The recently opened SubUrban Café is a welcome addition to Ballyholme village. Conveniently located…read morenext to a newsagents, chemist, butchers and dry cleaners it is the perfect place to give yourself a break from your errands or have a quick breakfast like I did. The staff are attentive yet there is also a casual laid back feeling to SubUrban Café which makes it the perfect setting for a relaxing breakfast. The baristas made an excellent flat white - not an easy skill. With outside seating I can the SubUrban Cafe this becoming a hot spot in the summer months.

Lovely little coffee shop in the heart of Ballyholme that seems to now be a permanent fixture in a…read morelocation that had changed hands several times but due to their staff, food, and convenience you can see why, well I hope so anyway as I liked the place...! On a busy Saturday mid-morning several weeks ago myself and two friends availed ourselves of three excellently cooked fries before attending a football match not we're not in the slightest bit greasy and set us up perfectly for the day... Sausage, bacon x2, egg and x2 of potato and soda bread and tomato for £5.95 including cup of coffee or pot of tea was a great price and when the very friendly staff member saw 3 tomatoes still on the plate he suggested next time to ask for it to be substituted and there would be no problem and he also said they will soon be adding hash browns with bits on bacon in them so I shall definitely be there again soon...!! They offer all other usual breakfast options you would expect, is close to several shops if you want to gets some bits and bobs and there is a bank machine literally attached to the café which is handy...! As a resident of Ballyholme and dog-walker I also like how they usually have two dog bowls of water out the front of the shop as the area is heaving with fellow walkers due to its proximity to the beach... Nice touches like that make all the difference

Local coffee shop in Groomsport. Delicious club sambo well worth a visit. Lovely views of the…read moreharbour too. Really nice staff. Great place to come for a romantic stroll along the beach and warm up with a nice hot chocolate afterwards.

Went this morning with the lads before football great grub! Fast service. Like a hidden gem! All…read morethe locals can be seen calling in for a cuppa and a fry up. If you dont want whats on the menu just ask they are happy to change it for you. One of the staff members looks like an advert for river island. Great staff!!

We don't get to go here as often as we'd like, but that only helps to make it more of a treat. Its…read moresuch a lovely spot. The decor is quirky (without trying too hard as sometimes places that try to be quirky can be) and ambiance is lovely. whether you are seated in the backroom which is the cosiest I think, or one of the front areas, where you get a lovely view of the bay, it is a pleasure just to sit here. The staff are always friendly and pretty fast and so great to engage with, but I think one of the stars of going here is the food and coffee. The menu is inventive and will have something to please everyone, and so delicious for the most part. I tend to gravitate towards a favourite that they do... eggs in purgatory... but anything Ive tried has been great!

Wow. This place is a hidden gem…read more I only went for breakfast but they also do a bed and breakfast service. The customer service is next to none. The guy that welcomed us is eccentric and so friendly. The front door was opened before we even reached it and we where very warmly Welcomed and led into the dining room to sit at a table with an amazing view. The food was great and the you had plenty to choose from off the menu. I would probably go for the French toast next time as it looked awesome. Staff continually ask do you want coffee refills. They have a wee shop out the back selling gifts. Parking is on street and easy. A great place to go for breakfast and walk along the sea front. It's like being in another world. So good to be away from the pace of city life. Can't wait to go back.

Now I'm not an outdoorsy or garden kind of person, but every time I visit this garden centre, I…read moreresolve to go home and transform our boring patio and lawn into a overflowing cottage garden. Then I get distracted by the interior goodies. And the café. There's always next year to create that garden. Donaghadee Garden Centre is the ultimate treasure trove of lovely things for your home. Scented candles, oven gloves, cushions, little pieces of furniture. If you're a minimalist freak, it's not for you, but if you love a little bit of controlled clutter, then you'll be in heaven. There's Cath Kidston galore and lots of shaker style pieces like wooden signs and table cloths. But none of it is twee which is my worst nightmare. Oh and the café. I often go in swearing that I'll just have a scone, and then just cannot resist the unbelievably good chicken and broccoli bake. It is just so tasty and full of proper pieces of chicken and real ingredients, and comes with beautiful home made coleslaw and salad. Delish. So, for those of you who must buy stuff for the garden when you're in a garden centre, there are all kinds of plants and shrubs and compost and other dirty things that you need for digging about in the flower bed. Happily for me, there are also some very knowledgeable members of staff to help the clueless.

Christmas tree selection was good, Santa not on site today. Had coffee and some freshly baked goods…read more Got 2 bird houses and bird feed. Staff helpful in selecting the bird feed

Studio cafe is one of those coffee houses that you wished was right beside your house! I would…read moreliterally be in here everyday, living a Friends at Central Perk lifestyle. The coffee is really great, the atmosphere is relaxing and you can sit here all day and no-one minds if you want to sit here all day reading glossy mags of having a good old gossip. I would recommend their Mocha or Cappuccino. So, so good!!! Love love love this wee place!!

Wow! Right at the top of High Street, opposite my old favourite haunt Snacksville, we have a new…read morecontender for the coolest coffee house in Co. Down. The Studio Cafe is sheek, sophisticated and new. A family run cafe with a in house bakery this coffee shop boasts of the best coffee in Bangor. In keeping with the family theme the idea behind the shop was to keep the memory and I assume the recipes of the owners grandmother alive. This lady, Ethel Hill, used to run the famous fruit and veg shop in Bangor called McCormicks. She was a great baker and went on to work in the local bakery at the time. Her grandson is striving to keep her baking days alive through his new cafe. With trained Batista's the plan is to serve an excellent cup of coffee to each and every customer all year round - I certainly wasn't disappointed.

