Brunch of dreams: Arlo Bistro & Cafe, Newcastle

On our recent trip to Newcastle, Harry and I made a spontaneous stop at Arlo Bistro & Cafe in West Jesmond. Check out this post all about our few days away if you missed it! Breakfast is definitely my favourite meal of the day, and it makes me very happy when it’s done properly. We had a very hearty brunch to keep us going before we headed home and it was a very worthy trip indeed that left us feeling incredibly satisfied. Love brunchin’? Keep readin’ …

If you look at ARLO online, for some reason the images that come up make it look nothing more than a standard, greasy spoon cafe. In fact, it’s a very trendy little place with a real refined but quirky vibe. It’s situated in West Jesmond on Brentwood Avenue, a short drive or metro journey away from the town centre. It’s away from a lot of student accommodation and didn’t strike me a regular student haunt, but it was still full of customer, notably ladies who were lunching!

They serve breakfast until 1pm, which is a perfectly acceptable time (though y’know, serving it all day would be acceptable too). There’s a lot to choose from on the menu depending on how hungry you are. The portion sizes were generous; even the simple scones and croissants were super sized! Price wise, it’s not too bad. The most expensive thing on the menu was the full English which as £8. We decided to go for a proper brunch each because we could and it would be rude not to, right?

Harry went for a huge hot chocolate, which was quite possibly the best hot chocolate I’ve ever seen in my life. Topped with whipped cream, marshmallows and served with little chunks of brownie and rocky road. A chocoholic’s dream. The brownies were soft and melted in the mouth and the rocky road was full of texture, the perfect accompaniment to well … more chocolate! For brekky Harry had the eggs Benedict which was two perfectly cooked and runny poached eggs on top of ham, spinach and toasted muffins, all topped off with hollandaise sauce. He also went for extra bacon with it, just because. not only did this look amazing but it tasted great too. The hollandaise sauce was very tasty and added a little something-something to the eggs. The muffins were freshly toasted too. Thumbs up all round.

I went for a freshly squeezed orange juice and then instantly regretted my decision when Harry’s hot chocolate turned up … However, it was still really good! Very fresh and full of flavour. I had the full English breakfast (we swapped – Harry had a full English at The Butterfly Cabinet the day before) which was amazing. Like I said, I love breakfast! The sausages were proper pork ones so were really tasty. The poached eggs were perfectly cooked and oozed bright oranges yolks. You can choose how you like your eggs – poached is just my favourite! The slow cooked mushroom was a scrummy addition and fell apart when cut into. The beans were served in a super cute mini saucepan which tied the presentation all together! Who knew a cooked breakfast could be made to look pretty …

It is safe to say that after this we were feeling rather full and very satisfied. This was our favourite eatery over the few days we were in Newcastle and is definitely worth a visit if you’re ever up that way. Great food, great atmosphere and good value for money.

Have you ever been to ARLO? Where’s your favourite brunch stop?

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