A QUIRKY new cafe decorated with bird feathers and old typewriters offering tip top roast dinners and English pub classics is set to throw open its doors in Westcliff.

The "Quirky Bird" is preparing to open at 775 London Road, in place of the former Daley’s Coffee House, at the start of next month after the owners carried out an overhaul.

Lisa Griggs, who previously ran the Bread and Cheese pub, is hoping to use her decades of experience to bring a new venue to the area.

Ahead of the opening, thousands of pounds have been spent on renovating the interior to create a homely, family-run atmosphere with a wide-ranging menu.

When the cafe opens on June 4, it will be selling breakfast and coffee alongside a full menu of meals and “smaller portions”.

Lisa said: “It’s called the Quirky Bird - it just stuck one day - and the inside will be decorated with feathers and pictures of eccentric women and things to make you smile like old typewriters. It is a fun play on words.

“On June 4, we will be having a soft opening before moving to a six-day-a-week service, this will likely be the last thing I do in the industry.

“I will be cooking my home-made roasts, cottage pies, steak and ale pies, all you would expect along with smoothies and newer things.

“We have a bar licence too but we don’t plan for a sit-down bar, we don’t want to encourage heavy drinking but we will be serving drinks with food.”

As well as managing the Bread and Cheese, Lisa has built up a wealth of experience working at the Hoy and Helmet, in Benfleet, as well as the Four Seasons and the Oyster Fleet, on Canvey.

She said: “I’ve worked in and for big pubs and hotels, I just want something for me now and I have been training for decades in the kitchen so I have perfected my recipes. I am going to be doing a lot of cooking from scratch and home cooking.

“The biggest thing for me is that there is no kids menu and no senior menu, it is about the appetite and not the age and we will be offering half portions for people.

“I have my fingers crossed I can make this a success.”