Thyme Deli

My first blog entry may well as be one of my favourite places in Bolton to have something to eat, or just a cup of tea on a cold day, or even do a little shopping!

Thyme Deli is located on Winter Hey Lane in Horwich, Bolton, and as well as being a deli, with a superb array of local produce, cheeses, jams, chutneys, drinks, ice cream and cakes etc, it's also a great coffee shop with a great variety of teas, and high quality coffees, cold drinks, and an incredibly tempting range of cakes (I particularly recommend the Victoria Sponge!), and on top of that, they also have a big "cook shop" selling all sorts of kitchen based delights from pretty aprons to hefty cake tins.

Thyme's range of hot and cold foods for breakfast and lunch are both "light bites" and proper sized meals, not just coffee shop snacks. The food is usually home made or organic, and fresh, even freshly baked bread, which is wonderful! Owner Amanda Biggs is a friendly and welcoming host, managing a competent and pleasant staff, whose focus on customer service mean that they often remember customers names, and even their orders.

Thyme Deli

Amanda  presents some tasty daily specials, often announcing them on Twitter, thus keeping the food options fresh and varied whenever you should choose to visit, and cleverly tempting her Twitter followers to visit again to try the new specials, whilst already knowing the warm welcome and pleasant time they will have if they go down and visit.

The venue itself is warm and welcoming, decorated in pastel shades, with traditional parquet flooring and high ceilings. The furniture comprises of two and four person wooden tables, mismatched reclaimed wooden chairs, armchairs, and couches in separated into several areas, but due to the layout of the rooms, it can be possible to miss some of the areas if you haven't been before. For example, the initial room you walk into is the main dining area, displaying shelves of products, and the main deli counter, but at the counter if you turn right, you will find a doorway, through which you will find three additional areas.

To the left is a corridor leading to the toilets. There are two self contained toilets and a changing table. The toilets are a little on the shabby side, but clean and functional, which is fine by me. There doesn't appear to be a disabled access toilet, but due to the age of the building, it doesn't appear to have disabled access generally, due to several steep steps at the front, (but a grab-bar is provided for the lesser able), and the layout of the furniture inside, as it would make wheelchair access tricky. That said, there is a "Pram Park" located back at the start of the corridor where you first walked in. Directly ahead in the corridor (from the main dining area) is the "cook shop" room displaying the kitchen wares you can buy (and hire!), and through the cook shop is the "lounge", which is often quieter than the main dining area, as it's often missed by people due to the layout mentioned earlier. The lounge is occasionally used by various groups/clubs, or for special occasions.

Table 11 in the lounge

The food and drinks at Thyme are of a high quality, fresh, and locally sourced where possible, including some of their own brand items, such as Thyme Deli Coffee. Prices aren't as cheap as some of the local greasy spoons, but for the quality and the amount you get, it's worth every penny (try the Thyme Ploughman's to see precisely what I mean!). They have an extensive tea menu, as well as selling Teapigs Tea by the bag, so that you can try their various flavours per cup instead of having to commit to an entire box before you know how it tastes (however, they sell boxes of the bags too!), and their basic tea is Lancashire Tea, which has been met with great approval. The coffee served is Lavazza, and the soft drinks primarily by Fentimans. My personal recommendation for lunch here is the "Melted Crumbly Lancashire Cheese and Sticky Sausage served on a Toasted Wholegrain Baguette" (seen below).

Sticky sausage and melted crumbly Lancashire cheese on a toasted wholegrain baguette. Yum!

Thyme also sell small gifts, greetings cards, local ice creams, and offer a bespoke gift hamper service as well as cake tin hire, but Amanda's ethos seems to be "if you want it, and we can get it, we will". Really, it's worth visiting just to have a look around if anything! (but grab a slice of cake while you're there, you'll thank me!)

Since this review, Thyme has celebrated its 10th birthday!

Thyme Deli

4-6 Winter Hey Lane, Horwich, Bolton

(01204) 692 555
thymedeli.blogspot.co.uk