The 7 South East cafés nominated for Café/Bistro of the Year at The Food Awards 2022
Nominations for the 2022 Food Awards England have been announced, with the 'Café/Bistro of the Year' category for the South East making particularly interesting reading if you're from Reading.
Three of the seven nominations for this year's award are from the biscuit town, with the other four being spread around Oxfordshire.
As with all the categories, there can only be one winner. Who will take the prize home from the Manchester-based event in June? It's difficult to say, there's some stiff competition...
Café Yolk Reading
Open since 2013, Reading's Café Yolk takes its breakfast and brunch inspiration from Canada. Found on Erleigh Road on the east side of town, its student accommodation surrounds presents the place with a ready-made audience. All of whom love what Yolk dish up.
If you're planning a visit of a weekend, get there early. You can't book a table in advance and it really does get busy, with queues snaking around the corner. With good reason too, the food's excellent.
The Jericho Café - Oxford
The Jericho may well be found in Oxford's coolest suburb from which it takes its name, but there's nothing pretentious about the place. This family-run bistro is just a few minutes' walk from the city centre, but in a quiet enough area in which to serenely enjoy their delicious food and particularly noteworthy home-made cakes.
Jenny’s Café and Bistro - Bicester
An old-school cafe with an impressively-sized menu, Jenny's is the place to go in Bicester if you're hungry for impeccable yet unfussy eating. The cooked breakfasts are a highlight, as are the milkshakes.
Picnic Foods - Reading
Reading town centre has no shortage of coffee shops or lunch offerings for weekday workers or weekend shoppers. None offer up sandwiches and Americanos with quite so much charm and originality as Picnic, though.
Entirely independent and with an emphasis on organic ingredients making up a constantly-changing menu, anyone 'in the know' in Reading knows that Market Place's Picnic is the place for a bite to eat.
Reg’s Café - Banbury
There's nothing fancy about Reg's. Then again, it is called Reg's. So what if the Michelin people aren't likely to visit? That just means more room at this Church Lane café for the rest of us to enjoy great-tasting food and a warm welcome.
The Switch - Reading
The suburb of Tilehurst in West Reading has long needed its own independent daytime eatery in order to start fulfilling its promise as one of Reading's up-and-coming areas. The Switch, owned and operated by the same folk who run the nearby Indian restaurant Zyka, perhaps heralds the beginning of Tilehurst's gentrification.
Their elevated fry-ups are good, their pancakes are great, but their chicken burgers may well be perfect.
Waterfront Café - Benson, Wallingford
An excellent café on the Thames... what's not to love?
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