Goldbrick House, Park Street, Bristol

Shoppers, students and street fundraisers fly past the tall windows of Goldbrick House, the harsh winds and driving rain turning umbrellas into makeshift sails. Inside, all is calm, with velvet armchairs, flock wallpaper and a soothing soundtrack all adding to the sense of being enveloped into a coffee-scented bosom.

Goldbrick is well known in Bristol, offering as it does a classier way to drink than the Scream pubs and pound-a-drink establishments elsewhere on Park Street. It’s a popular spot for weary shoppers and on weekends it can quickly fill with the Clifton set looking for a bottle of fizz to start the evening off. At breakfast time, however, it’s altogether more sedate, with staff soft-shoeing around tables to take orders and deliver coffees while you peruse the menu, the service more restaurant than café bar, and very pleasant to boot.

A good-sized menu offers familiar breakfast options – full English, Eggs Benedict, a round of toast – with some more unusual additions in the veggie options, with tomato and mozzarella bruschetta sitting alongside your more regular fried potatoes and beans. The flavours are good and are complimented by fresh juices and a host of teas, but their coffee isn’t the strongest, so you might opt for double shots if your weekend requires a kick start.

With a steady supply of hot drinks and the weekend papers you might find you’ve started to become part of the well-loved furniture, and the staff seem happy to let you stay. A breakfast you can linger over – just as it should be.

Price: from £2 (round of toast) to £8.95 (full English).