Forgot to bring a packed lunch or fancy treating yourself during your break? These Dundee cafes have your midday meal needs covered.
Despite the name, it’s not all about the restaurants during Dundee Restaurant Week (DRW). There’s a dozen or so cafes offering deals on food and treats as well.
If you’re in the mood for a cafe break in the middle of the day or a takeaway treat, here’s what we thought of the lunch deals on offer in the city centre.
The Cannon, Union Street
This was my first venture inside The Cannon, and it was lovely to see a picture of founder Scott on the counter inside. It’s touching that his family is keeping the cafe open in his memory, and it’s made me want to come back again.
The Cannon’s DRW deal is any sandwich, wrap or toastie with a full portion of soup for £7. Usually, a sandwich, wrap or toastie with a side salad is £6.95, so you’re getting a full portion of soup that usually costs £3.95 for free.
There were two soups of the day, and I went with cajun and butternut squash. To help me test some non-veggie options for the deals I recruited my colleague Joanna to pick a sandwich.
She got the chicken, chorizo, mozzarella and chipotle sauce toastie, which went nicely with the cajun soup. The huge toastie had a smoky flavour and gooey mozzarella, giving it a great cheese pull.
Our soup cup was filled to the brim and great for dipping the toastie in. The wee side salad was hiding under the toastie, adding some colour to the meal as well.
We got our lunch to take away as it was a sunny day, but the inside of the Instagrammable cafe would also be a prime spot to tuck in.
Opening hours: Monday to Sunday 10am to 3.30pm
Address: 11 Union Street, DD1 4BN
Daily Grind, Exchange Street
This barbershop-adjacent cafe is another Instagrammable spot, but in a completely different way from The Cannon. Decorated with a huge mural on one side, giant logo on the opposite and lots of art in the back there’s lots to look at and photograph.
I headed in to grab a takeaway lunch, soaking in the surroundings while waiting for my three cheese toastie and soup for £7. Soup of the day was carrot and coriander, which wasn’t a winner for me because I think coriander tastes like soap, but I was willing to give it a go.
The toastie alone is usually £7, so again you’re getting a full portion of soup – which is normally £4 – for free. I tried to drink the soup at first, but quickly gave up as it was so thick. It was warming, and had notes of ginger I focused on rather than the coriander. I finished the whole cup, coriander pieces and all.
The toastie came with tortilla chips I dipped in my soup and a red onion, cucumber and pepper salad with a huge pickle on top. Crunchy on the outside and gooey on the inside, the toastie’s consistency was perfect. There was definitely a more unusual cheese in there too, which was a nice surprise as opposed to a mild flavour.
Having the side salad made me feel slightly less bad about the volume of cheese I consumed, as this was a big portion. Daily Grind doesn’t have as many toastie options as The Cannon in its deal, but if you’re happy with cheese, this one’s a winner.
Opening hours: Monday to Saturday 8.30am to 5pm, Sunday 10am to 4pm
Address: 18a Exchange Street, DD1 3DL
Henry’s Coffee House, Seagate
If you’re on a mission to grab something quick, Henry’s is perfect. At the front of the Seagate cafe there’s a fridge with sandwiches, toasties and paninis that are made fresh every day.
The only downside with this deal is that it’s only available between 2pm and 7pm, which means you’ll have to be okay with a late lunch. For £6.95 you get a medium drink, crisps and a sandwich, toastie or panini.
I went for a mozzarella, pesto and tomato panini (normally £4), which the staff toasted while I waited for my drink. As well as standard teas and coffees, some speciality drinks were also included, so I got a chai latte (normally £3.60). Lastly, there were four flavours of crisps on offer including cheddar and onion and smoked chilli (normally £1.55).
My panini is light, fluffy and just toasted enough that the cheese melted inside. The pesto is strong, and balanced out by a bit of sweetness from the tomatoes.
At 40g, the crisps are almost twice as big as supermarket meal deal bags. They are thick and crunchy, with a subtly sweet malt vinegar flavour. My chai latte is topped with a healthy shake of cinnamon which packed a punch at first, before the chai spices nicely round off the sip.
Henry’s Coffee House is a nice spot for a cafe lunch as its huge windows brings in lots of light and are great for people-watching. On the other hand, if you’re in a rush this is the fastest place to grab lunch on the go.
Opening hours: Monday to Saturday 8am to 7pm, Sunday 10am to 7pm
Address: 28 Seagate, DD1 2EQ
Serendipities, Union Street
There’s deals aplenty at the vegan cafe, so I decided to test two of them, homemade pie, wedges and salad for £5.50 and iced tea for £2.
When visiting Serendipities I like to set aside time to slow down, as many staff members face barriers to employment its important to me to be a nice, patient customer so they feel confident to do their jobs while I’m there. I order my takeaway lunch, quickly get my tea and take a seat outside in the sun while waiting for my food.
The iced tea is huge, and I was glad to discover it was made from brewing tea leaves instead of a sugary juice you get in the supermarket. It’s not very sweet, but they also have spritzers for £2 if that’s more your taste.
Since the cafe is zero waste, the menu changes daily to use up ingredients at hand. I got a mac and cheese pie, which had a slightly sweet taste to the sauce. The pie was a decent size and full of pasta. The wedges were soft and herby, and coupled with the lettuce, tomato and pasta salad made this a very filling lunch.
If you’ve got a bit of time on your lunch break I’d recommend sitting in and enjoying the relaxed atmosphere of Serendipities. This deal is also great value, but if you’re very hungry there’s also quesadillas, cake and any drink available for £11.
Opening hours: Tuesday to Sunday 10am to 4pm
Address: 12 Union Street, DD1 4BH
