My sister in law (also called Anna!) is staying with us at the moment. One of her many qualities is that of extremely devoted Auntie to the kids! Thus, when a trip to Tesco was offered this morning the kids jumped at the chance knowing Auntie Anna would probably buy them each a present! They were not disappointed. Whilst I had my mind of fruit, meal plans and freezer contents the kids weighed up various clothes, toys and CD options. Just as the whole lengthy process was drawing to a close Anna offered to buy me something but I was so weary by now that a quick coffee upstairs was the only treat my mind responded to with any enthusiasm!
Tesco, Aston Lane
Sneaky Coffee-ers: Anna, Ethan, Naomi, Edward, Susie and Anna Mary
Bought: A coffee, a tea, an innocent smoothie, a fruit shoot, two soft drinks, two ham sandwiches and two jam sandwiches and a prawn sandwich
Cost: £7.15 I think - staggeringly reasonable
Sat: On two of the high tables as we were eating too
And: Improved coffee I think
Showing posts with label Tesco. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Tesco. Show all posts
Thursday, 5 August 2010
Tuesday, 6 July 2010
6th July 2010 - part one of three
Tesco Cafe
Ok - we bump into Wendy, a lovely but elusive friend, as we enter Tesco. She hasn't time to join us after the shopping at The Arthur Robertson.... so we just had to have coffee before the shopping too!
Sneaky coffee-ers: Wendy Ewins, Danni and Viv
Served by: Robert
Bought: Black coffee
Cost: 95p
Sat: In the arm chairs!
And: Coffee not great, company fab!
Ok - we bump into Wendy, a lovely but elusive friend, as we enter Tesco. She hasn't time to join us after the shopping at The Arthur Robertson.... so we just had to have coffee before the shopping too!
Sneaky coffee-ers: Wendy Ewins, Danni and Viv
Served by: Robert
Bought: Black coffee
Cost: 95p
Sat: In the arm chairs!
And: Coffee not great, company fab!
Saturday, 5 June 2010
1st June 2010
I feel like I should add 'finally' to the heading of this blog entry. I spent a few days in Essex staying with my mother-in-law who is kind and generous but not as attuned to 'sneaky coffee-ing' as I. (Though in fairness - few are!) We had two utter (and disappointing) failures in sneaky coffee terms and both times her response was 'Well - we can have a coffee at home' which is accurate and pragmatic but entirely misses the point! Maybe I can see the true source of Simon's inability to grasp the concept properly!
The first incident would have featured a coffee trip for eleven - all six of our family, Nanny (aka Mother in Law or Marjorie), and Simon's sister Wendy and her family (husband Phil and two children). We went for a walk along the shores of Hanningfield Reservoir in windy, chilly and slightly damp weather - all the time bribing the children with the promise of sneaky coffee (or equivalent) at the Fishing Lodge cafe - about a mile along the path. We arrived at the cafe to find that they only served meals between 12.00 and 2.30 and no 'drinks only customers'. It was 12.30. The cafe was packed and our chance at coffee scuppered. The children were each appeased by a packet of crisps or bar of chocolate from the adjoining shop but there was no consolation for me (both foodstuffs were offered and declined - I wanted a coffee!)
The second time was the following day. It was cold, it was wet, it was grey and any plans for 'outings' had long since been abandoned. However - the kids were a little 'cabin feverish' so I suggested a trip to a local garden centre. I have found that garden centres are surprisingly good family destinations. They often have a pet section so kids can look at birds, fish, small mammals, reptiles. They also often have quite interesting shops and products to marvel and giggle at! (Honestly - some of the water features must have been designed as a joke!) They also often feature coffee shops - as this one did. The smell of the coffee was amazing as we pottered around looking at scented candles, silk flowers, hose pipe attachments and bird tables. We selected a few items for purchase (as I said - my Mother in Law is very kind - we all got something!) and then took them to the car as I had seen on a quick recce to to the cafe that baskets were forbidden. We then hastened back to the cafe - arriving there at 16.02 and finding it closed!!!! It closed at 16.00. I was sad.
But then... success.... sort of
Tesco, Mayflower Retail Park, Basildon, Essex
We ended up in Tesco. I needed to buy groceries to bring home to Birmingham. The others went into the cafe while I did a 10 minute run around an unfamiliar Tesco looking for familiar products. I finished, I joined them and was gratified to learn that the children still had just about enough stamina left for me to have a drink too.
