Ritual Coffee Shop — Restaurant in Bromsgrove

Visited this place on a Saturday lunch time and was surprised how dead it was. Staff seemed friendly enough and as it was a nice day, we sat in the garden on what was the wobbliest (about to collapse) bench, but it was the only one in the sun.

Ordered food, coffee and a smoothie. Smoothie was tastie…but at almost £5…it was an expensive drink and the glass was not that big. Coffees came next and these were both very nice, the real star, really. Food wise we ordered the “Best Ever” tuna melt and Chicken & Avacado Ciabata.

Both were supplied with a simple salad and small pot of coleslaw. Have to say….we were a very disappointed with the food. Firstly it took quite a while for the food to arrive, thanks to them having a big party in the morning and they were also busy making a cream tea for another table. As for the toasties….they were just not great. We have no idea what made the tuna melt their “Best Ever” as it was pretty bland and not much better than what you might expect from any high street coffee shop (although double the price). The Chicken & Avadcado Ciabata was just as bland. The chicken felt like it was fresh out of a supermarket packet and would have been better if they had griddled the chicken to give it some flavour and it was in desperate need of some seasoning. When you consider both were just shy of £9 each, they represented very poor value. We also ordered a side of skin on fries…but they had run out of these so ended up with bog standard supermarket fries. Even these were disappointing as they seemed to have been air fried rather than fried in oil and again lacked any form of seasoning.

At over £34 for 2, we expected a lot better from this place. If you just want a decent coffee then this place can certainly deliver on that front….for anything...

After two disappointing experiences, one of service - but think it was first day open, to be fair, and a day the other week where most of lunchtime food had run out by 11:55am, I've been back and had the most delicious and beautifully presented breakfast of Halloumi Muffin (with poached egg & hash browns), and friend had Eggs Benedict - looked divine. Lovely coffees too - ordered five in total! Will be taking brother and sister-in-law on their next visit. Tash and Jo are extremely keen on feedback and welcome any opportunity to put things right. And they have. Service was very good and had all food we ordered.

Dropped in on Saturday evening as I'd noticed earlier in the week a notice that they were open until 9pm Fridays and Saturdays now. While Cousin had Prosecco I had Raspberry Gin Gimlet cocktail - it was as pretty as it was delicious! It was quiet because it was the Beer Festival that day/evening and it was their first weekend of evening opening but am sure it will have folk in there of a Friday/Saturday evening as it becomes more known - really, go drop in there one (or both!) of the evenings - good music playing, lovely rear garden and the inside is of course, bright but cosy. Live music coming soon too. Am sure I'll be five-starring it overall soon. :o)

Finally, they're planning to do picnic hampers for the Picnic in the Park on Sunday (26 May) - I'll be...

Probably my go-to place for a coffee when I'm on the road.

And for good reason. It's a warm hug in a cup whenever I need it!

Alvechurch itself is a nice, quiet and somewhat idyllic town. In a road just off the square sits Ritual. Much like the town, this lovely little café is nice, quiet and cosy.

The atmosphere in here is hard to beat when it comes to a café. Warm, welcoming, well-decorated (the liberal use of wood makes a Twin Peaks fanboy and coffee lover like myself blush every time!)

The service is great. The girls behind the counter are absolutely amazing. Every coffee, every sandwich, every muffin... is served with a smile. A smile often so priceless that what you ordered feels like it was free.

So please, if you find yourself in Alvechurch and get one of those coffee cravings, I implore you to pop into Ritual. You'll end up coming back, even if Alvechurch is out of the way. It's...