Birch - Newcastle

I used Happy Cow to find a place to eat in Newcastle while on a walking trip to the area and found Birch which is a vegetarian and vegan cafe. I particularly like to support places like this so thought I’d give it a try and I’m really glad I did. The menu had a wide selection and a note that all vegetarian dishes can be made vegan on letting the staff know including pancakes which I haven’t had since I went vegan, although I didn’t order this but will next time. I ordered beans on toast which was slow roasted cannellini beans with red peppers and tomato, served on sourdough toast. I also added tofu. I cleaned my plate, it was so good. Also a latte with oat milk, coconut milk also available. Wide selection of sweet treats of which about half seemed to be vegan although again I didn’t try but they looked great. I will most definitely be back here. The service was good, food arrived quickly after ordering, staff were pleasant. I couldn’t fault it. Update still a very nice cafe but menu had changed since my last visit. I felt was quite limited compared to what was previously on offer but maybe there is a reason for this. I had sweet potato lentil soup with chilli oil and sourdough toast. This was lovely. Also a bounty tray bake (not pictured) which was one of a couple of vegan sweet treats available. And it was delicious! But I was a bit disappointed that some of the food I’d eyed up before was no longer available. Still nice to support vegetarian business but the dairy and eggs seem to be creeping in. Updated from previous review on 2022 07 28

Flavourful food and everything else good. Lovely setting and staff.

Pleasantly surprised by how good the food was here. It is a vegi/ vegan place that offers drinks and food. Cute little place with a fantastic view of the sea. We got soup and a sandwich to share which cost £10. Soup changes weekly I think. Got pumpkin soup it tasted like it had a curry flavour and it was delicious! The sandwich was butternut squash, hummus, salad and I think it was chilli jam or something. It was all really good and the sourdough bread was really good! Good customer service.

Get their bounty bar! It’s the most delicious baked good

Firstly, one star off already for not being fully vegan. (Naughty 5 star reviews on here for somewhere that serves animal secretions). We 've been wanting to try Birch for a while. It 's always good to support local businesses. So we decided to pop in for breakfast. Reading all the other reviews, the menu must have changed. It was one menu for all day (no separate breakfast/lunch menu). It all sounded very wholesome and 'artisan ' , but here 's the issue. Sometimes, as a vegan, you just want a good tofu scramble or some mushrooms on toast. It wouldn 't hurt to add simpler items onto the menu alongside the hand whipped essence of kimchi. It would make more sense to make the base menu fully Vegan and then if people insist on having animal products on their food, that can be added as extra. Nothing was clearly marked Vegan on the menu (aside from the traybakes), so I wasn 't sure which were safe to eat. Having to constantly ask 'Is this vegan? ' in a cafe catering for vegans is not ideal. I didn 't feel safe enough in my choices (I am Autistic and having no clarity on the menu was confusing for me). There was also no drinks menu on display, so again, ordering a drink involved an overwhelming exchange of information. Why not just print out a drinks menu and attach to the food one? The cafe was quite loud and bright (again as a ND person this was difficult) and tables were close to each other so I could hear the ins and outs of a strangers conversation (I know they are working with the space they have but one of the tables for two could be taken away and the rest spaced out more). I felt unable to relax and just wanted to make the visit as quick as possible. The biggest thing for me, though, was the cost. For breakfast type meals (toast, granola etc) it was ridiculous. Posh beans on toast for £10! I walked away disappointed that I essentially had hummus on toast (something I can have at home) and felt like I 'd been robbed for it. The sourdough and the hummus were however both tasty. I wanted to highlight in this review how businesses need to realise that not every customer is Neurotypical, we live in a world that makes everything so exhausting and riddled with discomfort. Simple changes like more space, clearer menus and quieter music can make a world of difference. I still cannot get over £10 for beans on toast! I don 't think I would visit again, my bank account couldn 't take it.