Drucker's Vienna Patisserie

If you live anywhere across the central part of England you will probably already be familiar with Druckers. This chain of cafes first saw the light of day in Birmingham, in 1964. There are now 40 branches which radiate out from Birmingham as far afield as Leeds and Southampton. I see from the Druckers website there is even a branch in Cardiff. Originally conceived by its founder as a Viennese style patisserie, Druckers now offers a wide range of ...
...sandwiches. But really what we all go to Druckers for is the cake. If you like cakes laden with fat, sugar, chocolate, whipped cream and icing, this is the place for you! Being a chain, the menu is much the same whichever branch of Druckers you go to, although the smaller branches may not have such a full selection of food as you would find in a larger branch. To give you an idea of the menu and prices I will just run through a few of my favourite ... more

If you live anywhere across the central part of England you will probably already be familiar with Druckers. This chain of cafes first saw the light of day in Birmingham, in 1964. There are now 40 branches which radiate out from Birmingham as far afield as Leeds and Southampton. I see from the Druckers website there is even a branch in Cardiff. Originally conceived by its founder as a Viennese style patisserie, Druckers now offers a wide range of savoury snacks including filled croissants, soup, jacket potatoes and toasted sandwiches. But really what we all go to Druckers for is the cake. If you like cakes laden with fat, sugar, chocolate, whipped cream and icing, this is the place for you! Being a chain, the menu is much the same whichever branch of Druckers you go to, although the smaller branches may not have such a full selection of food as you would find in a larger branch. To give you an idea of the menu and prices I will just run through a few of my favourite items before I talk about the cafes themselves.

Druckers Menu

Many of my friends rave about Druckers hot chocolate. For the smallest size mug of ordinary hot chocolate the price is £1.95, but you can add in marshmallows, whipped cream or both if you wish, which takes the price up to almost three pounds. Personally I find it a little too much of a good thing, but it's certainly popular.

A basic pot of tea for one is £1.45. Alternative types of Twinings teas are available, including herbal varieties, from around £1.55.

My own favourite drink is a regular mocha at £2.30. This is more than I would normally consider paying for a drink, but it really is the nicest mocha I've had anywhere and has a lovely flavour. There are several other kinds of coffee and shots of different flavour syrups can also be added for something extra-special.

If I'm in Druckers early in the day and I can't face cake I sometimes have a plain croissant with butter. This is always nice and fresh. Ideally I would like jam with it but as I've already paid £1.10 for the croissant I object to being charged a further 50p for a tiny pot of jam.

Something I've had for lunch a couple of times is a hot panini with mozzarella, tomato and pesto. It comes with a bit of salad and is priced at £4.75. A bit steep I admit but I think the filling is lovely. Unlike some panini or sandwiches the filling goes right to the edges and the cheese may even overflow slightly. The taste of the pesto with the tomato and cheese is delicious and its squidgy texture is a good contrast with the crispy panini.

Right, on to the serious stuff. If I'm in Druckers any time after lunch then cake is called for.

The more fancy Druckers cakes are mostly from £2 upwards, depending which one you want and whether you would also like a squirt of whipped cream. Personally I find the cakes so rich already that I don't need whipped cream too, but clearly some people just can't get enough cholesterol! There is an extra charge for the cream which I think is too high, at another 65p. Choices are wide on the cake counter but include Black Forest Gateau, chocolate eclairs, lovely individual tartes citron, wonderful strawberry tarts (I am starting to run out of superlatives here), carrot cake, meringue, vanilla slices, and lemon cheesecake. I would like to particularly mention the Gateau Noir - a very gorgeous slice of chocolate cake which doesn't look much for the price of £2.something, but is so chocolatey that even a chocoholic like me has trouble finishing it. The cakes look so nice behind the glass of the counter that it can be very hard to decide what to go for.

