Sandown's Coffee Bubble has a succinct yet imaginative menu, with touches of a Mediterranean and North African mezze fusion influence, with the requisite spices.
Our homemade harissa hummus was crumbled with feta cheese, mixed savoury seeds, chickpeas, pickled red onions and olives, plus a generous allowance of sourdough toast.
We squeezed fresh lemon juice over the dish and tucked in.
The whole construction looked great and had some distinctive flavours; the sour feta, garlicky hummus and fresh pea shoots adding to the general delight of the platter.
Our other main was the rather curiously named buffalo cauliflower flatbread. Why buffalo? Well, this was the meat-free version of buffalo wings, which themselves are made of chicken, not some mythical flying bovine.
Deep-fried cauliflower florets were coated in a seasoned batter with a pleasant flavour.
The vegetable nuggets were served with a similar hummus and green pea shoot salad, plus purple cabbage slaw, pickled pink onions and scarlet pepperdews - all the colours with all their accompanying flavours.
We barely had room for our side of trendy tater tots. For the uninitiated, think croquette potatoes or cylindrical hash browns.
Our double truffle loaded tots were enhanced with parmesan and crispy onions, and we had soon eaten the totting lot.
It was the cake course next, with options including vast cinnamon pastries, fruity sponges and exciting-looking millionaire's shortbread tray bakes; cookies and cream or Ferrero Rocher flavours on the day we visited, plus what was referred to as the adult choice of a single origin chocolate and sea salt brownie.
This sounded tastiest, but did not have the kerb appeal of the shortbread or the moist pistachio and pineapple cake; the latter decorated with deep pink icing and scattered with chopped nuts and petals.
It was a good slab of fresh sponge with delicate flavours. The traybake was a bit sweet for us; we'll have that brownie next time.
The way the team at Coffee Bubble managed to whip up an inventive menu in such a tiny beachside hut is quite amazing.
Our food looked gorgeous and had brilliant flavours; our salads were tasty and varied, achieved with a construction of well-curated ingredients.
Coffee Bubble is a charming venue with a creative hand in the kitchen and a breathtaking view of the sparkling bay.
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