Neck of the Woods – cafe review

I was in the right neck of the woods to find Neck of the Woods, just not in Neck of the Woods.

Your first task before eating and drinking at this new cafe is to find it within St Werburgh’s Community Centre. Just follow the handwritten signs, as I foolishly didn’t, instead having to be let in through a back door and walk down a long corridor.

Neck of the Woods co-owner Murilo worked in Boston Tea Party for almost 10 years and found out about the cafe space coming up for tender through his boyfriend, who runs a fostering agency from the community centre – one of the most well-established in Bristol.

It joins an eclectic array of businesses and activities that take place here and mean that there will always be a steady stream of potential customers passing through the building, with the cafe open seven days a week from 8.30am to 5.30pm on weekdays and 10am to 2pm at weekends.

One customer with blonde and blue hair was so enamoured by the plants that she was fondly caressing and then photographing them while waiting for her coffee.

In terms of food miles, Neck of the Woods almost sets a Bristol record with their coffee being roasted almost literally next door by Extract. But Murilo and fellow co-owner Jess have been beaten by the cafe within Bloc climbing centre the other side of Extract which shares a dividing wall with the roastery.

Walls here – as the blonde and blue haired customer discovered – are full of greenery, with jars and watering cans planted with various foliage hanging from an old copper pipe, and a wooden pallet stacked vertically also utilised for growing plants.

These plants will have no trouble photosynthesising, with Neck of the Woods situated in one half of this former school hall with a high ceiling and huge windows.

Hanging from the rafters are four chandeliers made from upturned wine bottles – a gift to Murilo from his former bosses at Boston Tea Party who had earmarked them for a future store before realising that they were too big.

A few of the tables are also from Boston – a lesson for everyone to always leave on the best of terms with your former employers.

The food menu is a simple one – divided into ‘on toast’ (from £1.95 for preserves to £4.50 for avocado and salsa), ‘breakfast bowls’ of porridge (£2.75) and granola (£3.50), and ‘classics’ which include a bacon roll or sausage sarnie for £4 or egg butty or cheese toastie for £3.

There are also sandwiches which change every day. Chorizo, mozzarella, tomato and basil (3.50) was my own lunchtime choice, the white bread toasted, the chorizo chunky and the tomatoes juicy.

There are also pastries on the counter and cakes which on Friday afternoon were a deliciously gooey rocky road and wonderfully zesty lime drizzle cake.

The effervescent Murilo, born in the coffee growing mountains of Minas Gerais in Brazil, somehow always has a smile on his face and a cheery word for everybody.

And he and Jess have done an absolutely splendid job with the first business they can call their own.

I just wish Neck of the Woods was more in my own neck of the woods, with Neck of the Woods now alongside the likes of the well-established City Farm Cafe and the more recent addition of The Cauldron making ever more reason to visit St Werburgh’s instead of only driving past it on your way out of Bristol on the M32.

Neck of the Woods, ???St Werburgh’s Community Centre, Horley Road, St Werburgh’s, Bristol, BS2 9TJ
07758 016286

www.neckofthewoodscafe.co.uk

Read more: The Cauldron – restaurant review