an mouth watering chicken and broccoli bake with a delicious sourdough bread crumbs. Nice pasta dishes that vary daily. They are near the sea so a couple of seafood dishes etc. They have a limited daily menu but most options vary daily. They also have a good childrens menu where everything is homemade or locally sourced. Sausages made by local butcher.

Just have an idea of what prices that you would charge for any dishes you suggest.

Eggs florentine is always my go to for brunch because it's too hard to make at home. Im terrible at poaching eggs so even poached eggs on some really good bread is a treat.

For lunch or late afternoon I always order paninis or toasties. I used to go to a cafe that did roasted pumpkin, feta, spinach and sun blush tomatoes which was so addictive. Another great one was roasted veg with goats cheese and pesto. Both were served with a little pot of aioli. I'm not a salad person but in France I used to always order a goats cheese and honey salad. Basically a salad with french dressing topped with two slices of toasted bread, warm goats cheese and a drizzle of honey.

My DH always orders a Reuben sandwich when he sees one. I'm veggie so he doesn't make it at home because it involves too many ingredients for one person. Also, it really needs some proper bakery bread.

Stuff on toast. Tomatoes, mushrooms, poached eggs. Call it an open sandwich to attract the hipsters.

Obviously I don't know how much they charge or what size kitchen.The place is a nice quaint market town.There is already several decent pubs I work in one and restaurant s this would be a breakfast brunch lunch offering.

A really tangy Welsh rarebit is always a treat. Or a good croque Monsieur

You know what OP, I’d be all for a good old fashioned greasy spoon. Pop some healthier options on there and use good local ingredients of you want but make it a greasy spoon! They’re so hard to find these days and the city I live in doesn’t have a single one.

MilduraS that Reuben sandwich sounds great.

I love goats cheese in anything...goats cheese and roast vegetable panini, beetroot and goats cheese salad, a nice goats cheese tart.

Not specific dishes, but anywhere that offers gluten free options. It's not rocket science to offer gf sandwiches and cakes, yet so many places don't, even your high steet coffee shops.

I could choose from several veggie/vegan options on a typical cafe menu, but not gf ones.

All of these sound lovely. We have an foodie type place near us.
Things like Eggs bendict or avocado on toast. Homemade granola etc
Good variety of soup and nice bread
Pizza (rustic)
Quiche and variety of salads.

Good luck with your interview

Decent cakes

Loads of places round me (South London) do fancy breakfast but the cafe based cake situation is a shitshow

The Dishoom bacon naan roll is amazing but basically a naan with fancy bacon, cream cheese, spicy tomato chutney and a runny egg. Heaven.

I miss decent salads. I'm fed up of some chopped tasteless iceberg, a quartered tasteless supermarket tomato with a few julienne shreds of carrot with a ubiquitous balsamic dressing.
Salads can be amazing.

A decent ploughman's is very difficult to find. Usually served with plastic or plain dried ham or a too big slab of rank stilton or sweaty tasteless cheddar.

I like it when dietary needs are catered for in an imaginative way. Put something exciting on the menu for everyone. There are often simple work- arounds that wouldn't hinder everyone else's enjoyment, but these little changes are game changers for someone with say gluten or lactose intolerance. If I feel i can choose something that won't make me ill and is tasty, I'm a happy customer.
Hope that makes sense. Good luck. Are you going to tell them you asked mumsnet?

As a marketeer, rule number one is Know Your Customer.

Could you do some sampling and research within the local area and understand what the locals want to see? What’s the demographic of the area? What’s popular with that demographic?

Vegan here, also love mezze. Baba ghanoush, fatoush, falafels (but not baked sorry Zara!), vine leaves, selections of salad. Oh and deep fried breaded or battered cauliflower with some sort of tahini or sweet chilli sauce. Annnd I'm hungry.

Posh beans on toast.

Sourdough rubbed with garlic and butter and topped with haricot beans and truffle oil, and feta if you wish!

Now I really want a great ploughman's lunch