We tried the ‘hidden gem’ Bristol cafe in the shadows of a huge Victorian railway viaduct

Coalpit Heath railway station closed in 1961 but sit outside the nearby Viaduct Cafe for any length of time and you’ll soon hear trains pass through on a regular basis.

Located within nurseries just before the vast Victorian viaduct that marks the start of Coalpit Heath village, this tucked away cafe is easy to miss. Regular trains to and from Bristol Temple Meads still use the viaduct but the old station is long gone and now part of a trading estate.

Accessed via a short track flanked by rusty old farm equipment, the Viaduct Cafe doesn’t give too much away to first-time visitors. There’s a car park and a neat grassy area where animals are presumably on show (there were none when we visited), the cafe is only visible once you turn the corner.

The cafe is part of a small cluster of businesses that include a florists and a ‘man cave’ - apparently a new deli opens there next week, run by the same team behind the cafe, which changed hands a few months ago. In front of the cafe, there are benches, a sun lounger and a play area for kids - it’s all very family and dog-friendly, ideal for the approaching school summer holidays.

We were there in the early afternoon but people were still ordering the cooked breakfasts, which seem to be one of the reasons the Viaduct Cafe has gained a strong local following around Coalpit Heath and Frampton Cotterell - an area that doesn’t have a huge choice when it comes to eating out.

The breakfasts start at £8.95 for the regular (one sausage, one rasher of bacon, one egg, one hash brown, one slice of black pudding, cherry tomatoes, mushrooms and beans) and moves up the scale to the ‘Victory Breakfast’ (£13.95 for three times the amount of food as the regular). There’s a vegetarian version for £8.95 and a kids’ breakfast at £5.95.

At lunch, the choice is between toasties, paninis and baguettes or ‘classics’ such as ham, egg and chips, fish and chips or sausage, mash and gravy. There’s also a range of cakes including coffee cake and ‘Angle Sparkle Cake’ - all at £3.20 or £2.80 if you are taking them away for the onward journey.

We went for the toasties - one tuna mayo and one bacon, Brie and cranberry - which are £6.50. The toasties were both filled generously and served with decent chips and a perky salad with a tangy dressing.

Most impressive was the fact the good quality bacon had been cooked to order before being added to the melting Brie and jammy cranberry.

OK, there was quite a lengthy wait for the food to appear - a quick look online after and ‘a bit of a wait’ seems to be a recurring theme here - but it’s because there is a small team and everything is made to order.

But then in a village where they’ve been holding out for a railway station for 62 years, waiting a few extra minutes for lunch is probably small fry.

Viaduct Cafe, Viaduct Nurseries 114a Badminton Road, Coalpit Heath, BS36 2TB.