Wednesday September 16th
Simple food done right
Garden centres are often very good at this sort of thing. I used to think they’d be like little Little Chefs circa 1982 but far from it. And, frankly, there’s something rather reassuring about that.
Caulders in Cupar fits the bill nicely. Decent, solid food, with not much scope for anyone to stuff it up.
Mum had the small fish and chips: perfectly cooked fish, crisp chips. Don’t go large though as the regular portion is enormous!
I had the cheese and tomato toastie, which was exactly what it advertised itself as. No surprises, no culinary grandstanding, just a cheese and tomato toastie doing its job. The side salad and coleslaw were both tasty accompaniments.
We also got a meringue and cream to take away. It came all neatly wrapped in foil with a handle – and was easily enough for two. Another example of the general approach here: generous, straightforward and without any unnecessary fuss.
The ambience is nothing special – a fairly standard café room, with no background music, just the pleasant murmur of people chatting. But then, this is a garden centre, not the Savoy. You wouldn’t expect candlelight and a string quartet!
The staff are always smiley, which suggests management is doing something right. Caulders doesn’t pretend to be anything other than a garden-centre café serving straightforward food, efficiently and cheerfully.
And sometimes that’s exactly what you want.
Stories by Mrs Mac 