It was M&S for coffees, Eccles cake and chocolate croissant today at M&S Altrincham; a rather upmarket posh village.
The coffees were cappuccino and splendid Cortado. The iced water on tap.
The village has a delightful market in the centre where one can buy dressed crab, cooked whole lobster and my absolute total, complete favourite, in all the world, potted brown shrimps, sealed in butter. Forget caviar and lobster this, with good buttered toast, is the true food of the gods. Ambrosia.
There are flower sellers, cake sellers, sellers of LP's from the 1960's, cheese sellers offering small batch local cheeses, folks with woodfired ovens for sourdough pizzas, beer and wine sellers, upmarket hand made chocolates, oriental and Jamaican food (I don't think I could face goat curry) and a fish & chip shop.
I'm sure I've left out a lot of purveyors in this snapshot. It's also teeming with competitively priced coffee places, cafes and bars and as the competition is so fierce there's no downmarket offerings. read more