Brunel's Buttery

Brunel's Buttery sits beside the docks on Spike Island, opposite the brash new offices on Canon's Marsh, looking like a small brick shed with seating outside. It's been there since the docks were a proper functioning part of the city, back in 1980 at least, serving basic food to workers and tourists. Now it's practically all tourists who go there, but it's busy.

Even on mediocre days it's busy, serving its trademark bacon sandwiches to the world. They are some of the best that can be bought so the queues on sunny days can last half an hour. Fast food, it's not. But it's the consistency which has kept the Buttery going for so long. The bacon is always freshly cooked, without too much rind, between two thick slabs of white bread. The coffee is just how cafe instant coffee should be served, and the tea is always strong. Sauce is served from massive containers via a pump, rather than by poncy little bottles.

These days, it's almost more than an outdoor cafe, it's changed into a local institution which has exiles from Bristol returning to refresh their memories of how a simple bacon sandwich should taste.

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