à bloc — Restaurant in Trafford

Great little new independent cafe, with a very warm, modern take on a french jazzy cafe vibe. Think lots of warm wood, and soft pink and greens. Heard the hype, and since my first visit I have probably spent way too much time in there than I should have. In my experience, it comes across as a great local , that is dynamic in meeting it's customers needs. My feeling is that it's not a particularly extensive menu - but more targeted with emphasis on quality and an extremely well executed breakfast/brunch menu. Most importantly for me...and without question.. THE best coffee in South Manchester ( @grapefriutcoffee would be a very close second in Sale). Great choice of craft beers - I've personally not tried the wine, but the selection looks extensive and we understand it to be from our favourite wine bar @reserveataltymarket..but without the walk. I have a massive soft spot for their home-made donuts.Unfortunately though, later on the weekends, they appear to have sold out of most and I've missed out a couple of times.

Finally...the cocktails are ridiculous. We have happily worked our way through the set cocktail menu over the last few Friday nights. They also do classics I've found out. (I am more of a whisky sour or espresso martini fan). Recommended!

Weirdly.. I never review some of my local hang outs..only when I travel I tend to feel the need, but this place is special and happy to share. Oh-so very thankful this place has appeared on our doorstep.

One questionable review was motivation to bring me here. I support independent local businesses in Alty.. and obviously want them to succeed. No one likes a Ba-ba-ra-ra. ;-/

11/10 for all my dog walking, family time, couple...

Disappointed to say the least.

If you’re looking for a place to ponder the meaning of life while slowly turning to dust, à bloc café is the spot for you.

We arrived with high hopes and empty stomachs, ready to indulge in the simple pleasure of coffee and brunch. What we got instead was a full-blown meditation retreat - with less enlightenment and more hunger pains.

We waited 20 minutes for two coffees. I’m convinced they were personally growing the beans out back, possibly one sprout at a time. By the time the drinks arrived, we were so emotionally attached to the wait, it felt like saying goodbye to an old friend.

Then came the food… or rather, then didn’t come the food. Another hour passed. I began to hallucinate. I saw a waiter carrying food—but no, it was just a mirage, the ghost of someone else’s eggs on toast floating by in slow motion.

The staff seemed to operate on a different dimension of time altogether. Friendly? Sure. Present? Questionable. Efficient? Not unless they’re training for the Sloth Olympics.

By the end, I wasn’t sure if I’d ordered lunch or had simply enrolled in a time-loop experiment disguised as a café. Either way, I left older, wiser, and significantly hungrier.

Do not recommend unless you’re planning to write a novel during your visit. Or age gracefully into the...

DISAPPOINTING FOOD AND SERVICE. Went for brunch with my daughter after coming across their menu and Instagram which looked great. We arrived and ordered our food and drinks promptly, the coffee came out as normal but we weren’t made aware of the 35 minute wait for food. After going up to the desk asking whether they had forgotten our order, one member of staff (the red head) instantly got snappy and became very rude, stating it should be out next. Once our food arrived, there was no forthcoming apology about the wait time. We ordered the tiramisu french toast- do not order if you are hungry, very bad value for money and burnt, a very thin dry slice of toast with a teaspoon sized dollop of garnish. we also ordered the brioche bun which had been misinformed to us and ended up being charged £2 for a single mushroom. When questioned on this, the red head became very stroppy and got a colleague to back her up which felt as though they were ganging up. There was no acknowledgment for the wait time or being misinformed and ended up paying £30.36 for 2 tiny long blacks, one slice of burnt dry French toast and a roll with one egg and one mushroom- Awful value for money and the red head’s service was very unpleasant making our visit very...