Thursday 18 November 2010

New Teignmouth Cafe - twentysix

We mourned the loss of the Michaelmas Goose cafe in Teignmouth - we loved the Goose's relaxed, bustling vibe with super-cheery waitresses and a couple of sofas and magazines - you felt you could go there on your own and just chill and eat cake.  It closed down in the summer and we now have twentysix in its place.  I am a little cynical about calling a place by a word-number - it's not too snappy and people don't automatically know what you're talking about.  As this is owned and run by a really good chef, Denise Tarriela, I would have preferred it to be called something more personal and showing its high quality home-cooking credentials.  It's also hard to find on the internet - this is their website, but I had to go via Tripadvisor to find it.
That is all the negative stuff I have to say!  
What a lovely place and what attention to detail.  My tea (pear and caramel tea - sounds weird but tasted delicious) arrived with an egg timer and a request to let it brew for three minutes.  I love that kind of gimmick.  The two of us ordered 'Croques' - his was pear and blue cheese on granary bread and mine was brie, crispy bacon with fig relish on white topped with aged Gruyere.  Both were £6.95 which sounds a little high for a sandwich (especially in Teignmouth), but they were full of excellent quality ingredients and presented well with a delicious green salad dressed with lemon oil, proper crisps and aioli.  I enjoyed every mouthful and can highly recommend a visit.  


I gawped at the cakes but didn't have time for one - they are all homemade and look quite incredible - definitely posh restaurant standard and a little bit different: New York baked cheesecake, a beautiful iced blueberry cake and Valrhona chocolate brownies plus the amazing pear, pistachio and creme anglaise cake - I want one of those!

They are open 9-5:30 every day, plus they serve evening meals as special bookable events at weekends - the cafe is holding New Orleans Cuisine and Jazz evenings this weekend )19-21 Nov with delicious items such as Drunken Prawns with Cajun Butter Sauce, Blackened Fillet of Marlin and Chocolate Pecan Pie.  There is also a Thanksgiving meal on 25 Nov, a Local Game evening on 27th Nov and Christmas events too.

4 comments:

Anonymous said...

WOW, that cakes is amazing, ive been known to travel miles for a good cake, and knowing is only 20mins away could be a problem for me!! lol or at least my waist line haha.

What were the other items on the menu like do they do full meals as well?

Grazing Kate said...

wow, Matthew, you were quick off the mark! I can highly recommend it - yes, they did more substantial meals, even at lunchtime - I think there was some kind of duck and possibly pheasant - all very autumnal sounding and delicious, but wasn't what I needed at the time.

They also do rather nice sounding sharing platters of seafood, cheese or meats. I think you'll be very impressed. Honestly although I didn't eat any cake, they were the best-looking cakes I've seen served in a cafe setting in the UK.

Northern Snippet said...

I agree about the name.So many places have gone down that route now and it just doesn't say anything individual,which obviously this place is.The cakes look fantastic,nothing better than a decent coffee and a homemade cake.
I was quite surprised at the sandwich prices(we are selling a locally sourced 6oz rump steak sandwich at 6.95 )but as you say if you are getting a quality product then you still feel you get value for money.We were discussing pricing this morning,buying all local produce as we do does mean we have to price accordingly,people seem to accept this.We could buy cheaper but buying local is important to us.
love the egg timer idea BTW.

Were they using local produce here?

Choclette said...

Well I'm feeling jolly sad about the Michaelmas Goose. Since you posted about it I was looking forward to going there next time we're in Teignmouth (which admittedly might not be any time soon, but hey). Posh nosh with a price tag doesn't sound quite so appealing for a cafe. Have to say the cakes sounded very good though.

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