I've found a new cafe in Eccles. Danny wanted to go home for a coffee, I insisted on trying Vintage. On the corner next to Eccles Parish Church, we entered Vintage tentatively and slightly self conscious, unusually unfamiliar with an Eccles eatery. We were greeted by a lovely vanilla smell and the sound of a man's booming voice, pontificating to his friend about the national minimum wage. A lone woman with a tall latte and us two, swiftly followed by two woman and a little boy and Vintage was bustling. One of the women was pushing the little boy's scooter. I observed from the menu that they were serving ristrettos, bet you cant get one of those within a five mile radius. The woman behind the counter allowed us to peruse the menu and the array of food on display, which consisted of paninis, cookies and muffins. We ordered a Latte, an Americano (black separate cold milk) and one chocolate muffin. We parked our backsides at a table in the window. I heard our loud mouthed pony tailed neighbour, stretched out in his chair, right arm slung back, talking about a Ken Loach documentary. Coffees and comestibles arrived on mis-matched crockery, which I absolutely loved and thought was a touch of genius. I detest uniformity, it puts me in mind of an ikea purgatory. The little boy on the next table was presented with a rather large cookie. His female guardian told him she thought the cookie was the size of the sun. The little boy disagreed. For one he said the sun was outside. Next minute the little lad was writhing in his seat and looked in some discomfort, he'd bit his lip on his first bite of the sun sized cookie.Our drinks were spectacular. I ate one of the brown sugar lumps, couldn't resist. The Ken Loach fan was talking about a time someone had the nerve to push in front of him in a queue. When we'd finished we went to the counter to pay. Three pounds fifty for the lot. After we had thanked and complimented her on the food and drink she asked if we drank beer, she told us they had some Czech ales on sale. she gave us a loyalty card and we were on our way. I would now chose Vintage any day over its nearest rival, Season's; which is about twenty yards away. Whilst Vintage is exceptionally reasonable priced, and unique Season's is tatty, tawdry and backdated.
