The Early Bird — Restaurant in Plymouth

Don't just walk past this place & think it is just a cake shop, upstairs is a little hidden gem of a cafe! We arrived on Sunday morning (after finding them on Google), we were unsure if they would be open before 10am but they most certainly were. We asked inside if we could eat in & we were directed up the stairs to be seated.

Very friendly staff from the off and we were lucky to be seated immediately. Plenty of different sized tables available for smaller or larger groups. Just the two of us on Sunday in for a quick breakfast. It was already busy at 9.30 ish when we arrived. Lovely surroundings & the cafe is decorated beautifully, (you can get your selfie in here!!) Love the funny duck signs on the stairs 😂. Bathrooms are spotless also.

Food and drinks were great. We were served quickly and given a complimentary glass of water to start each. (It did have a little scrap of something in there but they quickly changed it for us, these things happen and I do not see it as a reflection on their cleanliness) Everything very tasty & served on quality plates and to a high standard. We had a sausage bap and a breakfast stack between us. I wish I had ordered more after I left! Served quickly & we both enjoyed every piece. Finished with a kooky little saucepan & some sweetie fried eggs. Cute idea 💡 who's not going to like that! 🍳 Staff very attentive & super friendly. Even as we left lots of staff said bye to us & that is a nice way to leave a place feeling good about your experience there.

Only one gripe - You are asked to pay straight away when you order, (fair enough), but to be asked to tip 10% service when you have only just ordered & have yet to receive your full table service or the food I find a quite unusual. (Although we did pay of course but normally I would decide that at the end of my meal, if I was happy) However we were of course happy with everything & I wouldn't question it again if I were on a return visit to Plymouth. I wish I had taken a cake away with me from the bakery downstairs too. All looked delicious.

As we left at 10.30am on a Sunday morning, people were queuing to get in! Definitely worth a visit & we will come back,...

We visited here having found the early bird in Mutley. We really like the Mutley one and was looking forward to going back. When we found there was a branch in town we thought we would give it a go.

It was a really nice bit of late lunch. I had the pancakes and bacon you can see below. I would recommend ordering and egg to go with this if you order as it is a little dry, with just the syrup. The pancakes were really thick. The bacon , whilst tasty was unfortunately not crispy which would be my preference. I didn't think to ask before, I assumed it would be crispy.

Whilst it was nice food and they had the same menu and similar atmosphere as the one at Mutley, I would definitely say our brief experience of just a coffee and cake, stumbling upon the Mutley café was a nicer one.

When it came to ordering our staff had an odd manner which I'm guessing is a policy. She mentioned that she would take payment for the lunch once we had ordered. Fine of course. But then said something along the lines of. '' We apply a discretionary 10% service charge, is that ok or would you like me to take that off?'' I thought this very odd and a bit out of line. It suddenly felt a bit American and not very relaxed lunch at all. I should mention my friend had offered to buy our lunches so again, I maybe felt more awkward as it was second hand awkward too. I mean what a policy to have in place. You don't need a marketing / psychology degree to know that if you ask people outright, you are pressuring them into agreeing to things when it comes to money. Why not simply hand the pad over like every where else and then you can see the charge and decide for yourself.

I won't make further direct comparisons to their Mutley branch as I will simply leave a review for there too.

On the whole, a nice lunch, not blown away and a friendly, if slightly not to my taste, customer...

Took my 8 year old grandson for lunch after a museum trip. You enter through a shop that has delicious looking sausage rolls and cakes for sale - unfortunately not available upstairs in the restaurant. We were seated quickly and a drinks order taken. The guy was very pleasant but when I asked if they did a children’s menu he seemed a little undecided so went away to find out which was good. The children’s size milkshake with cream arrived quickly - I decided I’d have water and a coffee later. I was told it was a pay as you order policy- fine except before food arrived I was asked about the 10% service charge and did I want it leaving on or taking off. As no food had arrived I elected to have it taken off as I thought I’d leave a tip at the end.its not a policy I’m used to but maybe that’s the way it is these days anyway. The children’s menu was a bit vague could choose any 6 items for £6. Grandson didn’t want egg or sausage patties or bacon just pancakes and maple syrup so asked for 3 pancakes. I went with the goats cheese and crispy bacon bagel. Only one thick pancake arrived with a pot of maple syrup as apparently the ‘ 6 items ‘ doesn't apply to an extra pancake- it was quite thick and plain looking but he ate it all. The bagel was ok nothing to shout about, a bit squashed looking, plenty of crispy bacon, a thin smear of goats cheese (cream cheese) some green stuff (probably rocket) and chilli jam which was the saving grace in all this. The cost was just shy of £20. I’m afraid I didn’t leave a tip which was a shame as the staff were very nice but the food let them down. I decided against a coffee too. Overall a disappointing visit not to...