AS a girl who grew up on the East side of County Durham, it was always sad seeing the towns along the coast seemingly get left behind in the 1990s.

However, in recent years millions have been spent to try to regenerate the seaside town that is Seaham and I’m happy to say it seems to be working.

The new Asda and accompanying shops, as well as a new estate at the far end of the town, have attracted more people to it while creating opportunities for businessmen and women to take their chance too.

And this, I’m happy to say, has meant that boutiques and coffee shops have popped up along the main street, overlooking the sea and providing the perfect place to relax whether with friends or family.

One such cafe on North Terrace is Humbles, a neat little establishment that from the outside looks very small but is surprisingly spacious when you step inside.

I’d previously visited and been treated to afternoon tea so I knew this was a good choice for a review.

I decided to go for breakfast as I’d heard a lot about their menu and don’t normally get the chance to review earlier in the day.

I took my mam who is always happy to tag along. I’d booked a table beforehand as we’d struggled to get in when we turned up on the previous occasion but I really didn’t need to as when we walked in there was only one other party animatedly enjoying their breakfast while gossiping.

We picked a seat by the window – all the tables are well situated for this snug space – and perused the menu.

Surprisingly the food was not the first thing that caught my eye.

Instead I was drawn to the list of speciality lattes, something I'd never seen before, as I normally don’t have a choice to divert from the typical latte.

I knew I had to go for the Toffee Nut variety (£2.60) as I never normally get the chance to drink this outside of the winter season. My mam went for the Coconut latte to satisfy her sweet tooth (also £2.60).

Both were smooth and creamy with a hint of the flavours rather than the overbearing syrupy taste you can often get in some chains around Christmas time.

I must also note that our waitress was the most jolly I have ever met and with her distinctive Geordie twang recommended The Big Breakfast (£5.45) – as opposed to The Lighter Breakfast which, of course, I probably should have gone for (£4.50).

Big it truly was - it came with two slices of bacon, a sausage, black pudding, tomato, a poached egg, mushrooms, beans and warm fresh toast.

My mam declined the black pudding but I had the whole plate and we both went for the brown bread – trying to be healthy and all that.

The best thing about the whole plate was probably the toast as it was thick and a hearty granary type which went down brilliantly with the sausage – the only problem being that there weren’t two of them.

All the elements were cooked to perfection though and we both polished off our plates in what felt like no time.

I even tried to look at the dessert menu as my favourite warm chocolate fudge cake was on there and for the first time another contender – the dime bar cake – nearly persuaded me to divert away from my go-to pudding (both £3.75).

However, the social pressure of ordering a dessert before midday slightly got to me and I must admit my pudding dessert space I normally reserve was nowhere to be seen.

My breakfast did keep me going for the whole day though and I can thoroughly recommend this little gem as a place to visit the next time you’re passing through – even if it’s just for that speciality latte alone.

Ratings (out of ten): Food quality: 8, Surroundings: 7, Service: 8, Value: 8