The Arcade, Market Place, Newbury, Berkshire, RG14 5AD.

I’ve walked past this cafe many many times and never seen a spare table, so never had a chance to try it. This time it was raining and I was cold and someone left the cafe just as I walked past, I quickly doubled back and dived in. Shoemakers is a small but perfectly formed cafe in a Christian bookshop, tucked away in a tiny arcade in Newbury. It’s the only cafe I’ve ever been in that had a prayer box on the table, with a note inviting me to suggest a topic to be prayed for.

I ordered mushroom and thyme soup which came with homemade bread and of course a pot of tea. This cafe gets extra bonus points for being tiny and yet still providing me with a teapot, milk jug and a jug of hot water, without me having to ask for any of it. And the soup! Very good soup.

Teapot? Yes.
Leaf tea? No.
Milk jug? Yes.
Price? £1.30 for pot of tea, £2.95 for soup and bread.
Cake? Small amount.
Go again? Yes.