Breakfast has always been one of my favourite meals. But most mornings I'm in too much of a hurry to grab much before work so I settle for cereal at my desk. Real life ruins things sometimes. When I do have time to indulge myself though, I'm all about a good breakfast. Although since I'm invariably not a morning person, it usually ends up being brunch. Dippy eggs and piles of hot buttery toast cut into little soldiers. Pancakes dripping with maple syrup and topped with crispy bacon. Poached eggs drowning in hollandaise or with a side of smashed avocado. And of course, enough coffee to make you feel like you're vibrating for the rest of the day. The setting has to be light, airy and it has to be the sort of place where you can linger for a little while. Somewhere you can escape the hustle and bustle and take your time. Right now, the place that ticks all those boxes for me is Ouseburn Coffee Co's Harvest Canteen.

I don't usually venture much to Jesmond. I think Harvest Canteen has given me the perfect excuse to go more often though. With white washed floorboards and reclaimed wood, it's got something of a nordic look. It's that The clean minimal layout mean that it's got a sort of peaceful vibe about it. It's the sort of place you wouldn't mind sitting for a few hours and writing. Losing yourself scrawling in an old notebook, or pouring over a yellowing, dog-eared paperback. Or in mine and Sarah's case, gossiping over hollandaise-soaked eggs, avocado and coffee. And instagramming everything in sight..

After fussing over what to get from the menu, we settled on sharing a couple of dishes (mainly so we didn't have to pick one each). Since breakfast isn't breakfast without hollandaise, we ordered poached eggs with hollandaise and prosciutto, and avocado and feta toast. And I promise that the photos don't come near enough to how good it all was. The portion sizes don't look huge, but when served with doorstopper thick toast, they were deceptively filling.

So after wolfing down half of each, we sat back and nursed our food babies over another couple of flat whites. And if there's one thing that Ouseburn Coffee Co know, it's how to make the perfect flat white. As the city's first independent roastery, they've earned a name for themselves as the local coffee experts. And it's easy to see why. They're a proud local company and everything is ethically sourced. Whether you're just looking for a decent place to grab a coffee or somewhere to spend a couple of hours brunch, Harvest Canteen is a great place to visit. There's only a handful of places in Newcastle that I think offer a great breakfast, so I'm happy to add another to my list. And especially one that does good avocado toast. Just promise me you'll try it out.