The Rows Cafe, Chester

We stopped here for a cup of tea after a hard morning’s sightseeing around the Rows in Chester’s City Centre. Although the cafe is fairly basic - tables and chairs arranged by the side of a narrow passageway - that’s not the reason for the low score. The service is. When we visited, there were a couple of teenage girls waiting tables, and they couldn’t have been less interested if they tried. We waited for about ten minutes for someone to take our order (this is a cafe that has about a dozen tables), with both waitresses walking past our table a few times, and not even attempting to make eye contact. One Mum and daughter were already waiting when we got there, and left about fifteen minutes later, having been comprehensively ignored. The couple who sat at their table afterwards nearly left too because of the poor service, and I had to point them out to one of the waitresses (who reacted with a teenage shrug as if she couldn’t understand what the problem was).

All in all, it was a real shame, because I’m sure this place would be lovely if you could actually get served.

This cafe is about as basic as you can get, but still serves good food.

When you walk up the incredibly narrow and rather steep steps from the main street to access The Rows, and walk along to the cafe, which is situated bang outside Lakeland, you will be greeted with a collection of wooden benches and tables, all outside but protected by the roof of the Rows building overall, and some of which also had parasol umbrellas.

There is a menu of home-made food, and you make your selection and walk up to the kitchen and order it; it will then be brought to you while ready, and you can pay when you’re ready before you leave.

The real downside is that the portion size was a bit on the small side, even from a size 6, petite female’s perspective!! The food was reheated in a microwave before being served although it was still nice and definitely was home-made.

The food prices are good; I paid £2.85 for my hearty beef stew and buttered roll, but the drinks are rather steep; £1.30 for a glass of coke. The service is still friendly and it’s competitive compared with other local places. I went for the experience and the home-made food really because I am not local to the area.