Quaint café serving up the best toasties in Derry

Gráft,

1 Mountjoy Terrace,

Derry

BT48 7LF

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instagram.com/graft_coffee

It’s not hard to find a coffee shop these days, is it? In fact, it’s harder to avoid them. At least, that’s the case in city centres, anyway. In the suburbs, not so much.

So the first thing that struck me about Gráft was the location. It sits on the corner of Mountjoy Terrace and De Burgh Terrace, just up Academy Road from the Model Primary School, surrounded by narrow roads and tightly-packed houses. It’s among people, very much part of the neighbourhood.

And this led me to notice another thing – the opening hours: 7am to 4pm Monday to Friday, and 8am to 5pm Saturday. It’s open when needed most – people on their way to work, schoolchildren scurrying home, and anyone in between. It’s not just part of the neighbourhood, it recognises the needs of the neighbourhood.

Read more: 10 of the best places for a Sunday roast in Northern Ireland

Gráft may have a social media presence, but I only heard of it when a friend recommended it to me, singing its praises, before adding, “They only do toasties, but…” I didn’t listen to the rest of the sentence. “Only do toasties?” “Only?” What kind of person dismisses such a thing of beauty in such an offhand fashion? Yeah, well, Helen. Nice face, I’ll give you that, but it only launched a thousand ships.

There is some truth to what he said, though. Traybakes, sausage rolls, and yoghurt pots aside, food-wise, they do only do toasties, and they only do four of those. But why do more when they’re as good as these?

My brother chose the ham and cheese: thick chunks of salty Claudy ham with creamy, rich Dart Mountain cheese oozing out of the sides of nicely toasted, flavourful sourdough bread. My daughter had the same, but minus the ham, which meant you could taste the delicious cheese all the better. Both came with a lovely, sharp hit of mustard and a tomato relish the heat of which gave you a nice surprise.

I chose the chorizo toastie, ignoring the claims of the four cheese one and the vegan hummus and beetroot offering. I’m never 100% sure I like chorizo; I sometimes feel it’s too sour and threatens heartburn. This was lovely, though, any sourness eliminated by a delicious, sweet honey glaze, as well as the smooth, cooling brie and the deep nduja paste. In the interests of research, I also ordered the sausage roll. Bit small for my liking – but then I think all sausage rolls are a bit small – but meaty and delicious, with a good, crisp pastry.

Now, the savoury food was very good, but, to my mind, they were left in the shade by the terrific traybakes. It was hard to choose – blondies, brownies, pistachio rolls, almond croissants – but we managed to narrow it down.

My daughter went for the coconut macaroon. Topped with a thick coating of dark chocolate, this was a well-balanced combination of sweet and bitter. My Portuguese custard tart was a delight – a ringfort of pastry securing a wonderfully rich custard. But the winner was my brother’s Ferrero brownie bauble. What a treat, with a Ferrero Rocher inside a rich sponge inside a thick chocolate coat. And big, too.

Not so much the ambassador spoiling us as the ambassador knocking sliotar-sized balls of chocolatey gorgeousness in our general direction. Make sure you catch a couple. I’m concerned they’re called baubles, though. This suggests they’re just a yuletide treat whereas, like a dog but unlike a turkey, these should not be just for Christmas.

I’m sure you know this, but I’ll tell you anyway – think of it as scouseplaining. Grá is Irish for love, and Graft means hard work. Put the two together and you get love and effort.

Gráft’s owned and run by Hannah and Lucas. Together, with help from Rebecca, they have created a haven that is cool and cosy, warm and stylish. They serve lovely food and drink and, with their Irish language nights and storytelling sessions, they serve the community, too. Gráft’s clearly somewhere they believe in, and they’re quite right to do so.

The bill

Toastie – honey-glazed chorizo, brie, spinach, nduja ketchup - £7.00

Toastie – Dart Mountain Kilcreen cheese, Dijon mustard, spicy tomato relish - £6.50

Toastie – ham and Dart Mountain Kilcreen cheese - £6.50

Sausage roll, tomato relish - £3.95

Pasteis de nata - £4.00

Chocolate coconut macaroon - £2.80

Ferrero brownie bauble - £4.00

Hot chocolate x 2 - £6.40

Americano - £2.90

Total: £44.05