Sheffield Catching Up With London?

Yesterday, I experienced the best coffee I have ever drunk in an English coffee house. That may not be more than damning with faint praise, you might think, but no, it was truly superb.

It was in that mall, known happily to all native Sheffielders as Meadowhell. The name is not too far off the mark, BTW - not to Ikea's impossibly high standards, I must admit, but worthy of no more than a maximum of a couple of visits a year. Tragically, it is where our bank is located which necessitates rather more visits than I would care to make.

Having a little time to spare we had wandered amongst the eateries browsing overpriced menus in what used to be called The Oasis - and may still be for all I know - only to be horrified at so many of the food prices on offer. (You might risk Harvester, of course.)

An ASDA custard donut costs 13 pence each if you buy in a bag of five - in store. Similar products tidied up somewhat and sold in fives would have perhaps cost you in excess of fifteen or twenty pounds in and around The Oasis. Is the scenery really that good? - I do not think so - and, to the point, neither did Mrs Blogger! 

£50 to buy afternoon tea for two with extras at Godivas must have been someone's idea of a sick joke, I must inevitably surmise. Who on earth would spend fifty quid on tea for two? Who are the wealthy folks who can afford to? In Sheffield?

So we settled for a trip to the Caffe Nero where I asked my beloved to buy me a double macchiato as she whisked off to the counter in search of a caffeine hit. She kindly obliged and I sipped a coffee of supreme quality - in fact, the best I have ever experienced outside Spain.

The only tiny problem was the small handful of coins received in change from FOUR QUID! (And please do not think that double means anything more than about 40% of a proper cup!)

I was horrified. London prices have made it to Sheffield. This may hardly be construed as a good thing!