Sunday Brunch at The Donkey Sanctuary Sidmouth

Sunday Brunch at The Donkey Sanctuary

After a busy week at work and being a regular evening mum taxi, the thing I like about the weekends is the lack of routine. A possible chance of a lie in (usually thwarted by the well tuned body clock), no mad dash out in the morning looking for missing trainers and more relaxed meal times. So when I was invited to try out the new Sunday Brunch at The Donkey Sanctuary I jumped at the chance to not have to cook or shop for a meal.

For adults it really is a lovely place for a walk. From just a few hundred metres on level paths to meet the donkeys,  to a jaunt all the way down to Weston Beach and the coast path, or any distance in between, you will not be disappointed.  Take a look at a my previous post here for walks (some walks are best kept to the dryer months). In the last few years there have been a lot of changes and the new visitor centre and restaurant are fantastic additions.

The Kitchen

If you’ve not been before the beautiful Kitchen Cafe really is worth a visit.  A large airy room with views over the Sanctuary it is a lovely place for a meal or just coffee and cake.  As there is no entrance fee to The Donkey Sanctuary it’s good to know that any profit from the cafe goes straight back to the charity.

Back to the main purpose of this visit, Sunday Brunch,  which we were invited to try in return for this write up.

Sunday Brunch at The Donkey Sanctuary

Brunch is on offer from 9am until 3pm so there is plenty of flexibility to work this around your Sunday.

We opted for a late lunch. Even though I’m a blogger I still feel a bit conspicuous photographing my food in public but a managed to grab a few pictures.

The Sunday Brunch menu is varied enough to cater for all diets but short enough that you won’t be too long choosing. My eyes immediately spotted the Eggs Florentine and I was pretty sure my eldest would go for the open bacon sandwich on ciabatta. Other options are smokey beans (chosen by grandma), American pancakes and pastries.  The lunch menu also runs from 12 noon so there’s the option of homemade soup (which comes highly recommended), sandwiches and pasties as well. The menus are on line so you can check the options in advance.

Our meals were lovely.  As our empty plates were cleared we were offered pancakes. “We’re full” we chimed together. But we were there to test out the brunch menu so it did seem rude not to! We knuckled down and tucked into a plate of big fluffy American style pancakes with banana and salted caramel sauce – they were delicious. Please note there are usually 3 pancakes on a plate but we were given an extra one!