Monday 2 January 2012

Really Rather Good Coffee House, Abbeygate Street, Bury

A really rather delicious lunch had there today. My first visit for more than a coffee (when I sat outside) and I regret it's taken me so long to try the food. It's been open for several months at least.

Sometimes I find myself in town over the lunch period and just want a snack to sustain me until the evening. It's usually a case of stopping off somewhere cheap and cheerful for a relatively boring sandwich. In future I'll head straight to this cafe (facing Abbey Gardens on Angel Hill) to have something special instead at a relatively comparable price. My choice today was the cafe's own version of tuna crunch on toasted ciabatta. As my friend said, this cafe gives attention to detail.  The tuna dressing was so tasty and yet light, so I convinced myself I was eating something really healthy. Even the celery which added the 'crunch' factor was fresh and how celery should be - fruity and not bitter. The dish was garnished to include a balsamic drizzle.  I chose the smaller version of this dish which was a fantastic value - £3.95, but it was more than enough really.  But despite that I shared a a piece of orange drizzle cake to follow (after all - I had made a healthy previous choice) which complemented the really rather good cafetiere of coffee (probably the best in town). The lovely lunch, which included a bottle of sparkling mineral water, came to just under £9 and I can honestly say it was a real treat. I don't normally go into such detail about my meals about town, but as I said - it's the detail here which makes it excel. I hope it lasts. I've heard others praise it (especially for its soup) and I heard it said today how good the mackerel pate is. It's a limited menu, and the seating capacity is also limited, but it's cosy, with clean, fresh decor. I should have taken a photo, but I will definitely be going there again soon so I'll take one then. Not that I need an excuse.

2 comments:

Anonymous said...

Hello Julie, many thanks for your lovely review of our coffee house, Really Rather Good, and also for the comment card you kindly left on another visit. We really appreciate it. Very interesting also to read your other blog entries. Hopefully we will soon be licensed, and yes indeed the principle will be the same as for our coffee - really good wines, reasonably priced. We also want to stock a range of really interesting, unusual and lovely continental beers. The atmosphere will remain muted and sophisticated, a "haven of calm" away from the alternatives where you have to shout just to talk to a friend! We look forward to welcoming you again, let me know when you're next coming in so we can chat. Andreas, Ali and Laura.

juliew said...

Thank you. I will be in again soon. I prefer to support private enterprises rather than chains and franchises. I wish the rest of Bury felt the same. Good luck - you have some new competition but hopefully it won't affect you in the long term (especially with the licence and if you can give good deals on wines it should attract the right clientele :-).