Smugglers coffee co — Restaurant in Sunderland

Had two orders here, today: Order 1, to sit in - BLT, Mocha, slice of cake (it was Lemon Drizzle, today); Order 2, to take out - Columbian, Slushie (watermelon/toxic sour apple mix; I'm told I was the first person to ever order that combo lol).

The fresh bagels here can't be beat, and neither can any ingredients that the café puts into them. Bacon's perfectly crispy, tomatoes are perfectly salty and acidic, the avocado is perfectly refreshing, their hardboiled eggs are cooked perfectly, and whatever strain of fresh chilies and chili flakes they use have one strong punch of spice that'll wake you up, before quickly settling into a comfortable, tingling warmth around your mouth.

So their main food specialty is a lock, 100%, and that would've been enough. But the lemon drizzle was superbly delicate with flavourful icing, and the mocha I had was just what the doctor ordered. They also do a fine slushie, though you admittedly have to go out of your way to screw up a slushie.

What's being served aside, the actual service is top-class. Staff take the time they need to make sure your order is perfect, but orders never take too long to get to you. The man who mainly served me was perfect for this establishment, and his special talent seems to be improving customer relations through personability; when there's downtime in the kitchen or the queue, he'll strike up good conversation, and not in any way that takes up either your time or his. I have to assume this quality service extends to the other staff.

A++, this place could put Pallion on the...

My partner and I ventured into Smugglers Coffee Co today (10/01/23) having just noticed it. I ordered the ham and cheese sandwich. I consider myself a critique of ham and cheese sandwiches, but the chef recommended it - which meant I ready to scrutinise it more than usual. I would usually straight up slate it for not having any mustard (as far I could taste) but it was probably (definitely) THE best ham and cheese sandwich I've ever had. The cheese was smooth, and the ham was thick cut and extremely flavoursome. A good time to interject with how friendly the staff are, the chef explained the entire sandwich to me - and this was really appreciated. I also ordered the deluxe latte (Terry's Chocolate Orange). I think ended up with the hot chocolate, but it was that good, I didn't say anything when I usually would. It was also at this point I got into a conversation with the chef about intolerance's (having recently found out some I have) and he offered to make it around these. My partner ordered the Caprese, which I had a bite of and was equally lovely as my order, the taste of pesto was not overwhelming. She also ordered a Raspberry Heaven smoothie which she said was extremely refreshing. We'll definitely be returning soon. Friendly staff, reasonable prices, and a pleasant atmosphere. Thanks for a lovely experience when all we really popped out for was a quick...

We visited here today to try a full English breakfast, so glad we did, from the moment we walked in we knew we had picked well, a friendly and genuine welcome from the lady behind the counter, ordered drinks and food and the price was more than reasonable. The lady straight away got to work and our drinks came out, a caramel latte and a mocha, both were piping hot and tasted great, the food came out in good time and was all freshly cooked and beautifully presented, I asked for some brown sauce and was given a generous portion in a nice pot, nothing at all seemed like too much. We thoroughly enjoyed everything on our plates, we had also been eyeing up the sweet treat behind the counter while having breakfast and decided to get something to take home, I can say we both enjoyed these as well, I also got another coffee to go as it was that good. I’d definitely recommend and will return hopefully to try some of the other items...