Calendar An icon of a desk calendar. Cancel An icon of a circle with a diagonal line across. Caret An icon of a block arrow pointing to the right. Email An icon of a paper envelope. Facebook An icon of the Facebook "f" mark. Google An icon of the Google "G" mark. Linked In An icon of the Linked In "in" mark. Logout An icon representing logout. Profile An icon that resembles human head and shoulders. Telephone An icon of a traditional telephone receiver. Tick An icon of a tick mark. Is Public An icon of a human eye and eyelashes. Is Not Public An icon of a human eye and eyelashes with a diagonal line through it. Pause Icon A two-lined pause icon for stopping interactions. Quote Mark A opening quote mark. Quote Mark A closing quote mark. Arrow An icon of an arrow. Folder An icon of a paper folder. Breaking An icon of an exclamation mark on a circular background. Camera An icon of a digital camera. Caret An icon of a caret arrow. Clock An icon of a clock face. Close An icon of the an X shape. Close Icon An icon used to represent where to interact to collapse or dismiss a component Comment An icon of a speech bubble. Comments An icon of a speech bubble, denoting user comments. Comments An icon of a speech bubble, denoting user comments. Ellipsis An icon of 3 horizontal dots. Envelope An icon of a paper envelope. Facebook An icon of a facebook f logo. Camera An icon of a digital camera. Home An icon of a house. Instagram An icon of the Instagram logo. LinkedIn An icon of the LinkedIn logo. Magnifying Glass An icon of a magnifying glass. Search Icon A magnifying glass icon that is used to represent the function of searching. Menu An icon of 3 horizontal lines. Hamburger Menu Icon An icon used to represent a collapsed menu. Next An icon of an arrow pointing to the right. Notice An explanation mark centred inside a circle. Previous An icon of an arrow pointing to the left. Rating An icon of a star. Tag An icon of a tag. Twitter An icon of the Twitter logo. Video Camera An icon of a video camera shape. Speech Bubble Icon A icon displaying a speech bubble WhatsApp An icon of the WhatsApp logo. Information An icon of an information logo. Plus A mathematical 'plus' symbol. Duration An icon indicating Time. Success Tick An icon of a green tick. Success Tick Timeout An icon of a greyed out success tick. Loading Spinner An icon of a loading spinner. Facebook Messenger An icon of the facebook messenger app logo. Facebook An icon of a facebook f logo. Facebook Messenger An icon of the Twitter app logo. LinkedIn An icon of the LinkedIn logo. WhatsApp Messenger An icon of the Whatsapp messenger app logo. Email An icon of an mail envelope. Copy link A decentered black square over a white square.

Avery & Co, Dundee (38/50)

Post Thumbnail

Dundee is a city full of hard working people, many of whom may not have the luxury of leaving their workplace at lunchtime; but for those who do, there is a vast amount of choice for just grabbing a bit to eat.  Having options is wonderful, but when thrown into making a decision quickly about where to grab a swift lunch with a friend, I wanted quality and convenience – so to Avery & Co we went.

Eating for me has never been just about staving off hunger, even if was making lunch for myself, I would put thought and care into what I was about to guzzle and get excited about it.  I had assumed that none of this would change once the offspring came along. Oh how wrong I was. Grabbing a bowl of cereal at 3pm because I haven’t eaten a morsel up until then and am beginning to feel light headed is now not uncommon. So when a friend suggested a quick, relaxed lunch, I nearly bit her hand off.

Parking has become an important factor in my life as there is a lot of stuff to carry  that goes with a baby and the fact that I was able to get a spot right outside made Avery & Co already a winner in my eyes. The lunch crowd was a mixture of business meetings, groups brainstorming over bunches of papers, and tables like ours of friends just chewing the cud.

medw-avery-and-co12.jpg

I found the atmosphere a bit bland. There is nothing wrong with it and there are quirky features such as brightly coloured chairs, stickers on the walls and some exposed brick but it just didn’t feel particularly warm or welcoming even when entering from a dreich city pavement. In complete contrast to the decor however were the staff – their smiles alone made us sure we had chosen the right place.

This eatery focuses on fresh, nutritious and local which seems to be the mantra of the day. Their website claims to use minimal amounts of butter cream and oil and there are a lot of vegan, gluten free and dairy free options available. Knowing all of this and perusing the menu, what did my friend choose? The burger. There really aren’t many ways to make a beef burger vegan friendly and so they have embraced a simple, honest, hefty homemade patty. Served in a fresh brioche bun with the traditional salad and mayo compliments it looked good, as did the incredibly chunky chips that came with it.

medw-avery-and-co10.jpg

I wanted something filling that I wouldn’t feel too guilty about so I chose the Asian prawn salad.  It was a tangy blend of hot king prawns with salad leaves, crunchy raw peppers and spring onions, sliced chillies and fine rice noodles all doused in a sweet yet earthy dressing. Although I understand that prawns are expensive, noodles are not and I was disappointed with the portion size for a salad costing over £9. The taste was great and I enjoyed it, but for the price tag I would have liked to have enjoyed a lot more of it.

medw-avery-and-co15.jpg

For a cafe lunch menu, this one had some cracking options on it. The two soups of the day were not the typical combinations but carrot and cauliflower or kale and chilli, both very tempting. Also enticing were the halloumi cigars and sweet potato quesadillas and if I had been in the mood for comfort then jacket potatoes were also on offer. The lovely sugar-free icing on the cake for me was that they also served a really good cup of decaff.

medw-avery-and-co10.jpg

Avery & Co has it all for a city lunch – convenience, interesting choices, speedy service and lovely, lovely staff. I found some of the prices a tad on the steep side but there was also plenty on offer at the lower end of the cost scale. Open seven days a week, Avery also offers food in the evenings (except Sundays) and is licensed so it is now on my radar for popping in for a cocktail and a cigar…of the halloumi variety of course.

medw-avery-and-co7.jpg

 

Info

Price: Lunch – £3.95 – £9.25

Value: 7/10

Menu:  8/10

Atmosphere: 7/10

Service: 9/10

Food: 7/10

Total: 38/50

Info: Avery & Co

Address: 34 South Tay Street, Dundee, DD1 1PD

Tel: 01382 201533

Web: www.averyandco.co.uk