Food or art? This poor fellow trapped in a skittles packet is an example of the artwork that greeted us as we entered the Stour Space gallery (home of The Counter Cafe). Going to The Counter Cafe is therefore a culturally enriching experience, as well as the brunch being great.

Upon arrival we joined the queue to order food, whilst a table was found for us. The queue was long but this gave me confidence that the food would be worth the wait. Most of the brunch classics were there, as well as turkish eggs (poached eggs with tomato, yoghurt and spices). Three of us opted for the vegetarian breakfast and one daring friend went for the Turkish eggs.

Good quality rustic granary bread, juicy tomatoes, tasty spinach, well cooked scrambled eggs and an interesting potato cake… no complaints.

I heard good things about the Turkish eggs too.

I was especially impressed with the iced coffee. It was of the non-blended variety, instead had big cubes of ice, and was served with syrup to pour in, as demonstrated by my good friend Amy in the picture.

Whilst enjoying the food and drink, we were sitting outside overlooking the canal on what the cafe describes as a “tropical pontoon.” They aren’t actually too far off, at least they weren’t on Sunday. It was boiling hot, very muggy and we were indeed floating. It is sufficiently stable though; at no point were we rocking from side to side, having to catch tomatoes that flew off the plate, nor was it rocky enough for any of us to feel sea (or canal?) sick.

For my tropical and cultural experience, I paid £11. It was well worth it and I highly recommend it.