We enter the final day of the 2022 Coffee Spot Awards shortlists with the “Best Breakfast” Award, which in 2021 went to Little Yellow Pig, Nantwich. Along with cake, breakfast has a special place in my heart. It used to be that I rarely got up and out of the house early enough to get to places before they stop serving breakfast.
However, I’ve been doing so much travelling over the last two years that I’m now able to generate a healthy shortlist this year, helped by those wonderful places that serve all-day breakfasts! In fact, given how often I have things from the breakfast menu for lunch, I wonder if I should rename this award “Best Brunch”…
You can see the shortlist after the gallery.
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12There are 12 Coffee Spots on the shortlist this year, all listed in order of publication.
Let’s start with Lateral, over in West Kirby on The Wirral where I had the House-made Smokey Maple Beans on Toast with added cheese for brunch. Beans on toast may not sound like much, but these were excellent, so much better than any baked beans from a tin. Lateral has also been shortlisted for the Best Filter Coffee and Best Neighbourhood Coffee Spot Awards.
Moving along to Haus in Colwyn Bay, where I had the vegetarian breakfast for brunch, consisting of two perfectly-poached eggs, accompanied by smashed avocado on toast, sweet potato, tomatoes, halloumi and a mushroom. Amanda had a DIY bagel with cream cheese in a pot and the salmon off to one side. Haus is also on the the Happiest Staff, Best Filter Coffee and Coffee Spot with the Best Lighting shortlists.
Over in Berlin, I had another brunch, this time at 19grams Schlesi, where it was the turn of the superb Bacon Brioche to shine. I had this with coffee-roasted mushrooms instead of the coffee-cured bacon to which I added a poached egg and a side of sourdough toast.
Staying in Berlin where I had another breakfast for lunch (in my defence, I had free breakfast at my hotel). This time it was the baked egg avocado. At first, I couldn’t see the egg, but then realised that an egg yolk had been placed in each half of the avocado, occupying the hole left by the stone. I was, perhaps, more taken by this idea than I should have been! The Visit has also been shortlisted for the Best Takeaway Coffee Award.
Moving to Köln, where I didn’t have breakfast in my hotel, I actually had breakfast for breakfast, which including the amazing granola at The Coffee Gang. This consisted of a massive bowl of yoghurt, topped with crunchy granola and lots of fresh blueberries, plus flaked almonds. The Coffee Gang is also been on this year’s shortlists for the Best Flat White and Best Filter Coffee Awards.
Back to Berlin and Father Carpenter, where I sat in the courtyard (good enough for a place on the shortlist for the Best Outdoor Seating Award) and enjoyed another brunch, my last in Berlin before leaving for Köln. This was the the French Toast, which was different from what I’m used to, but in a good way, being more savoury (but still quite sweet).
Back in the UK and Liverpool‘s Lark Lane, home to Press Bros. Coffee where I had the avo toast from the all-day brunch menu. This was excellent, a single slice of very crunchy toast, topped with a generous helping of smashed avocado and cherry tomatoes.
Voyager Craft Coffee, Santa Clara University
From Liverpool to the west coast of America, where I turned down the option of avocado toast in favour of the barista’s recommendation of the caprese toast, which was very tasty, a single slice of thick, multigrain toast topped with cubes of mozzarella and drizzled in balsamic vinegar. Voyager Craft Coffee has also been shortlisted for the Coffee Spot with the Best Lighting Award.
Back in Berlin (again), I had the very German cheese breakfast, featuring Manchego, Brie and Mountain cheese, plus fruit and vegetables, along with herb cream cheese, jam, butter and homemade bread. It was very tasty, providing an interesting contrast of tastes and textures. KaffeeKirsche Café & Bakery has also been shortlisted for the Best Filter Coffee and Best Neighbourhood Coffee Spot Awards.
Spro in San Francisco, is known for its innovative food menu and it didn’t disappoint. I had the Mash Up for lunch, an initially not particularly appealing combination of mashed potato on toast, topped by a pair of poached eggs. In reality, however, it’s a masterpiece, with a single extremely thick slice of toast topped with mashed potato the consistency of puree, flavoured with parmesan. Spro is also on this year’s Best Cake and Best Espresso shortlists.
We’re n Berlin again and back at 19grams, only this time at the Roastery & Lab. It feels a little unreasonable to give 19grams two entries on the shortlist, but the brunch menu changes every week, so I think it’s only fair. This time I had the Bubble & Squeak Benedict with broccoli (instead of bacon) and country loaf toast. 19grams has also been shortlisted for the Best Roaster/Retailer and Best Espresso Awards.
We end this year’s shortlist back in America, this time in St Louis with Blueprint Coffee where I had the egg biscuit, to which I added roasted potatoes, which were superb. The biscuit, by the way, was an American biscuit, cut in two with a fried egg in the middle, plus some really tasty tomato chutney. Blueprint has also been shortlisted for the Best Roaster/Retailer and Best Espresso Awards.
The winner will be announced on Monday, 2nd January. In the meantime, don’t forget to check out the other 19 Coffee Spot Awards for 2022.
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