Sneaky Coffee-ers: Anna - and Simon, Marjorie, Ethan, Naomi, Edward and Susie
Bought: Well I had a coffee but I couldn't say for certain what else was bought. I saw hot chocolate, more coffee, fruit shoots....
Cost: Don't know - Marjorie paid while I wasn't there. My coffee was 95p.
Cafe: Typically Tesco - in the corner of a vast store. It had some coffee tables with bucket red leather seats but table choice was made for me as I arrived last.
Position: Views of the car-park and a distant A127? Not much to comment on.
And? Well I got a coffee but it wasn't quite the experience I had hoped for!
The first incident would have featured a coffee trip for eleven - all six of our family, Nanny (aka Mother in Law or Marjorie), and Simon's sister Wendy and her family (husband Phil and two children). We went for a walk along the shores of Hanningfield Reservoir in windy, chilly and slightly damp weather - all the time bribing the children with the promise of sneaky coffee (or equivalent) at the Fishing Lodge cafe - about a mile along the path. We arrived at the cafe to find that they only served meals between 12.00 and 2.30 and no 'drinks only customers'. It was 12.30. The cafe was packed and our chance at coffee scuppered. The children were each appeased by a packet of crisps or bar of chocolate from the adjoining shop but there was no consolation for me (both foodstuffs were offered and declined - I wanted a coffee!)
The second time was the following day. It was cold, it was wet, it was grey and any plans for 'outings' had long since been abandoned. However - the kids were a little 'cabin feverish' so I suggested a trip to a local garden centre. I have found that garden centres are surprisingly good family destinations. They often have a pet section so kids can look at birds, fish, small mammals, reptiles. They also often have quite interesting shops and products to marvel and giggle at! (Honestly - some of the water features must have been designed as a joke!) They also often feature coffee shops - as this one did. The smell of the coffee was amazing as we pottered around looking at scented candles, silk flowers, hose pipe attachments and bird tables. We selected a few items for purchase (as I said - my Mother in Law is very kind - we all got something!) and then took them to the car as I had seen on a quick recce to to the cafe that baskets were forbidden. We then hastened back to the cafe - arriving there at 16.02 and finding it closed!!!! It closed at 16.00. I was sad.
But then... success.... sort of
Tesco, Mayflower Retail Park, Basildon, Essex
We ended up in Tesco. I needed to buy groceries to bring home to Birmingham. The others went into the cafe while I did a 10 minute run around an unfamiliar Tesco looking for familiar products. I finished, I joined them and was gratified to learn that the children still had just about enough stamina left for me to have a drink too.
Sneaky Coffee-ers: Anna - and Simon, Marjorie, Ethan, Naomi, Edward and Susie
Bought: Well I had a coffee but I couldn't say for certain what else was bought. I saw hot chocolate, more coffee, fruit shoots....
Cost: Don't know - Marjorie paid while I wasn't there. My coffee was 95p.
Cafe: Typically Tesco - in the corner of a vast store. It had some coffee tables with bucket red leather seats but table choice was made for me as I arrived last.
Position: Views of the car-park and a distant A127? Not much to comment on.
And? Well I got a coffee but it wasn't quite the experience I had hoped for!
Tuesday, 18 May 2010
18th May 2010 - part one of four
Ok - today has featured way too much coffee! And a lot of Danni (though there can never be too much Danni so that is not a complaint!), a fair amount of driving, a little bit too much spending... but as I have committed to faithfully record my sneaky coffee-ing them I must be truthful.
Tesco Cafe, 9.30am
I was late to Tesco this morning as I had to stop at a garage en route to have the rear nearside tyre changed on my husband's car... confused? I was when I phoned him up and found I had gone to the 'wrong' place! His reaction was more appropriate to the preceeding phrase 'All four children have been swept away by a freak tsunami' than 'I'm at Abbey - which brand of tyre do you want?'. A loud and heartfelt 'NOooooo' must have been audible to the man who had jacked up the car, removed the old (bald) tyre and done all manner of stuff which I don't understand. Hubby soon calmed down (I had, apparently, phoned at a bad time) and an appropriate brand was selected and paid for. (Incidentally the garage gave me a £10 discount for being a good customer - go Abbey Tyres on Witton Road.) Anyway - this episode made me 30 minutes late for Tesco but I found Danni still in fruit and veg (i.e. not very far around) - dithering over bananas or something. She confessed to being somewhat unfocused and we opted to go for a quick 'pre-shopping' drink in order to help the focusing process take shape.
