i have tried so hard not to go here, it is the embodiment of everything i dislike about the area. That said the breakfasts are good, in the earthy sense BUT BEWARE!! They do not have baked beans, why oh why do that have these odd earth bean things, people want some good old fashioned baked beans with their brekkie. My advice? forget your sourgh dough experience, go to the far less pretentious and far better cafe that’s opened up next to subway

I used to absolutely love this place - amazing for breakfasts and brunches. I always have the vegetarian brunch, with their homemade baked beans and the DIY toast (basically as much toast as you want!) Fresh ingredients and high quality grub.

However… I’ve been there a few times recently and unfortunately the service has really gone down hill, which is so disappointing. They used to have amazing service. There is now a really moody waitress who is usually left to deal with everyone on her own and is very rude.

Today after asking for my coffee 4 times (most of those times she ignored me & walked away as I was asking the question), she brought it near the end of our breakfast without an apology, she piled up the plates nosily and aggressively on our table and then left them there while she (eventually) got the bill, she kept standing over us when we were looking through the menu and wouldn’t go away although we asked her to, and also on another occasion she crashed into the table and knocked everything flying all over us without an apology.

It’s really put me off this place, which is such a shame because it was my favourite and the food is good. Terrible service and rude staff are a sure way to get rid of your customers - the nice people who own it are hopefully reading this!

They brew Monmouth Coffee though, which is delicious. All in all a good place for food locally, but they need to get the old staff back or some new friendly faces in, or it will definitely put people off going back because no bread or DIY toast can outweigh hideous service and grumpy waitresses, we’ll just go somewhere else.

'Every now and then when your life gets complicated and the weasels start closing in, the only real cure is to load up on heinous chemicals and drive like a bastard from Hollywood to Las Vegas,' Hunter S. Thompson wrote. Alternatively, if you're not so keen on those heinous chemicals, are nowhere near a desert, let alone a fireapple red convertible, go to Breads Etcetera, eat some bread, and feel the world slowly returning to normal again. This may come as a surprise to many of you, people of the nation that is responsible for the abomination that is Hovis, but really good bread is a humble yet potent antidote to existential angst.

And bread is what, naturally, Breads Etcetera does best. They do some great lunch dishes too, but I come here for the bread. It's not hard to understand why they were voted Best Bread in Britain 2007. All their breads are sourdough, and they come in a whole range of different flavours - multi-seed, dark rye, walnut... Every single one smells and tastes heavenly. I'd recommend the DIY toast deal for 2.50 - you'll have your own toaster on your table and can eat as much toast with butter and jam as you want. A great way to sample all the different breads. Their coffee is really excellent too, though in my opinion not quite up there with what they'll serve you in Gastro.

Disclaimer: You'll struggle to find a table for breakfast/brunch at peak hours in the weekend, and the sight of the queue going out the door might even increase your levels of existential angst. Luckily, my existential angst is more of a week-day phenomenon, so it works out perfect for me.