Dream Cafe

My Old Friend Kev (from my Fire brigade days ) had been in touch.

Seem’s he was thinking about going on a diet. As a result, he thought of me and decided it was time we went out for Breakfast. Counter intuitive I know but thats how it happened.

He suggested Wednesday which was good for me as Jaki always goes out on a Wednesday.

Initially she used to take her Mum shopping, a few hours at most, but as time went on that became a half day event and now it’s all day, getting home about 6pm.

Now she meets her sister, her niece and often Georgia as well as her Mum and they go out for a Jolly. Which means she takes her Mum out to get her shopping on a Friday or Saturday now and even that takes longer and longer.

last week it took biggest part of two days.

Her excuse was that her Mum fell down the escalator in Tesco and had to be taken to the Minor Injuries Unit at Yate. Then the next day, she had to go to A & E to be checked out.

Now I know that falling down is a family trait (Jaki’s Mum fell in the shower when she came to visit us some years ago and Jaki has fallen down on several occasions lately ) but I know when I’m having the wool pulled over my eyes!

So most Wednesdays I find some thing to do rather than wait around the house alone and abandoned. Usually I go to the Gym and or see my old Mate Raf.

So, when Kev suggested going out for Breakfast on a Wednesday I thought I could kill two birds with one stone and invite Raf along. They haven’t met before but I was hopeful they would gel.

Kev is really easy going, always has lots to talk about and is easy to get on with so I thought Raf would be relaxed in his company.

We called for Raf and drove up Ashley Down Rd parking some where just off the Gloucester Rd.

There are, as I’m sure you know, hundreds of good eating venues along there and I thought we would be certain to find somewhere that met our needs.

Raf is Muslim, mainly vegetarian (no Pork) though he does eat meat but not in huge quantities, prefering lentils or vegetables, whilst Kev, like me, loves nothing better than a full fat boys breakfast.

As we walked along examining the options we came to Cafe Dream, some where Raf and I have been in the past.

I think this is an Iranian Cafe so they offer an eclectic Menu which includes a Full English, Falafels, Wraps and Omelettes.

The sun was shining so plenty of people had chosen to sit on the deck at the front but we ‘Old Folks” went inside and after a bit of a Faff where I started moving chairs around unnecessarily, we were seated at a table for 4.

I ordered three cups (£1.50 each) of Tea and they were big ones in nice big cups and saucers, though I had to go hunting for sugar which I eventually found on a shelf at the back of the restaurant. there was an option for a Pot of Tea @ £3.50 but i dont know how much that held and why we weren’t given this option?

Kev and I both chose Breakfast number 1 from the menu. £10.99.

2 Eggs,2 Bacon, 1 Sausage, Hash Browns, Mushrooms Tomato, Black Pudding and Toast . Which was actually very good.

OK, If I was gonna be picky:

The Black Pudding could have done with a bit more cooking, I like mine scorched.

The Eggs were OK though Kev’s were over done.

The Sausage was a bit under cooked and they put the toast on the same plate and it was already spread with Butter (or Marg,,who knows).

But this was a really good attempt at a Full English with tasty Bacon, a well cooked Tomato and it was a good, though no large helping.

Raf was a bit harder to please. He declined the veggie breakfast and instead asked for two eggs, Beans and Mushrooms which I think all came off the extra’s menu, so was more expensive. They gave him extra white toast but he left most of it. He seemed happy enough with his choice but later realised there was an Omelette on the menu and some choices with Avocado.

Guess he just didn’t read the menu properly.

The service was a bit fickle, we had to ask for serviettes and get our own sauce from the shelf at the back. The dirty plates were left on the table way too long but they were friendly and polite.

It was very comfortable and we stayed for another round of Tea’s before it was time to leave. As we walked back toward the car Kev spotted a place that repaired Car Key Fobs. He has a KIA and the main dealer wanted £200+ to replace his remote key Fob.

So he was delighted when this little shop repaired his for £30.

So we sat in another little Cafe and drank coffee whilst his key fob was repaired.

He had an even better result later when I recommended a Paint sprayer to him and the quote he got there was £600 cheaper than the quote he was prepared to accept.

The only fault with the day was when we tried to find the car again and realised we didn’t know which street we had left it in. This meant walking up and down several different streets till we eventually found the car.

Between the three of us, we couldn’t find our way home.

Sad eh?