If you wander down to The Pantiles these days, it seems that every second shop is a cafe or coffee shop- perfect for a stomach-led explorer like myself.
On a particularly rainy day like today, it's nice to just curl up in a cafe and watch the rain roll down the windows from behind a steaming hot chocolate. I visited
The Cake Shed (they had me at 'cake') and did just that.
Happily, on entering, there was only one other set of customers in there, so the soft, inviting sofa was all ours. I ordered a hot chocolate with all the trimmings and some lemon drizzle cake. For a venue that operates on the premise of cake, I was disappointed with the lack of cake choices, but as my lemon drizzle cake demonstrated, what they lack in variety, they more than make up for in quality. The hot chocolate was lovely too, thick and creamy as if it was made from real melted chocolate, and beautifully presented.
But the absolute highlight of The Cake Shed is downstairs, which sadly I didn't get to see until near the end of my trip, when I visited the bathroom. If you ever get a chance, check it out, it's the perfect rainy day hangout, all Moroccan-style decor and tempting bookshelves.
