Cascara Café - Bath Food Review
Posted on: 2016-12-01
Our rating:
Having returned to my favourite spa town of Bath to find much changed, I was keen to find a decent juice bar on the Pulteney bridge side of town. I’m just not content unless I can get my freshly made juice on my rounds. I came across Cascara and was so glad I did. Read on for my review:
Tucked away in the central side street, Upper Borough Walls, just around the corner from The Guildhall and Central Library – this little gem is easy to miss, but not to be missed; whether you’re looking for coffee, hot chocolate, gluten/dairy free cake or a yummy healthy juice.
This colourful, cosy, independent hangout is right up my street, serving a selection of fruit and veg combinations with optional added super nutrients - and a gorgeous array of gluten/dairy free bites, homemade by co-founder Ana. Anyone who believes gluten free doesn’t taste as good, needs to try these!
Colombia-born and raised in Southern Spain, Ana has always been very creative and experimental with food. She taught herself to bake, loves to cater for special dietary needs and invents delicious new recipes every week. I recommend her GF mocha brownie, or GF/DF coconut and chocolate cake.
Co-founder Jay from Bath is the “coffee geek”/ connoisseur. I’m not a coffee drinker myself, but I’ve heard avid punters in the queue say it’s the best in town. Jay obviously takes pride in his blends. Before opening Cascara, he was an experienced barista and competed in Latte Art competitions, coming second place (only to the competition host) in the South West & South Wales Independent Coffee Guide’s latte art contest.
For me though, it has to be the raw, vegan hot chocolate every time. Cascara has a relaxed ambiance of Spanish music, and customers from all walks of life pop in. All kinds of meet ups happen there - I overheard someone having a Chinese lesson over coffee today.
What I love the most of all about this place, is the ‘meet-cute’ that started it all. Two years ago, Ana worked in a cigarette shop, and Jay in a café nearby. She watched him pass by her shop window for months on his way to work each day, and one day she said to her employer “I like this guy”. That assertive boss marched straight over to the café and told him, “my worker likes you!” and he said “I like her too,” but the coyness continued for a good while until Ana couldn’t take it anymore and ran out of the shop after him one day, with a note that just read, ‘coffee sometime?’ and her number. Sweet and simple. Needless to say it broke the ice, and a year into their relationship they decided to combine their skills and open their own place Cascara, back in November 2015. It was a match made in heaven.
Ratings:
Atmosphere 4/5
Service 4/5
Food 4/5
Value 4/5
Address: 3 Upper Borough Walls, Bath BA1 1RG. Find Cascara on Facebook and Twitter.
Article by:
Sarah studies creative writing and film production at Bath Spa University, loves exploring, movement and music, and is recently rediscovering her favourite spa town of Bath after several years away. As an experienced yoga practitioner with a keen interest in natural health, she is delighted by the many positive developments for health and lifestyle in the city, and happy to share her inspirational findings with 365Bath.
