Bruberrie Café & Bar: a quiet Mount coffee spot

If you fancy a coffee and a proper sit-down without the usual city-centre scramble, Bruberrie Café & Bar is the sort of place that rewards a little wander. It sits at 76 The Mount, over towards the quieter end of York and not far from the racecourse, and it has quietly built a reputation as one of the city's more reliable spots for a long, slow morning.

The first thing worth knowing is the sheer size of the menu, which runs to more than a hundred dishes. It is not a place to rush through; the owners, Naiya and her partner, bring more than forty years of combined hospitality experience to the table, and it shows in how much they have packed in. The coffee is the obvious starting point — strong but smooth, with an author coffee range alongside wines and craft beers if you are visiting later in the day — and the food leans into a mix of Middle Eastern and Korean influences that you will not find in many other York cafés.

Breakfast and brunch are the real draw here. The French toast is described as fluffy, golden and perfectly sweet, served with fresh, juicy berries, and the Akuri scrambled eggs with creamy garlic mushrooms on toast are a regular favourite. For something a bit more indulgent, the ocean latte — which needs a good stir but tastes like marshmallow — pairs up with a Nutella pancake. The pastries are just as serious: cinnamon rolls, savoury bacon and cheese croissants, and a range of chocolate cakes, all home-baked and noticeably buttery. If you are after a proper meal, there is all-day breakfast and brunch from 11:45am, a Sunday Roast made from carefully chosen ingredients, and a lunch menu of salads, sandwiches, soups and quiches.

Afternoon tea is the one thing that needs planning. It comes with freshly made teas, finger sandwiches, scones with clotted cream and jam, and a selection of cakes and tarts, but you will need to book at least a week in advance and pay in full upfront, so it is not something to turn up to on a whim. On busier weekends, the café may ask you to keep your visit to about forty-five minutes once your food has arrived, which is a fair trade for a place that stays busy.

The hours are steady: Monday to Saturday from 8:30am to 3:30pm, and Sunday from 8am to 3pm, with a slightly shorter run of 8am to 3pm during the winter months. The reviews back it up, too, with a 4.8 out of 5 rating across 485 reviews, which is hard to argue with when you have had a decent coffee and a proper breakfast in front of you.

And there is more on the way. The owners are preparing to open a second site in the heart of Bootham, which is currently running a soft launch with all-day breakfast and brunch from 11:45am, artisan coffee and homemade pastries, plus a few exclusive menu items you will not find at The Mount. Between the two, York is getting a proper new coffee habit.