Fans of Beryl Cook will feel very at home at The Friary Cafe on Cotham Hill. Prints featuring Cook’s famous big-boned figures are spread across the walls of the cafe, alongside notices advertising everything from Chris the Gardener to a roller disco at Motion.

The Friary has stayed true to its roots as everything around it on Cotham Hill has changed beyond all recognition. Steve Taylor has run the Friary for the last 32 years. When it opened, it was the only cafe on the road and “one of only three this side of the city”, Steve told the Evening Post last year.

There is nowhere else in Bristol with such a proliferation of cafes and assorted eateries (the latest, Mangia Mangia, is due to open on Monday in what used to be Cafe Boheme). But the Friary was here long before the others, and remains the only one where you can get a tea or coffee for less than one pound.

When I visited on a wet Wednesday morning, the Friary was full of regulars tucking into a cooked breakfast – a popular hangover cure. Also on the menu are sandwiches and soups, and more substantial lunches such as bolognese and curries.

The Friary always seems to be busy and over the years has built up a loyal clientele as well as pulling in a lot of passing trade. Above the tables there is a large fan, while high up on the walls, pot plants make their bid for freedom.

You might turn into one of Cook’s big-boned characters if you eat here too often, but the Friary Cafe – the original Cotham Hill cafe – has more than stood the test of time and will be here to stay for many years yet as its neighbours continue to come and go.

The Friary Cafe, 9 Cotham Hill, Cotham, Bristol. 0117 973 3664.