Miss Poppy’s is one of the hidden gems

Tucked up inside Eyres furniture shop is a quiet, quaint little eaterie.

It was busy, without being over crowded, as my colleagues and I headed out for a post-deadline luncheon on Thursday.

We were greeted by a lunch menu with reasonable choice, and the steak, mushroom and Guinness pie caught my eye.

I plumped for chips, garden peas and gravy.

The pie wasn’t homemade, but that didn’t take away from my enjoyment, it was excellent – and piping hot.

The gravy was delicious, the portions generous and the slightly undercooked chips were the only let down.

My colleagues were all equally impressed with their fare.

One chose the homemade steak and kidney pie, with wedges, and scoffed the lot.

Another picked the leek and goat’s cheese quiche from the specials board and said it was cooked to perfection, but a little under-seasoned.

Egg, cress and mayo sandwiches and a cheese and chutney toasted sandwich completed our quintet of orders.

The sandwiches were accompanied by a surprisingly varied and vibrant salad.

While the pie, chips and peas had left me comfortably full, the front counter contained some beautiful looking cakes and a couple of us succumbed to the temptation.

I had an enormous slab of chocolate cake, which was sweet enough to prompt an afternoon sugar crash later in the day.

It was topped with strawberries and had white chocolate drizzled over it.

Sublime.

Two others went for the banoffee pie, which they said was fresh, tasty and gut busting, if a little too creamy.

The pricing at Miss Poppy’s is reasonable.

My pie, chips and peas came in at a very decent £5.35, and you’d probably shell out close to a tenner for the same amount in some chain pubs and restaurants.

The egg, cress and mayo sandwiches perhaps represented the best value at £2.70, given there were four sandwiches and a good sized salad on the plate.

Our cakes weighed in at nearly £3, which we felt was a little steep when compared with the price of our main meals.

One final bonus was Miss Poppy’s Coffee Shop’s ability to cater for one of my favourite treats, a chocolate milkshake, the exclamation point on the outing.

Thanks to the quality of the food, clean surroundings and pleasant staff I dare say we’ll make this one of our regular haunts.

by Graham Smyth

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