Quirky café you might not know exists serving huge,…

Quirky café you might not know exists serving huge, filling breakfasts

A quirky city centre café you may not know exists is serving generous breakfasts, surrounded by local products and artwork.

Scribble Café can be found inside MerseyMade, which is based at the historical, grade II listed, red-brick Gordon Smith Institute on Paradise Street. Originally built at the end of the 19th century, the Gordon Smith Institute for Seamen was housed in the building and aimed to provide support and assistance to the seafarers of Liverpool.

Now, it's a creative hub that offers the space to shop, eat, attend events, and have a nosy inside artists' studios. It was set up by three mums who met while doing the school run, as a space specifically to highlight the huge range of talent on offer in Merseyside.

I popped in one rainy Thursday morning for breakfast at Scribble and every table at the ground floor level was completely full. Thankfully, there's additional seating upstairs, nestled among the artwork of the local creatives based there.

There's an expansive glass counter displaying sandwiches, cakes, croissants, flatbreads and more, while the relatively small menu offers a range of hot dishes. I opted for the small breakfast, which costs £9, and includes herb sausage, streaky bacon, confit tomato, homemade hash brown, mushrooms, beans and egg.

There's three bread options to choose from - a joy for a carb fanatic like me - with diners able to tuck into white or seeded bread, or sourdough for an extra 50p. Much to my relief, vegetarians can swap the meat options for halloumi, sliced avocado or vegan sausages.

The small vegetarian breakfast from Scribble (Jess Flaherty/Liverpool ECHO)

I chose to replace the bacon with halloumi, and received two vegan sausages instead of meat ones.

There was quite a long wait for the breakfast to arrive, though I was warned ahead of time about this so it didn't bother me at all. I was glad to see the venue so busy, and every corner of the space is a visual feast so there's plenty to gaze at while waiting for the food to arrive.

There's original art works, vases, makeup bags, prints, greeting cards and more on the second floor, while the ground floor has an even more extensive array of local products and produce.

When the breakfast arrived - after 20 minutes, so not quite as long as I'd been expecting to have to wait - it was a little bigger than I'd anticipated. This made its £9 price tag make more sense.

Scribble is based at MerseyMade in the city centre (Jess Flaherty/Liverpool ECHO)

The sausages might just be the tastiest vegan sausages I've ever eaten. They reminded me of eating bangers and mash as a child, where the soft filling sort of bursts through the skin. I'd forgotten this sensation entirely, having been a vegetarian for 13 years, but as soon as I took a bite, I was instantly transported to my youth.

I chose to have my egg poached and it was satisfyingly runny, while the mound of mushrooms was well seasoned and packed with flavour. The halloumi was a little crispier than I'd have liked, but it was a decent serving and still very tasty.

The generous slabs of sourdough were completely delicious with a perfect soft yet crispy consistency - I've been craving more for days since. The beans came in a little ribbed pot, which I'm a big fan of as I don't like bean juice seeping across my plate and mingling with all the other items.

Even though it's described as a small portion on the menu, I was completely stuffed. The atmosphere and unique location are well worth seeking out and I'll definitely be back.

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