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So I go into the Peninsula on Chillingham Road. For some reason whenever I start to get better after illness I crave Chinese food.

I swear I haven’t been in there for 10 years at least. Not since I last left Heaton.  Not since Vietnam.   Not since Nicaragua.

I order. Sweet and sour pork and chicken chow mein.

I pay and then nip out to the DVD shop while my food is cooked.

Less than 15 minutes later I am back and a bag of food is waiting for me.

The owner hands it to me and says: “You been away then?”

Following this post the good people at Belle & Herbs have responded. For the most part it speaks for itself but you’ll find a couple of brief comments from me at the end.

Dear Ourman,

The ilovebelleandherbs gals were in at the weekend and mentioned you had been in touch, and mentioned your blog to me. so i thought i’d sniff ya out.

Thanks for taking the time to blog about us, it is always useful and stimulating to receive feedback such as this. In that I felt we had been making strides to address some of the issues you raise i thought i would write ya.

I was also resident in Heaton during the ‘no decent cafe’ days. The cafe was a response to this. It was difficult to see at the beginning that we would ever have to attempt to serve the amount of customers that we do, and thus we were fairly badly-set up to cope. We are trying to address these issues.

We are currently 7 months into a 12 month development period. We initially revamped the front of house. We made major alterations to the layout gaining more floor space, whilst not putting in any more chairs, and changed most all of our furniture stock. We feel there are very few ‘bad’ seats now. We no longer allow people to wait for tables inside the cafe - as is mentioned - so that other customers aren’t crowded.

We recently moved into our beautiful new purpose built kitchen in our basement, which was the result of a 5 month building project. We will next build loads of toilets, and by using the old kitchen space and building an extension more than double the floor space in the cafe. We will be opening the space at the side of the cafe as a pavement cafe.

When we are through this development period we will be lengthening our opening hours to open earlier and close later. We will also be furthering our agenda of being a ’social business’. We already support and train a number of people with disabilities, and will be dramatically increasing this.

We really believe the improvements wont change our essential raison d’etre, or feel. We mainly hope to improve service and the speed and quality and range of our products. We do not intend to open any more cafes. This one is the first and last.. trust me.

I believe that -notwithstanding the odd mistake- we do a pretty good job. we close 4 days a year! We work hard to source excellent ethical local ingredients, and to serve you them as quickly and attractively as we can. We believe we make a large contribution to the cultural and community fabric of Heaton. We have on numerous occasions hosted charitable and regular cultural events where our services are provided free. We will be seeking to undertake a more comprehensive programme of events when we have secured the necessary permissions.

On the whole I take the comments in a positive light, as we feel most of the same frustrations you discuss. My fragile cooks ego takes slight exception to the image you have chosen to represent ‘not exactly attractive’. This is a dish called ‘eggs BEAN-addict’, the baked beans are meant to replace the hollandaise sauce of eggs benedict. It was included as a joke on the menu, but is actually on our top 5 most sold items!

I would agree that the coffee at the sky apple is really good, as is their food, ambience and staff, I would also heartily recommend that you try it. I believe that we also serve really good coffee. We stock fairtrade only, locally roasted by the venerable Ringtons. Having sold and trialed many different coffee on the market I feel this is the best we have had.

Bearing in mind some of the comments from Ourman, I am not sure that you have visited recently? If you have the chance I would recommend that you come on a week day. Whilst we can get a little busy on weekdays during the school /college holidays, It is generally no problem immediately getting a table, and there is usually plenty of time to sit and chat or read the paper. If you would like to ring before you set off we will happily advise you of the the busy-ness of the cafe, Oh and we would also happily have breakfasts ready for takeaway at 9am.

In closing I feel I must just mention your assertion that the old WHQ was better than the hacienda! I think you must have gone post 1990 when they started asking for student i.d’s as a requirement to get in ;p

love

sam
x

p.s the ilovebelleandherbs gals have been busy getting married and globetrotting. But are still regulars when occasionally home.

* Sam - thanks for your comments.

Have I been recently? Well once this summer since my return from overseas. Many a time while I was away I had dreamt of a B&H breakfast and then I returned only to find that the experience wasn’t so much fun.

However, I’m more than impressed at all your plans. I particularly am looking forward to B&H as a night time venue. Sounds fabulous - as does the outside eating area. Can’t wait for the extra space.

Thanks so much for responding in such a constructive way - you have obviously put everything into this venture and I am not sure I would have taken criticism so well.

One further suggestion - get a blog. Your own Flickr account would be cool too. Your Myspace effort is all very well but it’s all a bit 13 year old boy, no? (Sorry). I’d love to follow your efforts as an ethical business. You have a good story to tell. Hey I’d even knock you up a couple of press releases (that’s what I do) in return for a table and a suasage and black pudding butty. Yes I am that cheap.

Oh and I wish I could visit weekdays but have a job to go to. But I do have Monday off so who knows.

Finally as regards the Hacienda. You’re 3/4 correct. I loved that place so it was high praise for WHQ rather than a slating for the Hacienda. But as regards the timing (and yes I was a student), it was 89-91 and I seem to recall 89 was more fun than 91.

But I should also admit that my favourit night was Thursday’s Temperance night (ahem… otherwise known as student night). I was always more New Order than 808 State so it all got a bit glow sticks and Vicks for me at weekends.

Picture Details:
Belle & Herbs breakfast originally uploaded by rachelandrew

When I was overseas and looking to move back to Tyneside, where exactly I would live was an easy choice.

