The Arches — Restaurant in England

The Arches

1 Sentence description: Popular cafe/bistro serving especially good sandwiches.

What’s good here? Far more than ‘just’ a ‘butty shop’ this lovely double-fronted cafe is worth waiting for a seat to eat in; it’s just lovely.

You can tell the staff take a real pride in good food, well served rather than rushing - and it really shows, both in presentation and quality.

My ham and cheese ciabatta was served with a fresh, crispy side salad and ‘gourmet’ chips/crisps and a really tasty slaw. I wish I’d had a more substantive meal as every part of my order was a pleasure, and I’ll certainly be back.

What’s an ‘Opportunity for Improvement’? Bear with the possible wait at peak times; it’s because they take pride in serving good food rather than fast food.

Tell me more When a venue is busy, it’s usually a positive sign - especially so when it’s a cafe and sandwich shop in a residential area. It shows there’s a loyal customer base willing to travel - or perhaps just know a good thing when they see it.

Anything to disclose? No - paying customer, anonymously visited.

How I Rate: I normally rate 1-4, with 5 reserved for ’Exceptional’, i.e. “deviating from the norm” or “truly worthy of note”.

4 stars = very good 3 stars = good 2 stars = average or acceptable 1...

Our first visit today, but definitely not our last. A warm and friendly welcome as we arrived. We took Dad, who had been before, and he was welcomed back by the lovely staff. A good menu with lots of choice. All home cooked, fresh and hot. 😃 One of my pet hates is luke warm food but this certainly was not an issue. We had cheese and onion pie, mixed potatoes, and vegetables. The Dauphinoise was delicious. 😋 Steak pudding, wedges, and mushy peas did not disappoint. Packed with chunks of tender steak and lots of thick gravy. Tuna and cheese pannini was hot and full of melty mature cheddar. 😋 Although full from the generous portions, we had an apple crumble and a berry crumble with custard. 🍎 😋 Both generous portions with lots of hot custard. A cappuccino finished our lunch. Dad took some of their homemade scones home as they are some of the best we've had. ❤️ It's a hidden gem and definitely needs...

We had our first visit here yesterday for an afternoon tea. The place was busy when we arrived, a few sitting outside under the gloomy Blackburn sky. It's always a good sign when a business like this is busy.

It started with a homemade soup before the table is filled with a huge selection of traditional afternoon tea items. As we continued our feast, we realised that The Arches made a lot of the items from scratch. Presumably, they don't bake the bread, but definitely make the pies and sausage rolls.

Our food was complimented with a great choice of drinks too, a good variety of teas, coffees, and soft drinks to choose from. I can't recall if alcohol was available, but that's not always a necessary option.

All in all, it was a great afternoon with great food and sevice. We were never left waiting long between the delivery of our food and drinks. And nothing was too...