Alto Lounge

Since coming across it, this has been the new favourite amongst my friends — for a number of reasons:
— it’s one of the few places that serves great coffee in the evening (we love Workhouse, but it closes at 4-​ish!)
— great location with free parking in the Waitrose car park
— friendly and genuinely helpful staff: asked for a soya milk cappuccino, if soya milk wasn’t available they go out and buy some (has happened twice now)
— family friendly: free games (and not just for kids: scrabble, trivial pursuit, jenga…) and colouring books /​crayons
— free community book exchange, bring your books & take some free
— lovely atmosphere in the evening: candles on tables, rustic décor, lots of people having conversations over coffees and/​or food
— great tasting, quality food.
Can’t find a bad point about them at all. Except perhaps that it’s usually busy… we’ve never failed to find a table but have had to share a longer table with others before.

I always enjoy taking the trip back to my hometown (Reading, UK) to visit my friends and family and a couple of days ago I had the opportunity to visit one of my favourite little treasures, the under-​stated ‘Alto Lounge’ in Caversham with my Mum.
The Alto Lounge provides a quirky, unique feel with its cosy, rustic and relaxed atmosphere. The menu absolute sings to me with everything from cinnamon french toast, to burgers, hotdogs, curry and tapas.
There’s something for everyone and the most important facet of all, they are so flexible and accommodating. My Mum unfortunately has coeliac disease (and so can’t eat gluten), and the staff ensured my Mum that they would bake her fries in the oven instead of frying them to ensure zero cross-​contamination. Brilliant. A really refreshing change from the dumbstruck look she normally gets.
Sitting in the candle-​lit ambience, my Mother was able to relax in the knowledge that she would be enjoying food that is safe for her and I searched the menu, spoilt for choice.
Typically I couldn’t decide what to have, this time it was between Macaroni Cheese and a Hot dog. But then I came across, ‘The Real Mac’ — ‘A pork frank topped with truffle mac and cheese, sautéed portobella mushroom, onions and Swiss cheese’. Perhaps peculiar for some, but it completely suited me, so was an easy choice.
Customer service was impeccable and the food was delicious, I simply had to try a dessert and opted for the warming, sticky toffee pudding. The menu described, ‘Sticky toffee pudding with butterscotch sauce and vanilla ice cream’, I asked if I could have custard instead and of course this was not a problem for them. I was not disappointed, it was indulgent bliss.
The Alto Lounge is an absolute hidden treasure in Reading, the family-​friendly, flexible customer service and quirky, ornate décor may fool you into thinking you’ve stumbled across a one-​of-​kind, independent hang-​out. But there are in fact over 40 lounges over the UK — I’d love to visit a few others to see how similar they are and I implore you to find your nearest:
The website is actually really cool too.
Without a doubt, bona fide, bliss
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