Vennels Cafe

Located through an ancient Durham vennel (North Eastern term for a narrow alleyway between 2 buildings), Vennels Café is spread across 2 floors of an historic building and the 16thC courtyard outside.

Fruit, Cheddar and Stilton scones and bread for sandwiches are baked fresh every morning. Rolls are then filled with a wide selection of ingredients ready for serving in the café or to take away and eat by the riverbanks.

Vennels is possibly best known for its generous slices of home-baked cakes, including favourites such as chocolate cake, banoffee pie, lemon cake, tea bread and the fabulous flapjacks.

There is a wide selection of drinks available from teas to lattes, cappucinos and freshly brewed mugs of coffee. Enjoy a refreshing bottle of beer in the sunshine-filled courtyard during the summer or a reviving hot chocolate on a sofa upstairs during the winter. Wine, juices, soft drinks and locally sourced mineral water are also available.

‘Coffee Shop of the Year 2008’ (at the Durham Retail Awards), Vennels has a very special place in the heart of many local residents and generations of students, as well as the visitors to Durham who manage to find one of the city’s best kept secrets.