Cafe Lento is one of those places that seamlessly combine coffee culture with local community. It's unassuming and inviting from the outside, with a couple of table and chairs outside for sunnier days, and modern but homely on the inside. With lots of exposed brick and coffee coloured walls it's nice and clean and inviting without being intimidating. It sits in steep contrast to it's surroundings, but that shouldn't put anyone off from taking a step inside.
Coffee and food. Two of the simple things in life that are often beautiful leisure time indulgences that so so many people seem to get horribly wrong. I am happy to report that Cafe Lento is not one of them.
The coffee is fairtrade, this will be impressed upon you whilst you cogitate what to order, it's all fairtrade. Lovely. But who's is it and how does it taste. It's Lavazza Tiera, not my particular favourite brand of coffee, but it packs a nice smooth punch so fair enough. They do well with what they have, and offer a good range of hot beverages, with large latte's at £2.30 and Americano's at the good price of £1.50, amongst others. Cold drinks for sunny days are also available, adding a shot of espresso to one of their milkshakes is a lovely way to waste some time over a good book outside.
If your belly is rumbling, then unlike Starbucks and Costa and Nero and all those others, Lento offers food beyond the panini, there's soup and a roll, Greek salads, jacket potatoes, hot sarnies, cold sarnies, and the saving grace the full English breakfast. The only thing missing from the full English is a nice side of black pudding, but that could be my Mancunian routes shining through. £5.50 for juice, sausage, egg, bacon, beans, tomato, mushrooms, bread and butter, it's definitely a feast worth the indulgence. read more