For the past twenty years or more this place has been a popular night-spot but I’ve never really got a handle on why it seems to do so well in the day as a cafe. So I gave it another go having only being here once before in the day. I’d blocked out most of the last visit for some reason so I was not hopeful.

We found a semi-comfortable green leather sofa (with a cold draft from the door or was it from the welcome of the staff?) and gawked at the dreary interior of fern weird brown wallpaper and tiles. On ordering at the bar, the staff looked like they wished they were somewhere else and were doing you a favour by engaging you.

Our food was a bit iffy. The bacon on my partner’s dish was unheated and we had to send my jacket-potato back (hard and cold) but apparently that’s the Harrison’s way. We don’t give a crap (actually we do and it’s on your plates!). Coffee was passable and passing it to someone else is good advice.

I noticed a few positive reviews on Facebook, presumably written by the staff or someone that has had their taste-buds ripped out in some weird industrial accident. Or the kind of people that are used to eating off the floor.

And the wifi was dodgy and that could be that nobody has reported a problem with it before since nobody has tried to use it. When I asked for the code the barman looked at me like I had asked for a pint of cat’s milk.

The punters were early baby-boomers and the decrepit. And of course those with short-memories of how their last visit was. The R&B ‘music’ that was spilling out of the weedy speakers was wholly unsuitable for the clientele. Do the oldies want to listen to rappers ‘tapping that ass’ while buttering a stale scone?

So I had given it another go but wish I hadn’t. Once bitten (into the food), twice shite.

 

Verdict: 2/5

Good: Not much.

Bad: Food, Service