I asked a lady who dines out three times a week in Lancaster to choose a restaurant for our first…read moremeet-up. The Sun Café Restaurant was her choice, and this place is currently also ranked 3rd on Tripadvisor for restaurants in Lancaster.
Although I hadn't said it in so many words, my wish was for a venue special enough to make her feel like a princess but still relaxed enough for us to get to know each other. The Sun Café Restaurant was the perfect venue.
From a quick walk around in the rain, Lancaster looks to be a pretty little town with some narrow cobbled backstreet that reminded me of Edinburgh. The Sun is situated on one of these backstreet.
The décor and ambience of speak of relaxed quality and of The Sun having put roots down a while ago. From the website, The Sun looks to be run by a very hands on chef-patron. From the outside, I found it very inviting, especially the detailing on the custom wrought metal. Inside, it is definitely a smart restaurant and I am guessing that the 'Café' in the name refers either to an earlier incarnation of this place or else serves to alert potential customers that The Sun also offers breakfast, lunch and coffee much more informally.
Our evening played out beautifully - from 6.30pm, we enjoyed the peace of the place to ourselves for the first hour and after that it was just nicely busy for a weekday evening.
With the food, I have to admit to not have been that hungry and also absorbed in my highly charismatic companion! We were both impressed by the presentation of her main which was pancake parcels filled with spinach and cheese, the parcels being bags tied at the neck with a chive or similar! I had a starter with a fancy name that was basically a small portion of ratatouille surrounded with a sweet and sour sauce based on pureed butternut squash. As sustenance, mine would have left something to be desired, but in terms of giving this keen cook taste sensations and a velvety texture that I couldn't imagine coming up with at home, I was pleased. My companion had some indulgent chocolate brownie dessert which seemed to hit the spot. The white wine was also pronounced satisfactory.
Service was really good - our elegant blonde waitress made us feel at home but special. Rounding up with a tip, the bill came to £35 for one vegetarian main, one starter, one pudding and two glasses of wine.
All in, The Sun is a great venue. Although not cheap, I felt our meal was really 'grandstanding' it for a special occasion, without breaking the bank. My companion tells me mains here are reasonably sized, although starters apparently can be on the small side. But whereas I might even grudge the cost of a Pizza Express meal, I didn't feel that at all here. If you live locally, the breakfast and lunch menus are totally different and priced much lower, so that is something The Sun can do for you on a budget!
My home patch for dining out right now is Manchester. I've only tried a couple of Modern British/European restaurants that would compare to The Sun (Thomas in the Northern Quarter, Bistro West 156 in Didsbury, but for an all-round dining experience and imaginative vegetarian options, The Sun is definitely better IMO.
