I spotted Spring Espresso on Fossgate the other day while visiting a shop across the street and decided to give it a try as soon as I could. Today was the day; a wet, cloudy and generally dreary day. It's a pretty small establishment; a single room with about 5 tables, an assortment of stools and sofas, and bar style seating by the window. You order at the counter at the back of the room where there are blackboards listing food and drinks available, and cakes etc. are on display on the counter. They offer a range of paninis, cold sandwiches, bagels with four different spreads, and a soup option. The cakes included sponge cakes, cheesecakes and a range of biscuits. Unfortunately there was no gluten free cake available for my coeliac mother, but apparently they do have gluten free options available sometimes, though not today. She settled for some Hendersons relish Yorkshire crisps (very nice actually) while I had an extra large portion of roast vegetable and ham soup (there wasn't enough left in the pot for two servings, hence the extra). The soup was lovely, a slight hint of spice and packed full of veg. The coffees were lovely as well (we ordered a cappuccino and a latte), and from what I have gleaned from their laminated newsletter and their twitter page (link below) these people really care about the quality of their coffee.
I got the impression that this is a small coffee shop with loyal customers, based on the number of people who came in and seemed familiar with the barista in the short time we were in there, and given her friendly attitude and the quality of the coffee it's not hard to see why you would want to return. They sell takeaway coffee as well so its easy to pop in on your way to work or if you're just on a quick dash around the city centre. The furniture (tables in particular) is very nice and homely and although things are packed in rather tightly you don't feel too much like a sardine. Even though it was quite quiet inside (I wouldn't pick it as a place to discuss something very private), my mum and I didn't feel like our conversation was disturbing the ambience. In addition to food stuffs, they also sell a small range of tea and coffee 'accessories', e.g. reusable takeaway cups, coffee pots etc. As for reading material, the 'I' newspaper was available and there was a small stack of magazines on one of the tables, as well as a few laminated copies of their newsletter around with short, interesting pieces on the world of coffee.
In conclusion this is a place I'd recommend if you like your coffee and you want a break from shopping away from the hubbub of York's main shopping streets in the quiet and comfortable atmosphere of a small coffee shop.
There's not a great deal on their website but here's the address: http://www.springespresso.co.uk/index.htm
Their twitter account however seems to be updated pretty regularly, every few days at least: https://twitter.com/#!/SpringEspresso
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