The Coffee Shop in Bulwell is tucked away in a quaint little arcade. It is not that easy to spot the Coffee Shop from the main thoroughfare and market place area in Bulwell, You need to look out for the chalkboard at the end of the alleyway leading down to it.

I had walked down here the other day but it had been too busy to get a seat so i thought that was probably a good enough sign that it was worth making another trip back up to Bulwell to see what they had to offer.

I had noted that they had both Homemade Meat and Potato Pie, and Homemade Cottage Pie on the board so it was pretty much odds on that I was going to try one of those two dishes.

I was not joking when I declared that if you like gravy then you would like this. I was a little surprised when it arrived. I suppose I should tell you what it is, since the whole plate is covered in that thick brown bisto type gravy sauce.

What we are actually looking at here is a plate of cottage pie (you can just see a corner of the baked mash topping at the front), some chips, and deep within the gravy you might be able to see a greenish tinge? Well that is the peas which have drowned beneath the gravy surface. They were mushy peas, I was kind of expecting some garden peas. Even though it was a little bit gravified, it was a reasonable meal that well and truly filled me up.

It was a little bit of an ode to the school dinner, but at least the pie was home made.  Judging by the people around me who were also eating similar platefuls there is clearly a market for such filling fare in this part of town so someone must be doing something correct. It was probably too filling and fattening for my everyday lunch, but if it was a cold day and I needed warming up then if I was passing I might choose to eat here again.

Is it good value? well the Homemade Cottage Pie was just £3.50 and it could have fed two people!

The Coffee Shop is located at 14-16 Bank Street in Bulwell ,It is nice and friendly and harmless

The nearest tram line stop is the one at Bulwell.