Sneaky coffee-ers: Anna and Danni
Served by: Robert
Bought: A 'mild black coffee'
Cost: 95p
Cafe: We sat in the red bucket seats next to the coffee height tables. We were later joined by a mutual friend - Kerry.
And: The coffee tasted better today. I must replenish the supply of 'the milk which isn't milk' jiggers though as black coffee does tire one after a while. We left the cafe focused.... which was just as well as we were due to meet Viv at 10.30am and needed to do all our shopping and drive to The Arthur Roberston in 30 minutes!
Tesco Cafe, 9.30am
I was late to Tesco this morning as I had to stop at a garage en route to have the rear nearside tyre changed on my husband's car... confused? I was when I phoned him up and found I had gone to the 'wrong' place! His reaction was more appropriate to the preceeding phrase 'All four children have been swept away by a freak tsunami' than 'I'm at Abbey - which brand of tyre do you want?'. A loud and heartfelt 'NOooooo' must have been audible to the man who had jacked up the car, removed the old (bald) tyre and done all manner of stuff which I don't understand. Hubby soon calmed down (I had, apparently, phoned at a bad time) and an appropriate brand was selected and paid for. (Incidentally the garage gave me a £10 discount for being a good customer - go Abbey Tyres on Witton Road.) Anyway - this episode made me 30 minutes late for Tesco but I found Danni still in fruit and veg (i.e. not very far around) - dithering over bananas or something. She confessed to being somewhat unfocused and we opted to go for a quick 'pre-shopping' drink in order to help the focusing process take shape.
Sneaky coffee-ers: Anna and Danni
Served by: Robert
Bought: A 'mild black coffee'
Cost: 95p
Cafe: We sat in the red bucket seats next to the coffee height tables. We were later joined by a mutual friend - Kerry.
And: The coffee tasted better today. I must replenish the supply of 'the milk which isn't milk' jiggers though as black coffee does tire one after a while. We left the cafe focused.... which was just as well as we were due to meet Viv at 10.30am and needed to do all our shopping and drive to The Arthur Roberston in 30 minutes!
Monday, 17 May 2010
17th May 2010
Tesco Cafe, Aston Lane, Birmingham
This really was super impromptu. My car had gone into the garage for its MOT, Danni picked Susie and I up to take us home but needed to nip into Tesco for a bunch of flowers and to get some cash... and upstairs is a cafe....
Sneaky Coffee-ers: Anna, Danni and Susie
Served by: Robert the very friendly and helpful manager there
Bought: A 'mild black coffee' and a fruit shoot for Susie
Cost: £1.60 in total
Cafe: Mainly canteen style tables and chairs, bright (harsh?) lighting, huge mural style photos of food which doesn't closely resemble that on offer in the hot food cabinet! There are, thankfully, two coffee tables with red (hurrah!) leather bucket seats around. We sat there.
Position: On a mezzanine floor above our usual Tesco. View over the store and the automated sound of the customer service queue are key features!
Food: No - not ever but the deals aren't bad. I wonder if the food is?
Complaints: The coffee isn't that good and the cafe isn't that nice - it's a shame as Robert is lovely and I feel we betray him weekly by decamping to the pub for our post shopping coffee.
And: Coffee with Danni is always a pleasure... the coffee is adequate but the atmosphere and decor of the place make it... only adequate for sneaky coffee-ing.
This really was super impromptu. My car had gone into the garage for its MOT, Danni picked Susie and I up to take us home but needed to nip into Tesco for a bunch of flowers and to get some cash... and upstairs is a cafe....
Sneaky Coffee-ers: Anna, Danni and Susie
Served by: Robert the very friendly and helpful manager there
Bought: A 'mild black coffee' and a fruit shoot for Susie
Cost: £1.60 in total
Cafe: Mainly canteen style tables and chairs, bright (harsh?) lighting, huge mural style photos of food which doesn't closely resemble that on offer in the hot food cabinet! There are, thankfully, two coffee tables with red (hurrah!) leather bucket seats around. We sat there.
Position: On a mezzanine floor above our usual Tesco. View over the store and the automated sound of the customer service queue are key features!
Food: No - not ever but the deals aren't bad. I wonder if the food is?
Complaints: The coffee isn't that good and the cafe isn't that nice - it's a shame as Robert is lovely and I feel we betray him weekly by decamping to the pub for our post shopping coffee.
And: Coffee with Danni is always a pleasure... the coffee is adequate but the atmosphere and decor of the place make it... only adequate for sneaky coffee-ing.
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