Lounge around in Anston

Girls’ treat and all that.

I get up as normal and decide to pop to the supermarket.

She’s still in bed though so I leave a note explaining where I am.

Back I come loaded with shopping to an eerily quiet house.

It’s gone 11 and she’s still in bed. My note remains unread.

But hey, I’ve got the patience of a saint – something all parents of teenagers must develop immediately their offspring turn 13 – and so I wait patiently for her to emerge.

Two hours later, we are sitting in The Lounge Lizard and I am marvelling that a place with such a lively metropolitan vibe is on my doorstep.

It’s like the kind of café you would find in a trendy part of Sheffield.

That’s not to say it’s pretentious, far from it.

We were given a warm and friendly welcome and, despite it being busy, we were not kept waiting.

All the food is sourced locally – the waitress said they had even found a Yorkshire salami supplier – and they use ingredients which are in season.

Daughter is welded permanently to her phone these days, so as soon as she saw there was free WiFi she was happy.

I hate phones being used at meal times, but it’s all about compromise with teenagers.

I chose the soup of the day, mushroom, (£4) which was delicious and came with four large triangles of granary bread and a pot of butter.

Daughter had a mozzarella, tomato and pesto panini (£4.80) which was so huge she couldn’t eat all of it.

The waitress immediately offered to wrap it up for her to take home, apologising that it would have to be tin foil because the recycling takeaway containers hadn’t arrived there yet.

Fantastic food AND recycling? This place is becoming more amazing by the minute.

Being a bit of a tea connoisseur I decided to try the Lady Grey with Cornflowers (£2) with lemon, which was thirst-quenching on a hot day, while Daughter opted for a Coke (70p).

I had a slice of deliciously moist orange and coconut cake (£2) and Daughter had a cherry and almond cookie (£1.30).

I know, I know. She shouldn’t really have been allowed a pudding when she hadn’t finished her panini, but it’s all about compromise see?

I needed her opinion for this review.

She declared it all to be fantastic, which is high praise indeed from a13-year-old for whom meal times are an annoying interruption to her social life.

The décor is definitely modern, with chunky wooden tables and leather seats, and original canvas paintings on the walls which are available to buy.

Herbs were growing in pots and the whole place had a fresh, airy feel about it.

If you look up the definition of a lounge lizard you’ll discover it’s a term for a ladies’ man who frequents night spots, chatting up rich women.

But I doubt you’ll find any such person in this delightful café.

We’ll definitely be going back.

And if you’re wondering what happened to the tin foil sandwich wrapping, well it went in our recycling bin of course.

Helen Johnston

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