You can have plainer sorts of cake too. The traditional apple cake is very nice, there are also scones, muffins and toasted tea cakes. Myself I think going to Druckers and eating a toasted tea cake is a wasted opportunity. The tea cake is £1.75 for a start and for a bit more money you can have a proper cake. To me, tea cakes are not what Druckers is supposed to be about. If I have not deterred you from tea cakes already I would like to quote a teacake-eating customer I overheard in the Solihull branch a few weeks ago. She said to her husband "Teacakes aren't what they used to be." Exactly what they used to be I do not know, but I leave you to make your own interpretation.

My top favourite cake is called a baumkuchen and is actually one of the cheaper ones at £1.95. This is a little square sponge cake covered in icing (pink or white). Between the icing and the cake is a layer of hazelnut buttercream, and there is another layer of this between the 2 layers of sponge inside. I love this little cake and its flavour goes perfectly with my mocha.

Another thing Druckers do is Italian ice-cream, or gelato as it is more correctly called. I haven't tried this yet but it always looks very inviting and there is a good range of flavours. Prices from £1.70 for a single scoop in one of those nice biscuity type of cones.

Druckers Branches

Obviously I have not been to every single branch of Druckers. Maybe I should make it my mission to do so. In those that I have visited I have never been disappointed with the quality of the food or drink. I do find their standards in that department are consistently high. Service is at the counter, so you have to queue with your tray. If you arrive at any branch of Druckers at a busy period you cannot expect their queue to move very quickly. This is something that regular Druckers customers seem to accept, as it takes the staff time to do all that characteristic frothing, whipping and squirting of cream. If you are in a rush and the queue is long, it's better to head for somewhere else where you'll get faster service. I never mind if I have to wait a few minutes to be served in Druckers as I like to stand there admiring the beautifully displayed cakes and debating which to choose.

I cannot remember ever visiting a branch of Druckers which has a toilet. This is not usually a problem as most of the cafes are located in shopping areas with public toilets nearby. However just be warned that if you need to GO or perhaps change a baby or something then you cannot rely on Druckers having facilities. Of course your local branch of Druckers may be fully equipped, but mine is not. On the question of family friendliness, I have to say I think Druckers is a place which is aimed more at grown-ups. I do see people in there with children sometimes, and with babies in buggies, but generally customers appear to be of the more mature variety and there always seem quite a few pensioners. How they afford it on their pensions I don't know, but I guess we all need a treat now and then.

I will just make a few specific comments about the branches I am most familiar with.

Bullring Centre, Birmingham - This is quite a large branch on the top floor of the shopping centre, right opposite the public toilets. Being a larger branch the selection and layout of the cakes at the counter is always very good. Ten out of ten for presentation! If the place is full it can feel slightly crowded and I have noticed that tables are not always cleared as quickly as they could be. This makes the cafe look a bit messy on occasions. The rear part of the cafe always seems a bit of a dark place to sit so I try to find a seat at the front of the cafe where it is lightest. I like the tables on the balcony area which overlook the lower floor, although if the weather is hot this particular spot can become uncomfortable as you are directly beneath the glass roof of the Bullring Centre. Once a friend and I were sitting there and noticed a man walking above us on the glass roof, which was a surprise to say the least, although it was apparently something to do with maintenance and nothing to do with Druckers!

Great Western Arcade, Birmingham - This is on the other side of the city, in the general direction of Snow Hill Station, opposite the Temple Row entrance to House of Fraser. This is a small branch with about 5 tables downstairs and a further 10 upstairs. I ate there recently and found the staff very friendly and polite. As ever the food and drink were of good quality although I do not think they have such a full range of cakes as the Bullring branch. One drawback with the Great Western Arcade branch of Druckers is that carrying your tray upstairs is rather hazardous. There is a notice which says staff will carry your tray up for you if you have difficulty, but I cannot see staff being able to climb constantly up and down the stairs when the cafe is busy. The stairs are fairly steep and slightly creaky. You have to turn 2 corners as you go up, which even for me was tricky to do without spilling my coffee. When you do arrive upstairs the eating area looks a little dated. The building itself is old (Edwardian possibly?) and I do think that more could be done to bring out the character of this environment. The lighting is nice, but the tables and chairs look a bit 1970s and the carpet could do with a good clean. Also on my recent visit I noticed a very noisy Xpelair fan going full blast, but I don't know if that is always the case. I would use this branch again if I was in this part of the city, but I would probably try and find a table in the small downstairs area which is more pleasant than the upstairs room.

