We recently visited The Pocket Cafe for breakfast during a 24 hour visit to Belfast City and immediately fell in love. A small but perfectly formed cafe in the Cathedral Quarter of the city centre, leads me to think this is why it is named The Pocket.
When we arrived we had a lovely warm welcome from our waiter – I really like it when other members of staff greet you as you are shown to your seat too & this happened naturally here.
The cafe was quite quiet when we first arrived (around 10.15am) but had filled up within 15 minutes. This is obviously a super popular breakfast cafe.
Our drinks order was taken quickly – The pocket drinks menu has a great selection of fresh coffee choices and artisanal teas. You can’t drag me away from a good strong breakfast tea though, Mr C chose a latte and T being the adventurous one of us had an iced coffee.
We loved the presentation of our drinks – My little tea timer was such fun – although I did have to wait longer than the five recommended minutes until it was strong enough. I didn’t get a teaspoon either which made adding the milk a bit more complicated. It was worth the wait though!
The Pocket Cafe Breakfast Menu
The Pocket Coffee Cafe has a great breakfast menu with a choice for everyone. Both Mr C and I opted for The Pocket Fry as we were feeling ravenous (T had talked us into a McDs for tea the previous evening – ugh). I have absolutely no idea why I didn’t opt for the Wild Mushrooms on Bara Bakehouse as this is completely up my street and looked incredible when it arrived for the next table, but I mustn’t have read the menu properly. The Pocket Fry did not disappoint anyway! We’ll just have to go back!
Two perfectly poached eggs, smoky tomatoey beans (which were a joy and have reminded me I need to make again now we are home), the longest beef Wors sausage, both black and white pudding (I would consider moving to Northern Ireland for this alone!), a portobello mushroom, bacon and sour dough. Oh wow – this was tasty! Really strong flavours that properly woke us up. The bacon was fatless and so easy to eat, the mushroom just divine and even the eggs kept hot and runny until I got to eat them (I like to leave them until the yolk won’t run onto other foods).
The real star of our table was Tara’s breakfast – Lulu’s Waffle French Toast. A work of art! Not enough breakfast cafes offer candy floss on your breakfast but The Pocket Cafe did! This was a huge breakfast which T didn’t manage to finish – The Pocket’s portions are BIG!
Loads of waffle style French Toast, with macerated raspberries, granola, mascarpone, pistachios and the all important pistachio floss. Tara also added halloumi, which seemed an unusual choice to me, but she assured me it went well.
All our plates were packed full of fresh ingredients – there was no greasy and all of the breakfast items felt really good quality.
For such tasty menu items and huge portions, we felt the pocket cafe had really affordable prices with value for money. Dietary requirement are catered for and staff make sure to be aware of any allergies as soon as you arrive.
There are a great selection of sweets and cakes that sadly we were just too full to enjoy. Kids breakfast menu also available.
Inside The Pocket Cafe
The decor has a slight american feel – there is cute crockery and retro equipment everywhere.
There is only one toilet cubicle which is in the dining area (This is an accessible toilet too) – You can hear the hand dryer but not the actual loo (if you get me!) but not sure how private this would feel if the cafe was very quiet. They are definitely making use of the small space they have in a city centre though!
Service at The Pocket Cafe
Really friendly! Can’t fault it. Guided us through the menu and helped us when we couldn’t decide.
Great chat with the guy that used to live in Liverpool.
Where to find The Pocket Cafe, Belfast
68 Upper Church Lane, Belfast BT1 4QL What3words ///rots.gone.areas
Parking available at nearby Hi Park multi storey parking above Lidl what3words ///united.waving.purely for £6 for 2 hours.
To contact, please visit The Pocket Coffee Instagram Page
