Take a Sunday Brunch on the wild side
Something amazing happened to us last week… There we were, minding our own business, stalking various food pages when a little message popped into our DM’s. We got an invite to review some food. Still get excited when that happens, literally have to sit and collect my thoughts before responding so I sound cool as a cucumber. This time it was only one of the BEST cafés in the whole of Cheshire. I’m not even going to say “best plant-based Café” because these guys smash the competition and win awards for The Best Café year after year – None other than Wild and Wild in Congleton!
Remember how I said I like to collect my thoughts before responding? That didn’t happen this time. My immediate response was (and I’m not even kidding) “Oh my god… In the words of Martine McCutcheon, This is my moment!” We have been such fangirls for such a long time and we really admire everything they have done down there. They have the community of Congleton behind them and it’s not hard to see why. They provide yoga workshops, monthly birth preparation classes, a newly formed Mexican night, and we even attended a Law of Attraction masterclass at the beginning of this year.
When I tell you it’s plant-based food, I’m going to need you to not run for the door; You’ll be missing out on a whole new world of food, flavour and finesse that you didn’t even know existed. We took a trip down to Wild & Wild on Sunday – Yes, Sunday! For the army of fans of this café that may read this, April & Chris have finally aligned the stars and have opened their doors on a Sunday. Sunday brunch club anyone? (Totally tell us if anyone is starting a brunch club, we’re in!)
Ok, so I had an appetite on Sunday. I decided to go for the Full English. I’m not going to lie, it’s not usually my breakfast of choice. I’m not a huge fan of sausage (don’t!) and I just end up feeling full of grease and regret… That was until I tried this Full English breakfast. A huge homemade hash brown, crisp and fluffy, ready to soak up those homemade baked beans. Scrambled tofu, a skilfully sliced avo, grilled tomato, roasted mushroom, a bacon alternative called THIS bakon which was smokier than some actual bacon I’ve eaten and some nice big doorstop wedges of toast with lashings of butter. The cast iron plate was overflowing with food and I couldn’t have been happier. Each mouthful I found my eyes rolling and legs dancing under the table with excitement.
Jamie opted for the Acai Bowl – Not just for the gram, this bowl is jam-packed with vitamins, fibre, antioxidants and healthy fats. Top that off with some Wild & Wilds homemade granola, fresh fruit, peanut butter and you’ll be ready to start your day feeling like a legitimate vision of health and beauty. This could be likened to a smoothie, but in a bowl with a variety of textures and tastes on each spoonful. I am not even kidding, it’ll leave you feeling very refreshed, full and ready to enjoy your Sunday.
I would love to tell you that’s all we had to eat… But I’d be lying. When waiting for our breakfasts to arrive, Chef Connor (who has only been working at Wild & Wild for 3 weeks if you can believe), brings us a plate of food to taste test. He said it was something he was experimenting with and hasn’t quite made it to the menu… Homemade tortilla chips, homemade hummus and radish. Oh. My. God. You’re probably going to ask yourself just HOW good can tortilla and humus be? Bloody amazing, that’s how good it can be. The tortilla chips were warm and had just been made. There was a welcome chew to some of the crisps rather than a really crisp mouthful. Connor tells us about his experience with Mexican food and you can really see it coming to life here… April, Chris, Connor... get that one on the menu, please…
After our chosen brunch bites Connor comes over to tell us we NEED to try the Vegan Eggz Benedict. Who are we to say no? (Or dare to turn away a dish from a Chef..). The dish features Smoked tofu, wilted spinach and homemade hollandaise sauce on top of some toasted rounds. If I could have taken a picture of Jamies eyes when he tried it, it was brilliant. Blown away by the smoky silky tofu on our plate. He even had to ask for the recipe for the hollandaise sauce. There was something in there that we couldn’t quite place. While I’m not going to reveal a chefs secret, I think this is what food should really do for people. Get you talking, enjoying each other’s time and searching for answers. All of the food at Wild & Wild deliver this and more.
Embarrassingly, I’m starting a new paragraph to describe more food; We finished off our visit with the homemade, fully loaded Vegan Croissants. Mind-blowingly good. I had even asked the waitress to earmark two of them before we have had the brunch menu. I’ve heard the myths, so I needed to try them. We had two UNICORN Loaded Croissants. Pink Icing, shards of white chocolate, which choc buttons, drizzled with even more white chocolate, with a jam centre. April also made sure we tried one of the freshly made Lotus variations. Lotus Biscoff spread, lotus biscuit, drizzled white chocolate, rose petals, and another jammy centre, all on this warm croissant… Amazing! If you’re looking for a treat to go with your coffee (Ok, Vanilla and coconut milk latte) then you’ve found it. Deliciously decadent and completely addictive.
Our whole experience was just magical. We enjoy everything about Wild & Wild. The super laidback atmosphere and botanical décor give us all the hygge vibes. They have a snug upstairs, an open BBQ area out back in their courtyard and a secret garden down at the bottom with festoons and a roof to shield from Englands “summer”. Everything about this place is so well thought out. From the carefully placed & locally sourced edible flowers to the little cubby hole under the stairs for your rugrats to enjoy.
We’re so impressed and so excited to see what the future holds for this incredible team.
Wild & Wild are now open 7 days a week so I’m sure you’ll be able to find a day that suits you to get down and try something new out!
You can find Wild & Wild along with hundreds of other Cheshire based restaurants on our food library.
* While this food was gifted to us, Wild & Wild are not exempt from our critique. This is a true representation of our experience.