Tramway Café Bar

This review appears in the The List's Eating & Drinking Guide 2008 – in the shops now or buy online.

At the time of going to press, the Tramway Café Bar was refining some final details before unveiling a new menu and a new look in April. Its menu of healthy, hearty food – which includes a popular vegetarian breakfast – is set to become, if anything, healthier still, with an emphasis on using fresh and organic produce where possible. Home-made soups, light bites and snacks will be available into the early evening, with dishes including a warm salad of baby new potatoes and chorizo. With its groups of yummy mummies by day and arty sophistos by night, Tramway clearly understands that it caters to a broader audience than other arts venues – people drawn in equal parts by the fabulous Hidden Gardens, the child-friendly atmosphere and the programme of cutting-edge theatre, dance and music. A new colour scheme and locally manufactured bespoke furnishings suggest a more flexible arrangement of the space within the café bar – visitors should find it cosier and more relaxed downstairs, and more formal in the mezzanine. [Not recently visited]