The Health Station—Swanage

As soon as we walked into the Health Station we were met with an energetic and enthusiastic welcome. The sort of welcome you get when you walk into an old friend’s party that is in full swing; and at nine thirty on a Sunday morning!

The menus are mounted on the wall behind the serving counter. They offer a wide range of healthy choices. What makes this place unique, in Swanage, is the variety of vegetarian and vegan choices on offer. The underlying theme is Turkish, which is a reflection of the nationality of the owner.

It was that range of vegetarian and vegan choices that swung our decision to stay at the ‘party’ for breakfast. My wife, Heather, is vegetarian and as I have said more than once, it is so difficult in our area of the UK to find somewhere that can offer a proper vegetarian range. Not just a carnivorous meal, with the meat removed and substituted with a vegetarian replacement. Or, something vegetarian added to the menu as an afterthought.

We made our choices. I went for the sourdough toast topped with crushed avocado with a poached egg and a Turkish coffee. Heather chose the breakfast bowl. This was explained to contain a smoothie of coconut flesh, turmeric, and hemp protein topped with slices of plantain and berries.

The atmosphere was conducive to conversation, not only with the person opposite, but your neighbors at the next table as well. Sharing menu experiences and making comparisons with other places in town. The couple next to us had sourdough toast and jam. They commented to the staff it had far too much jam for one piece of toast. A couple of minutes later two more slices of toast arrived to even up the jam to toast ratio.

Our breakfast arrived within five minutes of ordering. Fast food?

Heather’s breakfast bowl was served in a large open coconut shell that was almost overflowing. Mine was exactly as ordered, with a more than generous layer of avocado, and a drizzle of golden yellow oil around the plate. The good problem with the breakfast bowl was its generosity. So, having cleared my plate, I just had to step in and help Heather out. The smoothie had texture and flavour. As you would like in a breakfast dish, there was nothing sharp to the taste. Just enough flavors blended together to make you wonder what was going on.

The presentation and the quality is a reflection of the owner’s passion to deliver something different and something good. What we had was fast food and it was good food.

Then the Turkish coffee. When I ordered this, I was told it was ‘a bit strong.’ I have experienced really strong espressos, which have dosed me up with caffeine, that has put me on edge for hours. Despite the warning I was not prepared for this super strength hit that was a sort of caffeine, with Semtex added but without the potential of causing physical destruction. But the amazing thing about this coffee was that as flavourful and strong as it was, it hardly had any after effects.

Our total bill was about £17 which for the vibrancy, the quality of the food, and service at the Health Station was really good value for money.

It was after we had paid our bill that we found out this was the newest eatery in town, having only opened on the Friday before we arrived. Quite obviously time and effort had been well invested in getting things right for the customers. What made this venue so refreshing was that on the Saturday when we were in town we had tried two different and established venues. Both of which overwhelmed us with their indifference.

So, good luck Health Station in all of your endeavors.

Crunch questions.

Would I recommend the Health Station to friends, family and strangers?

Yes.

Would I go there again?

Yes. As soon as we are back in Swanage for another break.

Your Facebook link to the Health Station.