Rabbit Hole Coffee Arrives in the City Centre

Rabbit Hole Coffee is probably best known as a pop up and event coffee hub. However, they also have a permanent spot in Oakwood, which is very popular with the locals and Parkrun crew.

This January, Rabbit Hole opened a new spot in the Victoria Quarter, on the ground floor of Harvey Nichols. The café itself is tucked into a cove with a great seating area just outside. This weekend, I headed over to the new spot to see if it was as good as it looked on Instagram. 

I arrived at the Victoria Quarter bang on 10am on Saturday, right as the café was opening. (Always a keen bean.) It wasn’t hard to find – it’s right in the middle of the arcade, and, after battling through the wind to get to the City Centre, I was so pleased to see that Rabbit Hole has heaters. 

I normally like to have a good look at what’s on offer at a café before ordering, especially when there are pastries or cakes involved. But I was tempted by the heaters and when the waiting staff said they could come over and take my order, I sat down and had a peruse of the menu. Whilst I was having a look at what to order, I also took in the surroundings. Sitting there felt cosy and almost as if I was inside a café. The seats themselves were comfortable, and I loved the pink tables. Before long, one of the waiters, who was very friendly, came over and asked if I’d like a glass of water – it was a small gesture, but one that made me feel welcomed, which was lovely.

The waiter came back shortly after to take my order. I’m not a coffee aficionado, so I was keen to try something a bit different, initially opting for a matcha latte. However, they were out of matcha, something that the waiter was really apologetic about, so I took it as an opportunity to try something new and opted for a mocha.  I was chilly and starting to get hungry, I also wanted to get something sweet to go with my drink. Deciding what sweet treat to go for is always hard, especially when the choices look good. Rabbit Hole has a great selection.

I was tempted by the Black Day Bakes brownie or the cookie sandwich, both of which looked divine. I recently had a fab vegan biscoff s’mores brookie made by Black Day Bakes, which was an incredible combination of cookie, brownie, marshmallow and biscuit all rolled into one, so I was sure they would taste as good as they looked. But I’m a sucker for a cinnamon swirl, especially when I have a hot drink to dunk it into, so that is what I went for. I was asked if I wanted the cinnamon swirl warmed, and after a bit of deliberation, I decided against it, as I felt like a warm swirl may not be so great at dunking. But next time I make a trip to Rabbit Hole, I’ll be sure to get a warm swirl as I was told it takes the sweet treat to the next level. 

It didn’t take long for the mocha and cinnamon swirl to arrive at my table and when they did, I realised quite how big the swirl was! It was the size of my face. The mocha came in a pin mug with a pretty heart on the top. It had just enough foam, and when I took a sip, it was rich, without being too much, and had just enough chocolatiness to cut through the bitterness of the coffee. This was a winner in my book, especially because it was warm and felt like a hug in a mug. The swirl was tasty, but a little dry. I could see why I was told to get it warmed. However, when I dunked it in my mocha it worked well and I wolfed down the whole thing in minutes. 

I had a thoroughly enjoyable morning pit stop at Rabbit Hole Coffee and am already looking forward to going back to sample their food menu, which I was told will be arriving in the next couple of weeks. So – the next time you’re in the vicinity of the iconic Harvey Nics, why not call in for coffee and one of those delicious bakes?

Open Monday to Saturday 10 – 5 and Sunday 11 – 4.

Photography by Gemma Bridge.

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