I’ve nipped in here a few times in the last few years and it’s always raining. That sums up the general mood when people come to Crewe but I suppose this is one of the highlights of the town at the moment, if indeed it has any at all.

While ‘working’ remotely once, I tried to join a meeting via Skype from the table outside but was drowned out by the swearing and shouting of the alcoholics sat outside the dodgy pub nearby. Maybe I’ll stick to the home office but I’m just glad to be out of the house these (post-lockdown) days so I’m not going to be too fussy. And to be fair, they’ve laid out the yawnsome furniture quite well in the new Covid arrangements. There are stickers on the floor but they seem to be mostly ignored but at least some of the punters wore masks – which is a vast improvement if you’ve seen the beauties of this town.

The menu offers some nectar for Crewies (i.e. fry-ups) but there are other options too. Omelettes, GF toasties and salads blah blah, usually fine and they do GF and alternative milks if you want it. Coffee is just passable so you won’t be doing a cartwheel of joy after your first slurp.

It’s Crewe so while you can’t expect much, it’s not bad. I gorped out of the window through the splashes of water across a car park to the still-closed Lyceum Theatre. If you need to splash your boots though, you will have to visit the fairly grim public toilet next door. Oh the glam! But if it ever does get hot and sunny, the large windows turn it into a huge greenhouse so it can get a bit sweaty anyway.

The building is an interesting angular shape – if it wasn’t next to the scabby bogs then would look quite cool. The lights are part-trendy and the ceiling is almost Scandi but any dreams of wandering through Uppsala are pricked by a Crewe accent asking if anyone has got a radar key.

If you want to open a selection box of assorted weirdos then look no further than the punters sat outside. Elephantine with fags ablaze, lighting-up more often than a stormy Florida sky. Their hair is buzz-cut and their kebabs arms hang Wilkos bags laden with multi-packs of Skips on the handlebars of their mobility scooters. The men were not much better. Inside though a doddering of old biddies and bored mothers avoiding getting soaked or gossiping about the sexual appetites of some woman called Julie. I don’t know who she is but I’d like to bump into her one day. 🙂

 

Verdict: 3/5

Good: Reasonable food and GF options. Friendly staff.

Bad: Punters outside and the latrines.