Vivi & Co is a family owned and run cafe in Bearsden, Glasgow. I discovered it during the last lockdown through Instagram having seen loads of pictures of the personalised coffee art which has very much become a trend with other places following suit. At that point it was only open for takeaway and I stopped by when I had an essential reason to be in the area to pick up a couple of hot chocolates and some sweet treats. I published a short reel from that visit on my instagram which was well received. When it reopened on 26th April and we were able to move more freely, I was desperate to go for sit in to get the full experience and luckily enough, I won their competition for a brunch for 2 up to the value of £50. I took my friend along a few weeks ago to enjoy the prize and try out a number of dishes from the menu.
The cafe is easily located on the main Drymen Road in Bearsden with parking available on the adjacent streets. They don’t take bookings, it’s walk in only and waiting times depend on the demand on the day. The decor is exquisite and so tastefully done. The attention to detail is spot on and they don’t do anything by halves. When I visited for take out it was around Easter time and the floral arrangements, window display and decorations were themed which is a really nice touch. There is a variety of seating options including booths and standalone tables. It’s not a huge floorspace and with current distancing measures there is likely less seats available than there would be under normal circumstances. I quite like the cosy feel of smaller cafes and the buzz of the chatter rather than the silence that you sometimes get in larger establishments. The all day menu is varied with classic options including eggs Benedict, beans on toast and a full breakfast alongside various flavoured French toasts, sandwiches, burgers and pancakes. They have all the usual hot and soft drinks options along with some specialty choices such as biscoff or chai lattes.
£50 was a very generous amount of money to spend as the dishes are reasonably priced but it was great to be able to try various things from the menu. We decided the best approach was to start with a savoury option then finish off with sweets. I went for the Club Vivi Sandwich (minus the egg) and I was surprised to discover it was a triple decker. Anyone else get strangely excited by a triple decker sandwich? Portions are decent as I’m sure you can see from the photos and I’m glad I didn’t order a side of fries as I normally would and sensibly saved space for my second course. My friend went for the Eggs Vivi which looked and tasted amazing on the thick bloomer bread. Alongside our food we had soft drinks as well as pots of tea.
For the second round, we both opted for Pancakes. I chose the Pink Raspberry and my friend got Vivi Oreo. It’s safe to say the pancakes on their own would have been sufficient, they come stacked with decadent toppings and drizzled with a delicious glaze. The Pink Raspberry were scrumptious and I loved the white chocolate sauce, it’s such a perfect combination. The pink waffles, edible flowers and candy floss are really nice extra touches and add to the contrast in texture and flavours. My friend enjoyed the Oreo pancakes, particularly the whipped vanilla Oreo cream. They were certainly moreish with the blueberry compote cutting through the richness. I don’t know if I’ve ever had such an aesthetically pleasing dish which equally matches in terms of flavour. At times when something looks really good, it can be bland or underwhelming in comparison to how it looks. Thankfully this is not the case at Vivi and the dishes very much exceed expectations in terms of appearance and taste.
We enjoyed our brunch at a leisurely pace and although there was a constant queue of people waiting outside, we weren’t pressured or rushed at all. There was a high ratio of staff to customers and they were extremely attentive with no pretentious attitudes or behaviours. They also sell a selection of beautiful yet affordable candles and diffusers in keeping with the style and decor of the cafe.
We got more hot drinks and sweet treats to take away to utilise the full amount of our prize and to let our families try out some of the delicious options including empire biscuits, millionaires shortbread and brownies.
I can’t wait to go back and try more of the menu and I’d highly recommend stopping by if you are in the area.
xo!