Violets Cafe opened on the Quayside at the beginning of June this year. Located right next to The Side Gallery, this cute little cafe is owned by Abbie Atkinson, wife of NE chef Kenny Atkinson. I’ve followed Abbie on Instagram for a while and she often posts pictures of delicious-looking home baked treats. A few months ago there was a Bakewell tart (can this go on the menu please?!) that looked incredible… so when I heard about Violets, I knew I had to make a trip down.

I popped in for lunch with Alexis from Newcastle Sparkles on a slightly overcast Sunday and it’s fair to say my expectations were pretty high. The website is currently under construction so I couldn’t check out the menu before we headed down, but I’d seen Katie’s blog post & Violets Instagram feed so knew there’d be yummy brunchy items and sweet treats to look forward to.

When we got there, there was a queue out the door – always a good sign. We only ended up having to wait about 5 minutes, which was totally fine. We’d missed the breakfasty items which are served until 12, but as you can see from the menu below, WAFFLES! We both ended up ordering the same, homemade buttermilk waffles with the half English Breakfast. Drinks wise, I hadn’t had any tea or coffee by this time, so opted for a cappuccino. Alexis got the Fentimans Cola.

I demolished this pretty quickly and savoured every last crumb! The streaky bacon and the perfect runny yolk were the highlight for me, mopped up with the buttermilk waffle and a dollop of ketchup, of course. The sausage was delicious too, it all was.

There was a steady stream of hungry diners pouring in, the whole time we were there. The staff were really friendly and attentive, if they were annoyed by my incessant photo taking, they didn’t show it (thank you).

The cafe itself is adorable. Lots of cute little touches and quite effortlessly shabby chic (will I ever get over this style? I doubt it). Who doesn’t love mismatched Iyet matching) plates and teacups? Ooh and little jugs filled with fresh flowers?!  Lush.

The brunch we ordered was filling, but we decided to order some more drinks and something sweet to go alongside it. We had more catching-up to do so it made perfect sense!

There was a board detailing what sweet baked treats were on offer, I didn’t get a photo of it though. SILLY. I chose a chocolate meringue (served with whipped cream) to go with my English breakfast tea. Alexis got another fizzy beverage and the chocolate brownie (her first choice was the salted caramel shortbread – but she was pipped to the post by another diner).

The meringue was perfectly crispy and chocolatey, the inside was chewy and marshmallowy. YUM. Coupled with the whipped cream and sips of tea, it was beyond delicious. A bit too indulgent for a Sunday, perhaps?

There were a few meringue options, including salted caramel with honeycomb and peanut – look!

Near the till there is a section with little bags of goodies you can buy to take home, I spotted violet flavoured biscuits and also violet flavoured meringues.

One last picture, then I’m done – promise!

I paid £19.50 for the waffles (£10), cappuccino (£3), chocolate meringue (£4) and tea (£2.50). Everything was great quality, beautifully presented and the staff were lovely. I thoroughly enjoyed my first trip to Violets Cafe, it’s a very welcome addition to the Quayside. I’m looking forward to going back, the Full Afternoon Tea is calling me! I saw a table nearby order the savoury afternoon tea and it looked good, I couldn’t stare though, obviously. Haha.

Have you been yet? I’d love to hear what you think!