Global Cafe - RISC - Reading
AVN Score: 1.9
Omnivore cafe and bar
The Global Cafe is relaxed and welcoming. You can order a good veggie or vegan meal here for lunch or dinner, as well as a lovely selection of international drinks all day, with many of the beers being vegan. It has a relaxed atmosphere and a youthful international feel.
Tutu's Ethiopian Kitchen holds the catering contract, and she's a great cook. There are a mix of Ethiopian and Mediterranean options, with the Ethiopian vegetarian options all being vegan too, which we particularly recommend. You can also have baguettes and jacket potatoes with a wide choice of fillings, such as garlic mushrooms or hummus and roast vegetables.
Thursday night is the popular Ethiopian Buffet Night. Arrive early or book a table if there are several of you.
The bar in the cafe pretty much always has soya milk, and they can do a soyaccino or soya chai.
All meals are freshly prepared using fair trade, local and GM free produce.
It turns into a nice bar in the evening. Good atmosphere and facilities for kids in the daytime, with baby changing available upstairs. There is a disabled toilet.
RISC has exhibition space inside, and meeting rooms that can be rented. There are useful community noticeboards and leaflets in the foyer outside the shop and cafe.
- Food 3.8/5 (4 votes)
- Service 3.5/5 (4 votes)
- Atmosphere 4.5/5 (4 votes)
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Contact Global Cafe - RISC
Address
35 London Street, Reading, Berkshire, UK, RG1 4PS
Directions
Walking from the town centre & station: take a look at one of the linked to maps below and scroll north a bit to see the train station too (on Station Hill/Forbury Rd). You might find it handy to print one.
- Come out of the main station entrance next to WHSmith
- Cross the pedestrian crossing and head leftish down Station Road
- Cross the traffic lights and continue down Queen Victoria St (pedestrianised)
- At Broad Street (you'll be near John Lewis), turn left along it
- Continue from Broad St into King Street (not pedestrianised)
- Turn right down Duke Street
- When you get to a dual carriageway, cross it, and continue straight ahead up London Street. RISC & the Global Cafe will be on your left after Great Expectations pub.
- To get to the cafe or shop go in the main entrance.
- To get in the meeting rooms you can go through the cafe/shop and ask the way, or turn left up a little pedestrian alley just at the end of the RISC building, left in the car park, and you'll see the meeting rooms entrance on the left near the car ramp.
Driving : parking is available all day in the Queen's Road Car park on the main Queen's Road dual carriageway (£9.50 for all day). There is also free parking round the back of RISC, but this tends to be full (you get to this by turning left up South Street, next left, left again and up a ramp. Only park in the designated RISC parking area). On Sundays there is more free parking in streets round and about, but leave yourself a fair bit of time to explore this. Use one of the maps linked to below to find your way to RISC & the Global Cafe.
Out of date information?
More info
- Number of vegan main dishes: approx. 8.
- Vegan labelling.
- Restaurant
- Shop
- Good for kids
- Entertainment
- Caterers
- Venue hire
Reviews
I suppose the Global Cafe is my default place to go in Reading. The Ethiopian food is tasty and reliable, they sell organic beers, the have soyacinos and I like the atmosphere. The vegan cake is rubbish though (it is not made by Tutu). I'm keen to support any vegan option, but I can bring myself to buy it.
The corridor to the loo is long, but you can always take a friend.
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The food here is so reliably tasty, and Tutu who cooks it is a lovely character. Look out for all the amazing fund-raising she does too. Service is often slow (except on buffet night - Thursdays), though always friendly. The games and comfy sofas really ease that. I enjoy the relaxed friendly unpretentious atmosphere. It's a great place to meet friends and have group outings. Various groups meet here regularly such as Reading Skeptics in the Pub. For me and the family the dungeon basement passage to the loos is exciting and exotic - and there is a little sofa in the basement snug that I would sneak to for a tete at tete if I could be a teenager again.
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I'm not keen on the shabby decor and particularly that the toilets (apart from the one disabled loo) are down in the basement - down a long lonely corridor. I've had the vegan Ethiopian food once - it was okay, but I've never been in a hurry to have it again!
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Great food! They have board games and toys to play with while you wait for food! Next door they have a shop full of interesting things!
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