The Black Cat Cafe – Mill Road

I woke up the morning after England’s depressing defeat in the Euros and decided to cheer myself up with some breakfast.

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I don’t get out into Cambridge during the day very often, so I needed some advice on a place to go.

Who better to ask than the Cambridge Foodies?

Within seconds of asking, I had dozens of great ideas from the community. One such recommendation was for the Black Cat Cafe on Broadway (Mill Road).

This is a cafe I have passed by many times but never actually made it in. More often than not, it is filled with people watching the world go by while enjoying a coffee from the window or enjoying something to eat on their outdoor seating. Now was the time to find out for myself why it is so popular.

I quickly learned that Black Cat Cafe is an artisan cafe, offering the classic breakfast menu with a flurry of style. Think cooked breakfasts, eggs Benedict, porridge, smashed avacado, toasties, and cakes. Naturally, coffee and freshly squeezed orange juice were also available too.

I was surprised how reasonably priced the cafe was for central Cambridge. It felt very much like pre-pandemic prices.

The cafe is popular with New Zealand and Australian ex-pats and claims to have “brought the flat white to Cambridge” 🤷‍♂️

The cafe inside is pleasant and very clean, with a large window that lets in lots of light, making it absolutely perfect for people-watching. On a hot July morning however, we couldn’t resist sitting outside. It’s a nice spot on Broadway with a wider path making it feel more roomy and an actual tree (which is pretty good for Mill Road 🤣).

I ordered the ‘Black Cat breakfast’ which consists of your every day English breakfast ingredients. Two eggs (poached or scrambled), two sausages, two bacon, beans, mushroom, tomato and toast.

The breakfast looked great. The bacon was thick cut, the mushrooms were delicious, the eggs poached perfectly, and two small sausages.

The dish came with some stunning looking slices of thick cut sourdough toast. They looked fantastic and soaked up everything on the plate perfectly. The slices had a really rustic shape and rough texture but also tasted light enough to not overshadow the flavours of the main ingredients. Frustratingly, both slices only came with one portion of butter…Would it have killed them to give us one for each slice? 🤣

The sausages were small but had a bold flavour, with a prevalence of herbs and an almost gamey taste. I was not overly keen on these myself but I know many who would enjoy it, so I put it down to preference.

We also ordered the pan fried mushrooms on sour dough toast.
My guest thoroughly enjoyed it and since I also had the same toast and mushrooms with my meal, I could also confirm.

I must admit, it looked fantastic with a great presentation and a bright green salad adding some exciting colour. The dish had a generous portion of mushrooms all served with olive oil instead of butter. This made sure it wasn’t too dry, even with very thick slices of toast.

I signed off with a pint of freshly squeezed orange juice from their juicier. This really hit the spot and provided some much needed vitamin c after a heavy night. Refreshing and nutritional!

Conclusion

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When it comes to recommendations, the Cambridge Foodies never fail. The Black Cat Cafe offered an excellent morning pick me up in one of the more pleasant parts of Mill Road, all for a reasonable price. The contributing ingredients for my cooked breakfast were quality, from the thick cut bacon to the sourdough toast. It’s a lovely little cafe and perfect for a sunny morning. I look forward to coming back again.

Thanks for reading.

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