The Rude Shipyard – Sheffield
17 January 2012
The Rude Shipyard cafe and bookshop, Abbeydale Road.
A nice slice of chocolate Guiness cake – huge slice with a thick layer of cream cheese frosting!
A proper cuppa English tea in a really nice fancy cup! (fine China I believe :)
The Rude Shipyard is a brilliant, original and cafe/shop place full to brim of 'Stuff!' (good 'Northern' stuff)
Starting the day off with a piece of Sheffield Guinness cake – lush!
I am always on the search for a good independent coffee shop – a nice cuppa tea with a slice of wholesome cake is always my ideal snack and afternoon pleasures. On my Sheffield food adventures I’ve come across a range of interesting coffee shops each with their own Northern personalities. I stumbled across another gem of a shop over the weekend, tucked away a little further down Abbeydale Road (past the hustle and bustle of London Road) locates the Rude Shipyard.
Due to my love of a cuppa and cake, many of my followers have recommended me pay the Rude Shipyard a visit – it’s a popular little establishment in Sheffield and I’ve often wondered what was so rude about this place so I was eager to find out. Outside their front door were opened bright coloured deck chairs – which made me think, who in their right mind would want to sun themselves in this freezing -5ºC weather!? – and it seems this is what sets the tone/personality of The Rude Shipyard. Expect the unexpected! The Rude Shipyard has a kind of strong, genuine intellectual bohemian mix to it. It’s a really small establishment with only enough room in the place to fit two/three tables (with just about the same number of seating upstairs too) – so the limited table space means you may well end up sharing. The place has a lovely ‘home’ feel to it – walls lined with good old fashioned bookcases, wooden furniture and a collection of musical instruments and chess board in the corner which customers can play if they want – the atmosphere reminds me a bit of both Cocoa on Ecclesall Road. If you’re looking for an original coffee shop with a strong personality – the Rude Shipyard is a place to consider.
If you stand and look at the shop, from the outside you’d think the place was a secondhand shop or local charity full of cool hidden gems! (well, that’s what I thought). It’s a warm comfortable, cosy place that is open late with friendly, cheerful waitresses who I was convinced did nothing else but enjoyed baking cakes, growing veggies in their allotment and making nice coffees :) I had a pot of tea for two – there’s a good range of coffees and teas available including sweet chilli – and a huge slice of their renown chocolate Guinness cake, which was amazing! (chocolatey, moist, rich and morishing – everything I enjoyed about cake) – that cream cheese frosting was to die for, the thick layer of the creamy stuff really helped the cake from becoming too dry. The rest of the homemade food menu looked tasty, they do a Sunday breakfast fry-up with eggs sourced locally from hens owned by friends of proprietors. I’m told the Rude Shipyard is also host to a regular creative get togethers too which includes an open mic poetry, jukebox Sundays and they’ll be holding a Burn’s Night late supper this month (see below). You can keep an eye on their Facebook page for what’s going on, when and with who.
To summarise my afternoon Sunday cuppa, I found the whole place a lovely cosy alternative to the pub – a pretty unique little place – just what our Sheffield needs. Shelves lined with interesting books, magazine racks full to the brim with local mags and newspapers for local people – I think I’ve found a new place to hibernate!
If you’ve been to the Rude Shipyard – what do you think? and what else should we look out for or try? Add your comment below.
Shipyard Burn’s Night Supper
I saw posters in the cafe advertising their Burn’s Night Supper, a hearty evening with pipers and poetry, neeps, tatties and haggis on Wednesday 25th January 2012, 7:30pm until 10:30pm. I’m told they’ll have a tasty three course supper including steaming bowls of cullen skink, haggis (the real deal stuff or veggie option), cranachan or sticky sticky toffee pudding plus bagpipes and a bit of Burn’s best (I’m not sure what this is though or means?). Supper and entertainment starts at 7.30pm and tickets for the evening are £16.50. You can call the Rude Shipyard on 0114 2589 653 to book your place or book on wegottickets.com
The Rude Shipyard
89 Abbeydale Road
Sheffield
S7 1FE
www.therudeshipyard.com
Opening Times
Mon, Tue, Thu and Fri: 08:00 – 18:00
Sat: 10:00 – 18:00
Sun: 11:00 – 17:00
Closed ALL DAY Wednesdays
{Photos by Cindy Cheung – more Rudey photos will be posted on my Missie Cindz Facebook page}
Missie Cindz
