Review of #STOVE café bistro at Cranswick
Entrance to #STOVE café bistro at Cranswick, near Driffield(Image: Deborah Hall/Hull Live)
Out and about on a bit of home improvement business recently, it was getting close to lunchtime and our stomachs were rumbling. While we had previously heeded advice to visit one eating-out spot in Cranswick, near Driffield – the Farm Shop at Cranswick café – we had since received more than one recommendation for another place a stone’s throw away from there.
Not realising Cranswick Garden Centre had its own – “very good”, we were told – eatery, we decided to take a chance on getting a table on this particular Friday, being nearby. If we had not already settled on a visit, the aromas wafting out from the entrance of #STOVE café bistro, accessed from inside the garden centre, would have been enough to pull us in.
It was “Fish Friday” and as we walked in we saw big plates of beer-battered haddock and chips being carried out to one of the tables. We were lucky to spot an empty table for two in a far corner of the café and as we perused the menu, more of the fish and chip specials (they also came with mushy peas, #STOVE’s own chunky tartare sauce, bread and a pot of tea) were being delivered to a good number of the tables.
The look (and smell) of the huge helpings nearly persuaded us in that direction, but I had already spied a delicious-looking array of quiches in the display counter – I do love a good quiche and rarely make my own. My other half pondered a while over the array of lunchtime options, including sandwiches, paninis, lite bites, burgers, jacket potatoes and cooked lunches.
We both knew we might also be tempted by the collection of cakes we had spied on offer, so the need to “leave room” had to be taken into consideration at this point. In the end, quiche won out for me, and of the five or so flavours on offer, I went for beetroot.
My partner decided he liked the sound of the #STOVE roast ham, double egg (locally sourced from free-range chickens) and chips. We were told that there may be a bit of a wait for our food as it was so busy, but we were happy to sip our drinks (tea for him, a cappuccino for me with a suitable nod to the horticultural with its design of a flower sprinkled on top), to chat and to take in our surroundings.
The walls of the entrance to #STOVE are “built” of logs that draw you in towards one of two centrepiece wood-burning stoves of its title, the one nearest us being comforting to look at and to feel the blast of heat from on a bright but chilly spring day, when you passed. The tables are arranged so you can move around between them and it is all on one level, so accessible.
The counter to one side is L-shaped, allowing you to view all the sweet treats available while you queue for service, and you help yourself to cutlery and condiments in the middle of the café. All looked clean and well-stocked.
It was not long before our plates of food arrived – my partner’s lunch included three thick slices of lean roast ham, eggs that turned out to have the deepest-yellow yolks and a good portion of chips. My beetroot quiche was a large, pink-hued slice to savour with a plant pot of chips (I also had the option of flower pot bread), dressed house salad and servings of coleslaw and tomato relish.
We were quieter for a while, as we tucked in and enjoyed every morsel of what had been served up. After a rest, we each paid a visit to the glass counter to weigh up the cakes and ordered a Bakewell slice and carrot cake.
We each had another hot drink to accompany the cakes, which were delicious – a bit on the pricey side at around £4.50 a portion, we thought – but we both agreed that with the size of the slices, we could easily have shared one. Now we have not one but two places we will happily return to if we are out Cranswick way again.