There are lots and lots of these about and I already reviewed the one in Castle Court, Belfast and…read moreI can only say that this is just only slightly better. The service here is a little bit better and at least the staff seem like they actually care and don't potentially spit in the food which can be the case in some of these franchise outlets. The food is only just passable, to be fair the muffins can be quite nice if you are really hungry but the tea and coffee are bog standard and massively overpriced. Lots of people seem to go here and I don't really see why. No good.

A long standing, well established and really friendly local bakery that has been here for as long…read moreas I can remember. I used to know people who lived near here so I would often call in to pick up a bite to eat after or before playing football in Ballyholme park with my friends in the long summer evenings. There is a lovely, local, home baked feeling about this place and the sausage rolls are to die for. Also, there is excellent pastries and cakes and the like on offer. You can get cakes and stuff made to order for parties and events, which is a good wee service. The staff are lovely as well, really welcoming and polite.

This is by far the best bakery I have ever been to. My childhood was spent in and out of the…read moreSheridan, my mum used to send me to get a crusty bap for 80p. I still frequent the Sheridan, it is one of the only places you can go in and still have a chat without feeling pressured to leave. The staff are amazing, they recently made a picture cake to perfection for my sisters birthday, but they did display it in the window which ruined the surprise. I suppose they were just keen to show off their work and why shouldn't they be. You can mould your diet around the Sheridan, toasted Crusty Bap for Breakfast, Sausage roll for lunch and Mince pie for dinner. Oh and if you want to get one of your 5 a day, I recommend an apple turnover. This will all cost you under £5 so you do not really have a reason not to do it.

Wandered about High Street one Saturday morning and didn't really know where to go for a bite and…read morecoffee in Bangor. After seeing quite a few different places we settled on here as it looked quite nice from the outset. So it turns out that on occasion its actually OK to judge a book by its cover. Firstly the staff in here were very nice and welcoming, which is always important when settling in and starting to enjoy a new place. Then the menu was pretty impressive...... all good so far. It was mid morning (as was our next visit) and so we were looking mainly at the breakfast menu. we got the Creme fry each and were not disappointed. It seems like an odd thing to rave about when talking about a fry, but in a fry that was in all aspects well above average, that the mushrooms were one of the stand out features!!!! I think they were done in some kind of salt and chilli combo or something (perhaps not chilli, but something) and were sooooo tasty. The coffee was excellent as well and can be bought separately to take home, so they've clearly done a bit of work getting a decent bean for theirs. There is a wide variety of cakes . muffins and the like that can be bought to have there or to take away and they are excellent. We had some there and they were great. We also bought an olive loaf to take away with us which was one of the best we've had in a while, used it t make some pretty decent sandwiches at home. Certainly will be making a point of going here a good bit more from now on.

Hidden away in the sleepy seaside village of Groomsport is Neill Wines and perhaps Northern…read moreIrelands greatest selection of bottled craft beers. Neill wines is unassuming from the outside, located on Groomsport's Main Street it has limited branding and no flashy signs that give any indication of the delights that are inside. Much like a treasure chest it's only when you go inside that you are exposed to the vast bounty. The shelves are stacked high and deep with a huge array of craft beers. From local brews to exotic Caribbean beers this place has it all. Along side the traditional lagers they had a bargain bin with 3 beers for a fiver and being the adventurous type I choose 3 beers I had never seen or heard of before. I ended up with a coffee flavoured beer from Ireland (nice and local) and a pale ale from England that made my taste buds scream for more. That's the beauty of going to Neill Wines, it's a lottery and you might just hit the jackpot and come out clasping your new favourite beer. If you're more of a wine connoisseur then they have a huge selection for you too, not being a huge fan of wine I stuck to the craft beers but I noticed the wines were all shelved by region. Ask the staff for advice if you're not sure what to go for, they seem to know their stuff although I wish the attendant had of warned me that my coffee flavoured beer was more like beer flavoured coffee, anyway you live and learn. If you're a craft fan, as so many people are these days, I would suggest you take a wee jaunt down the coast to visit Neill Wines or look them up online and see what they have in stock you're bound to come across something new.

From the owner: Quality, authentic and great value for money wine. One of…read morethe largest ranges of craft beer in Northern Ireland

Based right at the top of High Street, this wee café is a bit of a favourite for school kids who…read morelike to bunk out of school at lunch time. Or, at least it was when I was at school. I lost count of the amount of times I would call in here to get a sausage roll or a sandwich before heading round to the snooker hall round the corner for a few frames, rather than going to games. The menu is pretty standard. You can get wraps, paninis, sanwiches and some hot foods but you are better off just sticking with a simple sandwich if you ask me. It has a pretty nice wee sitting in area that allows you to chill with a paper and munch down on your lunch. It's nice and close to an ATM in case you are short of cash too, which is always handy.

I was pleasantly surprised at what snacksville had to offer. It's your bog-standard cafe right at…read morethe top of the town but it is ideally situated as it is next to a cheap car park, lots of businesses and a school - this means they get plenty of trade and the place gets busy. The menu is basic - sandwiches of all varieties, soup, baked potato, stew and paninis - all your basic lunch time fodder. I had a baked potato with chilli and cheese which is on the special slimming world section if the menu. Its always good to remember those of us trying to stay slim. The place got really busy really fast but my food was quick, hot and tasty. I had to queue up to pay though but I can live with that. If you are looking for a quick snack to take away or a cup of tea and a tray bake a normal prices this is the place to go.