There is a cafe on the outskirts of Sheffield that is hard to miss.
Though it’s in a more ordinary house on a busy A Street, the Bank View Cafe can’t be missed as its bright and eye-catching pink polka dots stand out against the green, rural setting.
The cafe was painted spotty in 2014 for the Tour de France as the route took riders right past this long-popular spot for local cyclists.
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Sheffielders are known for getting around on two wheels, and Bank View is the perfect pit stop for tired men and women whiz through Stocksbridge and the surrounding area.
In fact, the cafe is so popular with cyclists that it received a Lifetime Achievement Award at Cycling UK’s Cyclist Cafe of the Year Awards.
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In recent years, however, the lovely café, which is also one of the most beautiful polling stations in Great Britain, has become famous for its unusual decor with eye-catching pink polka dots between whitewashed walls.
YorkshireLive visited the famous cafe for an impromptu lunch on a Thursday afternoon and found the cute cafe sure to make for a compelling Instagram moment.
Even though we arrived at 2pm it wasn’t as busy as we expected. Having just missed the lunch break we had no problem getting a table in the cozy café – which consisted of three separate “rooms” with plenty of table space.
The cafe also has a nice outside area with some traditional pub-style picnic benches, although it was a bit too chilly (in August!) To enjoy a leisurely meal outside.
Inside, the cafe certainly has a no-nonsense feel to it – a good old fashioned traditional cafe with the staples you would expect (toasties, french fries) and a few things you wouldn’t (veggies. Linsendhal, American pancakes).
The crumbly cherry scones were served warm with jam and cream
(Image: Phoebe Fuller / YorkshireLive)
As a vegetarian, I was pleasantly surprised by the range of vegetarian dishes on offer and was unsure whether to opt for the American Pancake Stack, the Veggie Fry-Up or the Lentil Dhal.
In the end, I settled on a classic British choice: cream tea, which – as expected – came with jam, cream and a selection of hot drinks (I opted for a mocha after inhaling several cups of tea that day) .
The other members of my group ordered cheese toasties and we also shared a bowl of fries which were absolutely delicious: real traditional homemade fries that reminded me exactly of the ones my dad made for me when I was little.
Nostalgia from a bowl of chips? Check.
Proper homemade fries
(Image: Phoebe Fuller / YorkshireLive)
The cherry scones were served warm and were really tasty, although I was a little disappointed that they came with whipped cream instead of traditional clotted cream. Sigh.
The toasties were absolutely what you would expect from a toastie, nothing extraordinary or unnecessarily fancy, just plain cheese on the bread and some salad to garnish.
I liked the coffee, it tasted like really strong coffee and I can certainly appreciate how useful it must be when you’ve spent the morning exhausting yourself on the pedals!
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Value for money was pretty good too, with the toasties for 5 each and the £ 4 cream tea that came with the drink, so a trip to Bank View is sure to be easy on the old wallet.
Overall, our trip to Bank View Cafe was very enjoyable and was made even better by the scenic drive that took us past some of the best reservoirs Sheffield has to offer and into the Strines moorland.
Have you tried the spotty Stocksbridge cafe? Let us know in the comments!
