Showing posts with label friendly. Show all posts
Showing posts with label friendly. Show all posts

Formerly The Urban Chocolate Co, Choc-la-Te is a charming and pleasant cafe on Westhoughton's Market Street, which specialises in chocolate by the in-house chocolatier, as well as offering tasty food and drink.

I walked into the little cafe, which was bright and fresh on a lovely sunny day, and was warmly greeted and given a big beaming smile by Tracy, the chocolatier and owner.

A very good policy!
I looked at the food and drinks menu, and the specials menu which offered summer drinks. As a tea lover, I was really impressed at the tea menu, which had a good variety of loose leaf teas to enjoy, from your standard English Breakfast to Darjeeling and beyond. I chose an Earl Grey with cornflour, which was very refreshing and tasty... but as I was sipping it, I spotted rose and bergamot black tea on the shelf... I'll definitely be trying that next time! The tea was excellent quality and even came with suggested timers for brewing times. I've not seen this quality or variety of tea offered outside of Manchester City Centre's tea rooms, but most definitely not for Manchester's prices!


The venue itself has a fabulously semi-modern design to it, with beautiful big 70s style geometrics on the walls and crockery, bright colours, and fun little signs. For a small (4 table) cafe, it didn't feel too small! They also sells their own chocolates, little gifts, and greetings cards, which are placed around the edges of the main dining area to catch your eye as you make inappropriate noises of appreciation about your chocolate fondue.

From the tasty and tempting food menu I chose a classic ham and cheese toastie, and as well as being offered my choice of bread, and whether I'd like fresh coleslaw or onion chutney, it also came with some crisps and a fresh side salad. I was even asked if I'd like dressing for said salad. I was starting to like this place, they had everything, and after I found out they also took cards as payment, AND had free wi-fi? Definitely a quick way into my good-books even before I've eaten!


My ham and cheese toastie was lovely and fresh, and very tasty, especially considering it was very good value considering the quality offered. This is the quality of a city centre venue but at prices reflecting the area. Westhoughton, you're very lucky to have them!


At this point I realised that it would surely be a crime to come to a chocolate specialist and not partake, especially given that the quality of the food was so good! Tracy gave me a run-down of what cakes and bakes were on offer (and they all sounded incredible!), as well as which chocolates were available, which you could purchase for a price per individual chocolate, which is a genius idea!

I went for Turkish Delight, Limoncello, Salted Caramel and Passionfruit, which Tracy picked out of the display case using a special chocolate-handling glove! Very swish! They were given to me in a cute little teacup, and as you can imagine, they were absolutely sublime!



I will most definitely be returning here, not just due to it being close to where I live, not just because the chocolates are lovely and I want more and know I can get them boxed up for gifts,  not just because there's lots of other tasty chocolate gifts, not just because of the tasty food and the tea range which I definitely want to try more of, not just because of the friendly and happy customers and staff who gave the place a lovely atmosphere, nor the customer who highly recommended the chocolate fondue, and not just because of the idea of their afternoon teas...



...wait where was I?

...oh yes! I have to come back, because I've been told great things about their hot chocolate... the other things just happen to be a nice side-point! ;)

Go along. You'll love it.

Choc-la-Te
9A Market Street
Westhoughton
Bolton
Greater Manchester
BL5 3AH
(01942) 817 443
www.urbanchocolateco.co.uk




Choc-la-Te

by on 16:16
Formerly The Urban Chocolate Co, Choc-la-Te is a charming and pleasant cafe on Westhoughton's Market Street, which specialises in cho...


Farnells Coffee Lounge and Bar sits on the middle of Chorley New Road. It used to be Julie's International and fancy dress, You've probably seen it when you've been sat in traffic, but have you been in? You should!

It's well located for people to get to on foot, and although it does have a car park, I wouldn't say you could get more than 4 cars in it at any one time. The venue is split into three areas, the coffee lounge to the left, the sandwich shop to the right, and the fully licensed bar/function room upstairs.



