The Coffee Sack

Scholes Lane, Prestwich

The Coffee Sack is an independent coffee shop which has been open in Prestwich since December 2015. Prestwich village is full of restaurants of all different cuisines, from Italian and Chinese to Turkish and American, including high-street chains such as Pizza Express. The Coffee Sack offers something more casual and daytime-friendly, so credit to the owners for bringing something different to the already jam-packed dining scene.

I was looking forward to visiting The Coffee Sack for my lunch for a light bite, not dissimilar to the kind of lunch I would usually enjoy. Sometimes I’m just not in the mood to eat a large meal in the middle of the day. Quick, tasty and satisfying was what I was after. The food did not disappoint.

I had a tuna melt with cheese and a hint of chilli on piada, traditional Italian flatbread. The piada was oozing with tuna mayonnaise and cheese filling and the chilli wasn’t too spicy. The sandwich was accompanied by fresh salad delicately drizzled in balsamic vinegar and a pot of green olives, making for a healthy and delicious lunch at a very reasonable prize – just £5.95 for the whole thing.

The service, however, dampened the experience. When we first arrived, there was only one clean table available for us to sit at. This was not because the rest were taken, in fact, the place was only three quarters full at most, but the rest of the unoccupied ones had dirty crockery all over them.  Not exactly a good impression when new customers are walking in for the first time. This immediately gave me reservations about the place. Once we’d ordered and paid upfront for our food and drinks at the counter, we moved from a cramped table onto a larger one which had become vacant, however, the staff did not clean it in between. We proceeded to wait for 45 minutes for our food to be delivered. I’m not impatient, but I found this to be very poor considering we’d only ordered sandwiches. One of my dining companions asked for a fresh pot of tea, as the first was stone cold by the time the food arrived. A distinct lack of staff wholeheartedly let them down and it’s an issue that could be resolved so easily.

The slow service and lack of clean tables would put me off returning to The Coffee Sack, which is a real shame as this modern little coffee shop is refreshing addition to the Prestwich stage and would otherwise be an ideal place to grab a bite to eat at lunchtime.