Scrumpy Willow and the Singing Kettle

I came here recently on a trip to Newcastle, excited since becoming vegan, to sample what the city had to offer by way of tasty (and ethical) lunches.
I ordered a smoothie and a coffee to drink. The smoothie was delicious but more a juice really — and the coffee tasted really bitter and shallow (they’d burnt it).
For my starter I chose beetroot and quinoa salad. It was disappointingly bland, served with a few undressed salad leaves. I wish there were more to say but it was really that bland.
The main I ordered was the vegetable tagine, but what arrived was an alarmingly large mound of white rice (pretty much unsalted). Perched atop this was what can only be assumed to be the actual tagine component — which I’m afraid to say carried none of the deep flavour, none of the spices, and (most poignantly) none of the vegetables befitting the description. It was a sweet potato mash, tomato-​y in flavour, with a couple of chunks of otherness here and there. All this encircled in some undressed baby spinach leaves.
The food was more than lacking, it conveyed a distinct lack of love for food on the part of its makers —
especially considering the dishes I ordered purported to be ‘specials’.
The experience ended with the irksome realisation that I would have to pay in cash (which I luckily had on me) despite no warning before ordering.
Style over substance and terrible value for money.

A small quirky café and restaurant. The emphasis is on vegetarian food but also during the day, there are meat dishes. The food is mostly organic and local to northumberland. The cooked breakfast is really nice. Evening meals are served but are vegetarian only.

Cute little café in Newcastle city centre. It’s sort of awkwardly quiet in there, but it has a very homey vibe and would be great for studying or having a tea with friends. Almost everything on the menu is vegan/​vegetarian but they have a few other options. I tried the fish cakes, recommended by the server. They were enormous, and unfortunately smothered in lemon and black pepper hollandaise. They were very flaky and homemade, but the sauce was overpowering with mustard flavor and I had to scrape it off. They should serve it on the side, or serve much less of it. The bulgur salad and rocket leaves on the side were simple but nice. I enjoyed my lunch, and appreciated the enormous portion, but wish they sauced more delicately. I’d certainly come back for another lunch and give it another go, as I like fresh, healthy vegetarian food and this place seems to specialize in it.

This is a great wee place. It’s a ‘normal’ café/​restaurant, but they have an emphasis on vegetarian and vegan food, and they do it very well.
We went here for breakfast, and it was just ideal. I had the vegan traditional which is potato cake, put lentils and spinach, tomato, mushrooms, and chef’s baked beans on toast. The bread is freshly baked on site, and they do a range of different breads including gluten free.
I think my partner had a tradtional full English whcih was the usual — sausage and stuff.
These were great hearty breakfasts and really set us up for the day. We didn’t even have lunch! It’s unusual to see lentils as part of a breakfast, but it’s the sort of thing I eat for breakfast back home so I really appreciated having that there as an option.
It wasn’t until I entered the place that I realised I’d been here years earlier, for an eveing meal. I think I had the dhal and that it was delicious. I don’t know how on earth I could have forgotten a name like Scrumpy Willow and the Singing Kettle, but there you go. Just as well I have Unilocal now to help me remember places!
They’re open all day — breakfast, lunch and dinner, and also do vegan cake. When I’m next in Newcastle, I’ll definitely give this place another visit.

Amazingly chilled and welcoming. The Scrumpy Willow is one of my favourite places to go in Newcastle. Friendly staff, cheap as chips and an amazing chef. Perfect for vegans like myself, I highly recommend the vegan apple crumble with vegan ice cream, it is to DIE FOR! The lentil dahl is also top class along with their herbal teas. Perfect for lunch or an evening meal with wine. Portion sizes are totally generous so you’ll never leave hungry. Love this place, please pay it a visit!

Not somewhere we would have thought of visiting normally, but my partner recently decided to become vegan, which severely limits food choices when dining out.
That said, it just so happens that this is a pleasant little café/​restaurant that should really be in a different party of town like Leazes.
There were plenty of food options on the menu including being able to change parts of some meals to convert vegetarian dishes into vegan dishes.
What you end up with is a surprisingly balanced menu that gives a good range suitable for omnivores, vegetarians and vegans — ideal if you’re in a mixed crowd.
The food was delicious, although my kedgeree food involve a degree of self-​assembly arriving with the kipper placed on top of the rice in one piece instead of flaked and mixed together as you usually find.
Personally I’m keen to try some of the other dishes on the menu, so I think we’ll be back.

This is a lovely café to go to when the weather is cold and miserable, it’s got a very cosy homey feel to it.
The staff were friendly and very chilled and we all really enjoyed our food: my omlette was so tasty and filling, and my sister’s hummus and fallafal plate went down a storm!
I really liked this place as a whole but the reason I docked two stars was because of the really really bad quality of their drinks;
I had the house wine which was nothing short of vinegar-​esque,
my sister had the «smoothie» which was nothing more than a half-​filled glass of watery fruit juice with a thick layer of foam at the top,
and our friend went for the milkshake which literally looked like a glass of milk that had been jiggled around for a bit (no trace of any ice cream in the mix)
My advice with this place is go here when in search of good value, filling food, but don’t waste your money on the beverages!..

The BEST falafel ever.
The Scrumpy willow is a super cute café offering a wide range of dishes. I was highly tempted by Eggs Benedict but being completely in love with falafel, I had to try them. And I was NOT dissapointed. Ther were homemade and absolutely dry (which is often the case with falafel).
The place is small, cosy and cute and I will be back for more!

OKAY, being the only «official» vegan friendly restaurant in the city centre, Scrumpy Willow also prizes itself of being the one with the worst service. Honestly? They have ONE person working the cash register and the tables upstairs and downstairs. That person is never hospitable or nice, but hey, I would be crabby and rude too, if i had to serve the whole café myself. They really should stop being cheap and hire a second person, or at least hire staff that can actually hack it.
In general, I find vegans and vegan establishments really nice, down-​to-​earth, and always good to their patrons. Probably because us vegans/​vegetarians are a rare breed and we feel the need to look after one another. Scrumpy feels differently though, to be fair, they’re not entirely vegan, but from what I have been told, they are the «vegan» place to eat in town.
I would never come back here again. They give vegans/​vegetarians a bad name. Also, my hard earned cash should not be spent on establishments that don’t appreciate my business and are super rude to me. I also know of other places in town that serves vegan friendly dishes, albeit they’re not officially vegan.

It’s changed it’s name and had a revamp. Now called Clayton Café. Breakfast was ok and the coffee nice. Maybe it’s improved! Agh! No, I’m wrong this is the place next door :-s

Atempts to be both rustic and sophisticated, achieves neither.
The pretentious and disparate menu promises quality and excitement that the kitchen fails to deliver. While neither rude nor inefficient the staff are aloof and off-​hand.
If you like the ambience and the image you will love this place. Otherwise it is just another café trying too hard to be alternative and folky.
Character cannot compensate for poor food. Disapointing.