For those unaware of it I am a huge fan of fantasy fiction and recently started going to conventions to meet other readers and some of the authors whose books I love. The latest was Edge Lit at the Quad in Derby (see my friend Paul’s report here) and it was quite honestly the best I’d been to in ages, a good range of things going on and I had the chance to talk to a lot of good friends and hopefully made a few new ones as well.
I started the day with a group of my favourite people at Jack Rabbits cafe in Derby city centre. Between us we had a variety of breakfasts, lots of odd conversation and much coffee. It’s a beautiful cafe with a farmhouse atmosphere, mismatched chairs and tin crockery.
I had a latte and a toasted Crich fruit square. The foam on the coffee was a good consistency but there wasn’t really enough and sadly the coffee was actually quite weak. I was reliably informed by my sidekicks that the black coffee was much stronger. Tea came with a tin mug of hot water and a tea bag separate, I love tea like that because you can make it quite weak but it would be hard to get a really strong cup from it. The tin mugs are lovely and keep the drinks very warm although they could be very hot to the touch.
Mid-way through our visit an arrival of bread marched in and looked completely wonderful. You can have a look on their website to see all of the local suppliers that they use and browse the menu in advance. Our table (or rather the people sat around it) also had bacon sandwiches, toast, bacon and scrambled eggs. All passed with merits! The cakes were a little disappointing, none really grabbed my fancy and the fruit square I had was a little dry. The portion sizes were huge and good value for money though.
The staff were friendly and helpful without being too over attentive. There was quite a mixture of customers but early on a Saturday morning, unsurprisingly, there were quite a number of small children. It isn’t an easy place to negotiate and there is little room, it would be quite tricky with a wheelchair and it was quite hard to get around people.
Jack Rabbits is a lovely cafe and a great find in Derby (which really needs more good foodie places). This is a really pretty little place with great staff and atmosphere. It was a shame that the drinks were not really strong enough for me. This is definitely somewhere to go for a meal rather than coffee and cakes and I am really looking forward to going back soon to try out more of the meals because all of the ones that I saw there looked amazing!
V.C. Linde 