As you walk in, you step into the coffee lounge section, which is bright, spacious, and modern, with purchasable art displayed on the walls. There are modern tables and chairs as well as couches if you just fancy a coffee and to read the paper. The owner, Stuart Farnell greets me warmly as I walk in, and asks "fancy a brew?". The main counter displays cakes and tasty goods available at that moment, as well as the selections of beers and wines available.

The food selection is mainly breakfast and lunch-based, with a specials board, and everything seems to be home-made and freshly made to order by Stuart, who also used to be a restaurant chef, and who as well as running the place as a friendly host, also tells me that he runs weekly community cookery classes at the venue, as well as other general events. He tells me how nothing quite beats home-made when it comes to his food offerings, to which I agree. Despite being fresh to order and home-made, the food is pretty reasonably priced too!



I firstly accepted the offer of a pot of tea, which hit the spot perfectly. I liked that the milk came in a teeny tiny traditional milk bottle too. For my lunch I chose to have a ham and cheese toastie, which clearly was freshly made. Not only was the quality very tasty, but it came with a little fresh salad, and the best fresh home-made coleslaw I've had in an extremely long time!



I definitely recommend popping into Farnells for a spot of brunch if you're passing, or if you want to meet up with some friends for a drink, then I think you'll find this place comfortable and pleasant. I certainly plan to return... if anything just for that coleslaw!


Farnells Coffee Lounge and Bar
602 Chorley New Road
Horwich
Bolton
BL6 6EX
(01204) 778174

Farnells

by on 12:12
Farnells Coffee Lounge and Bar sits on the middle of Chorley New Road. It used to be Julie's International and fancy dress, You...


Pizza Me (or "Wanna Pizza Me?") in Breightmet only opened last month, but is making waves due to word of mouth and various food bloggers who have gone along expecting a simple little pizza chain, but ended up enjoying a great meal.

I'm no exception.

We popped in to give it a try for a bit of lunch, as the menus promising lunch for £3.95 or dinner for £4.95 seemed too good to pass up.

As you walk in, you see two distinct areas. To your right is what looks more like a traditional style pub area, which I think is more focussed on their "4 Coffee" side, but to your left is a more modern and open area with big chunky benches and tables, more focussing on their modern pizza side, Wanna Pizza Me. We sat down, and a friendly waiter came over and took our drinks order, and asked if we'd perhaps like to order some garlic bread. We did.



Pizza Me undersells itself by seeming to just be a pizza place, when in fact it serves modern Italian cuisine, offering salads, pastas, pizzas, and specials, all offering tempting sounding Italian fare, as well as teas, a good range of coffees, and desserts.

However, on this occasion we decided to go for a pizza, and try out the name of the place. 


 The first thing to appear alongside our drinks was the garlic bread we ordered. It arrived whole, on a board, and with a pizza cutter. It glistened with fresh garlic butter, which was mild but tasty, and the base was perfection! You could even smell the stone a little from the oven on the base. Very tasty indeed. This made us eager for our main!

I chose to go for the Salami, and my dining partner went for the Quattro Stagioni. They arrived in the same fashion, on a board with pizza cutters, and with the same delicious crispy base.

Salami
Quattro Stagioni
Both pizzas were delicious, and bursting with fresh flavours, especially the herby tomato base sauce which we both had. Mine boasted milano and napoli salami and proscuito, and was very rich and tasty, wheras the Quattro Stagioni was split into different toppings, each full of flavour and distinct.

We both agreed that the pizzas here were superb, and worth far more than the £3.95 asking price each, which is cheaper than some take-aways!


Although this was just a fleeting visit, I'm very glad we popped in, as it has cemented somewhere for us to go back to whenever we get chance, as the menu is very tempting, and the prices are just phenomenal for what you get! I urge everyone to give this place a try, as it's not your run-of-the-mill pizza place, and it deserves a little more recognition and love spread by word of mouth!

We will most definitely return.





Pizza Me
Breightmet Fold Lane 
Bolton
Greater Manchester
BL2 6PP
(01204) 238 877
www.wannapizzame.com



Pizza Me on Urbanspoon

Pizza Me

by on 12:26
Pizza Me (or "Wanna Pizza Me?") in Breightmet only opened last month, but is making waves due to word of mouth and various fo...