Although it had been 10 years since I had been part of the Heaton community it was still where most of my friends lived.

It has a mix of people that, for the most part, works. The students are neither crusties nor chinless. The long (long long) term residents are friendly.

Then there are people like me and the people I count as friends who have moved there. Teachers, social workers, public sector types etc. I like to think we’re an easy going bunch.

When I first lived in Heaton there was single spot to go and get a bacon butty on a weekend morning. It wasn’t great so I won’t name it – but it’s still there. Now Heaton is something of a fast food centre but there is only one real hang out. Belle & Herbs.

In its early days it was a Godsend. Sundays you met your mates there. You read the papers and sipped your latte while you waited for your humongous, fabulous breakfast.

The décor was eclectic – junk shop in the best possible way. You even got proper sausages with your fry-up. Sausages with herbs in them – not just reconstituted meaty pinkness.

Such was its place in Heaton social life that it soon even spawned a blog. The extensive menu was worked through by reviewers.

On their FAQs they explained:

Essentially, it’s a fan site. It’s just slightly different in that the object of our obsession isn’t a celebrity or tv series or movie, but rather a place. The food at Belle & Herbs is absolutely wonderful — and we love good food.

Then something happened. The obvious phrase to use is “victims of their own success”.

Suddenly you could not get a table. Quite rightly, for a glorified greasy spoon, there was no booking system so you queued. Trouble is there is no real space for queuing so while you wait you just clutter up the space between tables. There you get in the staff’s way and very nearly literally lean on the shoulders of diners.

The uncomfortable space causes you to soon become irritated. Alternatively, if you’re lucky enough to be seated then it causes you, out of sheer guilt, to eat quicker to vacate your table. No more lazy breakfasts. No chat either. Heads down. Eat. Out.

In this slightly frazzled environment my own ability to become uber-irritated comes to the fore. Slow service. Arrrrrrgh. Cocked up orders. Arrrrgggh. Too stuffy. Arrrggghh. Too many people. Arrrrgh. Okay lets go. I want to get out. Now. Come on.

Then I need a lie down

Even that eclectic furniture starts to annoy. While you’re queuing you think: “Oh no, not the old knackered seat that’s too high/low for the table.”

The other worry is that the table that becomes available is a six-seater and there’s only two of you. That means. Worst thing ever. You have to share.

Again that wouldn’t normally matter. But it brings me to one of the most oft-repeated moans. Posh Jesmond students taking over.

On the “I Love B&H” site this comment is included:

Queuing for an hour behind inane yacht club-affiliated students in windcheaters who’ve driven over from Jesmond in their Xmas present from Daddy.
AKA. HELL IN THE ‘BURBS.
Otherwise, fine.

For the record, they’re wrong. Tesco Metro in Jesmond is the real hell. B&H is just hell lite.

I once heard a young well spoken lady in Tescos say to her friend: “Oh my God I’ve got a stalker. Honestly. This dirty, spotty Geordie asked me out”

But I digress…

Now live and let live and all that. Really. But the loud loud LOUD voices. The ear splitting barking laughs. The: “Oh but Sebastian we were soooo drunk.”.

If you have to share a table with them then you can’t compete. See the Boris-Johnson-alike with posh mates pic above.

So again, it’s heads down. Eat. Out.

There are other irritants although they are comparatively minor. First off the chef has an odd habit of occasionally just emptying his pan on your plate. Getting extra food is no real hardship but, at times, your plate is drowned under extra egg or beans and sometimes even sausages.

I wonder sometimes if this is also as a result of the whole overcrowding thing. Are we being compensated with extras? Paid off with pork?

Maybe their hearts are in the right place but with the already large portions it just makes you want to give up before you start eating. Plus it’s not exactly attractive.

And maybe it’s just me but in these days of obesity being such a hot topic I no longer feel quite so good about stuffing extra lard-based objects down my neck. (Yeah I know, if I cared that much I could just order cereal, but then again I could do that at home)

As a result of all of this everyone I know has stopped going. The B&H blog has gone silent for almost a year - although I emailed them and they said it was for no other reason than they have been busy. Though it does suggest a lack of enthusiasm for a place that once was Heaton’s favorite hangout.

It’s hard to know what to suggest to make it work again. You could certainly argue that as they are so full they don’t have to.

They certainly need more space. They need to open before 9am so you can get a breakfast earlier if you’re headed to work. They need to open later too.

While that may help stretch some of the trade it’s fair to say the effect might be limited. It might sound strange but what B&H really need is competition.

Sure they can sort out their slightly erratic service, their occasionally bizarre helpings and their queuing system but most of all they need another café (or four) nearby to take up some of the strain.

Best of all they should open another themselves in Jesmond and the Heatonians and err.. Jesmondonians can keep ourselves to ourselves and stop irritating each other.

Because the sad thing is, that the once great B&H is now no fun at all to eat at and I miss the place.

Particularly the sausages.

A few links, thank-yous etc: First off B&H’s MySpace thing is here. It includes enough to make me feel bad for complaining about a place that has obviously been lovingly created with the likes of my ungrateful self in mind. Sorry. Also some suggestion of progress on some of the issues outlined above is included.

The black and white B&H pics are from the very talented annette62. Thanks to B&H blog creator Meri for her input (Relax B&H she still loves you). Her mouth watering B&H Flickr shots are here.

A glowing food review (but a mention of the popularity problems) here.

Finally, Heaton photo group here.