HAVING somewhere to eat which is affordable, appetising, and has community spirit is the dream, and one new café in Harwich more than meets that vital criteria.

Tucked away behind the A120, next to the welcome to Harwich sign, is the Harwich Ukraine Support Projects (HUSP) on Stour Road.

Each time I visit HUSP’s headquarters, it is a bit bigger and a bit more colourful as the organisation rapidly expands.

One very visible addition is the new café deck extension by HUSP and the Essex Shed network’s own woodwork group which created the smart, sharp, and very versatile wooden deck in over a month.

Deck - The newly created wooden deck which opened at the end of MayDeck - The newly created wooden deck which opened at the end of May (Image: Newsquest)

Harwich community kitchen, ‘Food for Thought’, runs the menu and will also soon be using the new extension to help a vast range of people to learn how to cook.

I was immediately very pleased to see that the café being full of people at midday on a Thursday.

The tables were laid out with condiments and a simple table spread – clean, no-fuss and relatable.

Medium - The medium breakfast was filling for a lunchtime meal Medium - The medium breakfast was filling for a lunchtime meal (Image: Newsquest)

I chose the medium option for lunch, a shipmate’s breakfast at £6 rather than the larger captain’s or veggie breakfast at £9 or the Stowaway or Blackbeard breakfast at £4.50.

With one of every item from an English Breakfast, I was already happy with the price and I was overjoyed that like all the other breakfasts, my meal came with unlimited free tea, coffee or juice.

Options - There was also flapjacks at £1.50 and other dessert options Options - There was also flapjacks at £1.50 and other dessert options (Image: Newsquest)

Choosing not to have baked beans, my ‘brunch’ was very well cooked, and I rather enjoyed having tinned tomatoes, a nice change in many ways as I would personally never cook a brunch as a single person.

For £6, this large lunch makes this café a handy place for meeting a friend or to switch up your individual routine.  

Feeling like I had saved money, I then ordered two chilled and prettily displayed cupcakes at £3.

Overall, being thoughtful with the main meal and more indulgent with the treat makes for a happy café and customer.