Cafe Royal Relaunch

Newcastle City centre always has the excitement of new business's opening weekly with ample choice of where to eat in the city. For the past for weeks Cafe Royal have been going through a renovation of not only their aesthetics but their menu too. I am quite fortunate that I work directly opposite so I've been watching the renovations happen over the past few weeks so when I got invited to go check it out I was excited to see what they had done to the place. Cafe Royal is situated on Nelson Street, just a two minute walk from Grey's Monument. They offer a selection of cakes, scones, patisseries and fresh savoury dishes; Consciously sourcing local ingredients.

Coming into the cafe it's so open and inviting. I love how bright white it is inside with hints of colour added in here and there. I love these gorgeous green seats they've got in! After arrival it's definitely time to try a drink. 

They had three different drinks stations; Mimosas with freshly squeezed orange juice, rocket espresso martini made with house blend coffee & gin apple martinis with freshly squeezed apple juice). Whilst sipping our drinks it was the perfect change to really check out the place.One of the tasters on the night was the smoked and flaked salmon fishcakes with lemon & herb. I honestly think I could have ate all of those to myself. The ingredients are so fresh they just fall apart and melt in your mouth. They also served smoked salmon on potato & dill waffle which was inspired by their breakfast menu. Now personally I would never pair salmon with waffles however they worked really well together and tasted absolutely delicious!!

At the back of the cafe you've got an array of cakes, scones and other incredible foods (definitely not incredible for the waistline but one that definitely peaked my attention where the pistachio financiers & mini raspberry scones. I was lucky enough to try both of these on the evening and they were absolutely incredible - wonder if they'd give me the recipe for the financiers?!

On the evening we learnt a lot about the company history as well as the food. Started by John Fitzgerald who travelled from Ireland over to England in the 1850s, where he settled in Newcastle Upon Tyne and started his business venture. He was later knighted in the 19th century in recognition of his services to the city. The original head office remains in Newcastle City centre where it all began and keeps focus on a family run business. Using local ingredients and food that locals love, Fitzgeralds are loved all over the North East and will remain to do so with their new exciting menu. 

Alongside their in-house artisan bakery which produces fresh bread pastries and cakes daily they have an all-new breakfast menu with some incredible sounding food like their super greens eggs Benedict. they've also introduced some vegan meals which is incredible for the vegans out there as it sounds incredible what they've got on offer. 

You can also hire the upstairs separately which I think would be fantastic for a birthday or baby shower as it's secluded with it's own kitchen upstairs. I can't wait to see what else SJF bring to the table...