The long and winding stretch of Heaton Road houses a secret. I don’t mean the singular ATM, nor am I referring to the New-Age Church. Nestled in between two of the more generic eateries, the vegetarian Sky Apple Cafe reigns supreme. Painted in a royal blue and striking purple, this cafe/restaurant is the siren-call of the food industry. You would be forgiven for maiming your car as you drive past, transfixed by the giant blue apple covering the window. This cafe is all about the first impressions; what it lacks in size it makes up for in image, style and finesse. And of course, absolutely scrumptious food.
With a bi-monthly menu makeover, the cafe draws in people from near and far without fail. With only eight tables (of varying sizes), if you don’t book you are likely to be disappointed. However, if you are super-organised and get your name down early, you can enjoy yummy veggie food in quirky surroundings. The front of house staff are so friendly they make me want to weep, and are unfailingly beautiful. Never before have I wanted so badly to be ‘one of them’, almost like my (previous) adoration of B*Witched. A jug of water is standard, with lemon and tiny tumblers – there is no alcohol license, but the off-license down the road sell cheap wine, and the cafe owners are happy for you to bring a bottle (for a small corkage charge). Soft drinks come in the form of good ol’ Fentimans, exotic juices and a selection of posh teas, to name but a few. The window-sill is laden down with magazines, books and leaflets, and daily specials are chalked up on the wall (painted to look like a sunny sky = genius).
The food is simply amazing. I could fill this review with adjectives, and not even skim the surface of my appreciation of the resident chef. Such is my love of the menu; I would gladly use my entire student loan to hire them to cook for me every night. What they achieve with mushrooms is beyond me. If the menu wasn’t laminated, my saliva would smudge the ink. They bandy about gems like ‘toasted pine nuts’, ‘blue cheese dressing’ and ‘slow roasted aubergine’ with true gusto.
To make your visit even more exciting, there are different daytime and evening menus. Paying a visit between 12pm and 4.30pm gives you the opportunity to feast on their ‘proper chips’. Sit them next to any of their fresh-made Paninis and you’re onto a winner. Although the evening menu is regularly changing, I would personally recommend any of the starters; just the other day I polished off the delectable ‘Pumpkin and Blue Cheese Smushi’. Reasonably priced too, considering they’re jam-packed full of exciting ingredients (fried sage and saffron, anyone?) For the main course, there’s usually a choice of five dishes, using local and seasonal produce. The attention to detail is fantastic – my green beans were all cut to the same size and bow-tied in a piece of lemongrass!
To finish off your evening (by now you will feel pretty full of wholesome goodness), why not sample one of their delicious puddings? No fancy pants nonsense here, this month you can experience Heaton Mess, apple and lavender brulee tart, or mango truffle cake. All are guaranteed to leave that lovely tingly feeling in your stomach, and I only wish there were beanbags so I could curl up for a nap.
So head down to Heaton, and support your local veggie feast-house. If you can drag yourself out of bed on a Sunday, they do a mean fry-up, guaranteed to set you on the road to recovery. A life-affirming experience, with enough change to get the bus back to town!
