No12 Easton · Cafe — Restaurant in Bristol

12 High Street, BS5 6DL, Bristol,

It's not often you stumble across an absolute 'gem' of a Cafe, but we did today.

We had arranged to go out for lunch but hadn't made any plans about where, so I looked at a few options on line, checked a few web sites and came up with a few suggestions.

We were a multicultural group and our meal preference varied greatly so we had to find somewhere that would cater for all tastes.

In the end we chose No12 Easton and what a great choice.

Parking was a bit of a problem as the roads around Easton tend to be very narrow and full of parked cars.

We made the mistake of coming down the High Street from Belle Vue Road which was a mistake as its particularly difficult to navigate and if you meet a car coming n the opposite direction, theres just nowhere to go.

But we did find a parking space right opposite the Cafe.

When we arrived it was completely full, every table was taken and we were forced to sit outside.

It was a beautiful sunny day but very cold and in the shadows it was even chillier.

We had a conversation with the guy at the counter and agreed to take our drinks outside and wait for a table to become available.

The Coffee (Americano) was a bit too strong for me (I'm new to Coffee and as yet I cant drink too much of it )but I was afraid to dilute it with milk as the milk was cold and sitting outside, I feared it would get too cold, too quickly.

The Tea was a better choice and came in a little tea strainer sat on top of the cup.

However, it wasn't long before a table came available and we were all sat at a scrubbed pine table with a menu each.

The options aren't extensive but anyone who has ever watched Gordon Ramsey tear apart a failing restauranteur will know, if you want to be successful you do the basics and you do them well and this placed does that perfectly.

From its location I suspected this was going to lean toward a Veggie menu so I was pleased to see there was a Full breakfast (£8.95) on the menu plus a Bacon sandwich (£6.50) and what a great sandwich it looked. Though none of us chose it, we simply witnessed it being delivered to the table next to us. But Boy it looked good.

Two of us went for the Veggie Breakfast.(£8.95).

Halloumi, great as a meat substitute.

Marinated portobello mushrooms (this is how mushrooms should taste, they were beautiful. There is no reason why other cafes should serve up a soggy black mess and call it mushrooms).

Roasted vine tomatoes. These were amazing, they apparently roast them in Balsamic Vinegar and the taste is incredible.

Fried egg on Sour Dough. I usually 'moan' about Sour Dough Toast but this was still soft and edible so I had no complaints, though the egg was a bit hard.

I could have lived without the 'Greens' though I did eat all of them and I would have preferred Baked Bean, but hey!

An interesting touch was the pot of home made Brown Sauce which tasted really good.

For a Veggie breakfast it was very filling.

Steve chose the home made soup of the day which was Roasted Butternut Squash with some serious Kicks added by the fresh red Chilli. (£4.95).

Raf went for the Baked Aubergine with tomato, pepper, onion, new potato and yoghurt served with a slice of Sourdough bread.

This was perhaps the smallest portion but it was still a good meal and very tasty.(£7.95).

There was a children's menu and several small people were taking advantage of this.

Service was good though you had to order at the counter but the staff were friendly and welcoming.

Cutlery was clean, as was the whole place with free water available from a bottle on the counter.

In fact this was just a really nice place to hang out and have brunch.

It is clearly popular but being small its limited space may prove to be a problem though in the summer they will be able to use the small garden on the side.

I enjoyed everything about this place, food, atmosphere and service though its not cheap and anyone on a budget might have to treat number 12 as a treat rather than a regular hang out.

That said, us Pensioners will be...

Went in for some lunch and a few people were sitting by themselves at tables for four people. Went in to try and get a table for three and no one offered to move to the table for two. Even when we went up to the counter the people behind just ignored us and even walked out to the back.

No acknowledgement, wouldn't even look at us. Tried to get their attention so they could ask someone to move who was sitting just drinking a Coke on a large table. As it only seems fair for them to move. As you would think the cafe would want a table of three that wants lunch to have a table.

But they didn't want to acknowledge us. So after a few minutes trying to get their attention and was ignored. We felt they didn't deserve our service in the end and definitely won't be going back.

Edit: Mark and his response.

We waited at the counter and she looked at us and walked away. Waited for several minutes inside the venue and rather loudly voiced our opinions openly. Went outside to have a look and even went back in.

You are looking at my reviews of other places is not only weird but also creepy. (As that's your exploding head reaction for that review)

You can never compare yourself to an established business when you're not one. Regards to my spoons review I had a good experience on that day being in the venue for the first time. I've had bad experiences in other ones so it does depend on the staff and place. Reviews don't necessarily have to be about trying a product it's also about atmosphere and service. All three of us felt the same way. After how we were treated even if we did finally get a table we weren't going to give you our money.

First impressions do matter. Especially in the hospitally and retail industry.

I was having a good day until I went to your place and found a much nicer established place to go to. 🤯

We actually chose to go to yours because of the reviews. So that is something.

Wishing you all the best in your business. I do hope it...

I feel really sad to be changing my review. Myself and my family have always really loved No 12, but after an experience today, we won't be going back. We have a one-year-old and a three-year-old, and in the past the place has felt really child friendly. This morning, however, within five minutes of us arriving (as our coffees were brought to the table) a staff member asked whether we could keep our three year old quiet (he'd been knocking his feet against a kickboard beneath his chair). I understand that it can be distracting for other customers when children are making noise in a place. We always feel very self-conscious, and try our best not to impose on others, but this morning we'd barely had a chance to sit down and get ourselves sorted (putting our one-year-old in a highchair, taking coats off, moving the sugar away etc) before we were told to quieten down. Honestly, it felt a little crushing, and not like we were welcome at all. We left, putting our coffees in takeaway cups. Like I said at the start, I'm deeply upset about this - we've never had a bad experience in No. 12 before, but I don't feel as though I can in good conscious recommend this cafe any more, especially to those with young children. It's the first time that anyone has ever told us to keep our kids quiet before, and it shocked us. The coffee was - as ever...