Pavilions Shopping Centre, Birmingham - Situated at the top of the Pavilions in the Food Loft. One advantage of the Food Loft area is that there are different food outlets here, so if you are in a group and one wants chips, another wants a healthy salad, and the rest want fancy cakes you can all have your choice but still sit together. Again the cakes at this branch of Druckers are presented very nicely, but personally I would prefer to sit inside a dedicated Druckers cafe rather than within the Food Loft. The Food Loft is a rather functional environment which serves its purpose but is lacking any kind of atmosphere.

Pallasades Shopping Centre, Birmingham - Presently next to the Tesco Express, although with the rate that shops are opening and closing who knows what will be there next week! I have never been into this branch, but when I walk past it always looks bright and clean.

Touchwood Shopping Centre, Solihull - On the ground floor of Touchwood, as you head for the library. This is a very comfortable branch with areas of upholstered seating. I visit this Druckers every few weeks and in my opinion it is nicer than any of the Birmingham branches. Tables seem to be cleared quickly on the whole. There can often be several people queing to be served, but as I've said above this is just something you have to be prepared for if you are going during a busier time of day. On my most recent visit I was taking a closer look at this branch for the purposes of this review and I spotted things that needed attention. One place in the upholstered seating has a bad rip in it, and there were other parts of the seating also showing wear and tear, with some fraying to the fabric. The carpet would have benefited from a good clean and hoovering. Although the cafe had not been open more than half an hour I saw a lot of crumbs on the floor around some of the tables. I suspected they were the previous day's crumbs as there were very few customers present so early in the day.

What does Druckers have to do to get a fifth star from me?

If I was awarding stars purely for the quality of coffee and cake Druckers would get five out of five, no problem. In fact, I have always found all their food and drink to be excellent. Yes, the prices are on the high side but I keep going back for more and the prices alone do not put me off at all. I do resent the cost of the 'extras' such as jam and cream though. And also for the price that I am paying I do not expect to see ripped seating or grubby carpets. Where I think Druckers could improve is in making the interiors of their cafes nicer and providing some of those little touches that make you feel you are eating in a top class place. If you are a long-standing customer of Druckers you may be able to enlighten me on this point, but I feel sure they used to provide newspapers for customers to read. Maybe too many customers walked off with the newspapers, or maybe Druckers had to cut back on costs, but whenever I've been in branches of Druckers lately I never see any newspapers to help me while away the time over my coffee and cake.

Secondly, I remember 15 or 20 years ago when you went to Druckers you felt as if you were doing something really special. You didn't just get wonderful cake, but in the older branches you also had the atmosphere of a Viennese patisserie. I remember Druckers as being very cosy, with a distinctly continental feel to it. Nowadays both the menu and the chain of cafes have expanded hugely and many of the newer branches are in modern shopping centres. A consequence is that a bit of that atmosphere has been lost. A few of the trademark features remain - the chocolate brown paint and the pictures on the walls. But I would really like to see Druckers regain its individual feel, instead of just looking like any other chain of coffee shops.

For further information on Druckers, the website is at:

www.druckers.co.uk

If you are catering for a special party (or feeling exceptionally greedy) you can order a whole Druckers cake online and collect it yourself from your local branch on the day you need it. If you are too busy with your party preparations to collect the cake on the right day they also provide a selection of frozen gateaux and cheesecakes. Again you have to order ahead but once you've picked up your yummy dessert you only have to defrost it overnight in the fridge and it's all ready to be the star of your party.

Enjoy your cake! x 

...less