Cafe Salmagundi/Honey & Salt

IT’S not usually this busy, says the guy behind the counter apologetically, talking past a blustery Papa Bear who is counter-ordering with what looks like a baby bear in a papoose strapped to his face.

Hey, man, honestly, no problem I’m thinking as I back out of Cafe Salamagundi, hands raised, picking past fully loaded 4x4 expedition-standard baby buggies, mamma bears chatting with their pals, baby bears a-bopping.

And everyone bar me seemingly dressed in comfort clothes for the great outdoors.

I feel like a retro square in my Markies’ pre-Covid polyester suit, though cunningly it, too, is completely waterproof.

Out anyway onto the relative peace and quiet of Cathcart Road, pierced only by the shouts of footballers or maybe track and tracers, coming from behind the tenements at Hampden Park. What was that all about I wonder irreverently?

A new batch of Gojo Berry Porridge, a run on sour-dough toasties? I realise I’ve actually, genuinely just had to make a booking to get a seat in the cafe. On a Tuesday morning. In Mount Florida.

And now I’m going to have to find another cafe to await my table at the first cafe.

As I approach my next stop Honey & Salt I see more Mad Max buggies, wheels lolling crazily, there are Gojo Berries on the menu, too, sour-dough toasties awaiting the grill stacked appetisingly to the roof of their glass counter, happy loopy crayon listing detailed filing possibilities.

I spot a spare perch at one of those salvaged dining tables, and realise right now there’s more of a tune-in, chill-out vibe in here.

People scribbling in notebooks, ladies talking over a business deal, at the next table, someone working on a laptop. I momentarily consider a Peanut and Raspberry Rawball, evaluate a Croissant Bread and Butter Pudding with Banana Caramel, but settled finally on this

Biscoff-topped Cruffin while I await my triple cheese sourdough toastie with, erm, roasted broccoli.

Mount Florida, I think, as I bite into the crispy, comforting, salty sweetness of the cruffin: you’ve changed. I’m actually told who does the fabulous-looking baking by masked staff in sing-songy voices and also who made the sourdough for this thick, crisp yet oozy toastie. Someone, a lady I think, who lives nearby, is all I pick up from beneath muffling masks.

But I’ll pack one of her freshly baked focaccias, stuffed with beetroot pesto, piccalilli, and roasted tomato with me for the journey back to Cafe Salamagundi.

Just in case. You never know. It’s 12.45pm when I complete the, say, 500 metre walk having noticed there are interesting little cafes tucked into nooks and corners all round here, a magnificent horse-chestnut tree on a corner, a family vibe on the streets.

Cafe Salamangundi, too, has changed. Where there was a dense wall of buzzing atmosphere before, there is now calm. Where there were buggies, there is wide-open, and double socially distanced, space. I’m a convert to the sourdough toastie incidentally, tempted by the

Goji Berry Granola and note they make their own kimchi in here.

Hey, who doesn’t? I settle for the house-made pitta, stuffed with hot aubergine fritter, hand-made hummus and salad. Oh and go on then, I’ll have a kimchi, spring onion and sirarcha toastie too.

Thoughts? Presentation is different here, looser, more outdoorsy maybe, that pitta enormous, slightly blistered from the grill, fritters pushed in tight like a row of soldiers, clinging together with hummus. I just wanted a taste, a bite maybe, but I finish it completely. Moving on to my second sourdough of the day: once again melted cheese – oozing properly from its sides,

all the way through, the kimchi more of a deep, warming undertone than a full-on face-slapping flavour, a tangy savouriness to the whole thing that underscores why this place is so popular.

Cafes in the time of Covid then? Thriving. If you go down to the woods today…you’re in for a big surprise.

Cafe Salmagundi

1007 Cathcart Road

Mount Florida,

Glasgow

0141 370 3345

Honey & Salt

25 Carmunnock Road

Mount Florida

Glasgow

07940-734462

Check online for opening times.

Menu: Sourdough toasties are a thing, and with good reason, cruffins, hand-made Goji berry granolas, kimchi a-go-go these two prove cafe life, and hip n’happening Mount Florida, has changed. 5

Service: Happy, shiny people with singy-songy voices from behind masks, generally relaxed, genuinely friendly, counter order in Homey & Salt, table in Salamagundi. 4

Price: Toasties seem to run at just under a fiver, Honey and Salt’s baking hovers about the £2 mark, that aubergine pitta £7. 3

Atmosphere: depends what time you go in, Salamagundi was relaxed at lunch, but buzzy mid-morning, Honey & Salt, chilled and comfortable. 3

Food: These are both great community cafes offering well-sourced and baked food, that pitta was a meal, the first toastie my favourite, the Cruffin a complete joy. 7

Total: 22/30