Not to be confused with my previous review for Chill @ The Cowshed, The Cowshed in Chorley is part of the Coffee Cow company, which is primarily a catering company, providing drinks at events and the such, but in March 2014 they opened The Cowshed in Buckshaw Village, as a spiritual headquarters for the cow, her coffee, and tasty cakes.

It was a rainy and wintery day considering it was the end of June, so I thought a nice pot of tea out of the rain would be a pleasant idea indeed. 

The venue itself is a large open area, loft-style in nature with exposed roofing and high ceilings. The decor is modern, casual and quirky (I love the cow wallpaper), complete with more bovine puns and gags than you can wave a black and white spotted stick at!

When I first walked in I noticed that even though it was only a wednesday afternoon, the place was really busy! Couples sat and chatted, a large group of mums and toddlers sat in a group together over tea and cake, a couple of business types sat at the bar over coffee, and some techie types sat on their laptops on a banquet table together.

I sat down and read the menu, which was mainly focused on tea, coffee and chilled drinks to accompany the cakes and pastries on display, but also offering breakfast and light lunches for pretty reasonable prices.

I ordered a pot of Teapigs Strong Earl Grey, and was pleased to hear that they could accommodate my awkward request for skimmed milk. I found it very cute that when my tea arrived at my table, the milk came in a great little milk churn.

I only had considered getting some tea, but reading the menu convinced me to get some lunch, and as I fancied one of the baked potatoes, I was pleased to read that as well as the usual jacket spud fillings of cheese, tuna, or beans, The Cowshed offers 19 other fillings, ranging from sun dried tomatoes to roasted peppers and chorizo, and all accompanied by the home made "shedslaw" (COWslaw, surely?!).  A treat for those of us who like a good spud but get bored of the same old toppings. I opted for the chicken.

My food didn't take too long, and I was really pleased at what I was presented with. To many places a jacket spud would be just that, a spud on a plate, maybe cut into 4 instead of 2 if they're being fancy. But at The Cowshed I got a lovely big spud topped with chicken, a fresh salad, some of the aforementioned coleslaw (which was lovely and crisp, and not thick with loads of mayo like some places do), and some tortilla chips.

I really enjoyed it! Even though I suspect the chicken might possibly have been pre-packaged and reheated, even if it was, it was still a very tasty lunch, and considering it was less than a fiver, it was really filling!

The staff were very busy, which was understandable considering how many people were there, but they were still friendly and efficient, and tried to convince me to take a cake home with me for dessert, but I was stuffed, so said I'd simply return another time for tea and cake, which I genuinely will, because I had a nice time, it was a quick and healthy lunch, served by friendly staff, and it cost me less than £7.00 for a big healthy meal and a pot of delicious tea.

Well done, Cowshed :)