9:10pm Wednesday 3rd June 2009
By Sophie Edwards
Delicatessen, tapas bar, cafe, restaurant, brunch spot – the Dish Deli Dining has it all.
A new arrival on the Leigh dining scene, this charming place is a foodie’s paradise, with a menu and food counter groaning with artisan cheeses, succulent hams, homemade pasta sauces, pastries, and incredible looking desserts.
By day it’s a light, pleasant cafe, with inside and outside seating. Shoppers stroll in for light lunches, including refreshingly different, and reasonably priced, sandwiches, such as homecooked salt beef with beetroot and horseradish.
Salads are on offer too, including dolcelatte, red pear and mixed tomato salad with pesto mayonnaise which I’ve tried and found to be delicious.
But by night, on Fridays and Saturday, the Dish transfoms itself and it was to this evening incarnation which my dining partner and I visited.
Regular evening fare is tapas and mezze dishes, but once or twice a month, chefs offer a themed night, faithfully recreating a foreign cuisine.
This time it was Turkish with a £15 set meal.
Sitting in the softly-lit, romantic interior, lined with wine bottles and artfully packages delicacies, we started off with olives, stuffed vine leaves, homemade hummus, fat wedges of crumbling feta cheese, cool tzatziki and tabbouleh, mopped up with flat bread.
These morsels were beautifully presented in earthenware pots, a nice touch which, somehow, made us feel closer to the Aegean sea than the Thames estuary.
These dishes were replaced with piping hot vegetable samosas, pitta breads stuffed with salty grilled halloumi cheese and sweet yellow peppers, spicy prawns, and best of all, lamb kofte, beautifully flavoured lamb kebabs, in a tangy marinade. Delicious, especially with a glass of pinot grigio.
Next, I opted for the homemade baklava, while my companion, seduced by the individual cheese cakes decided to deviate from the menu. In the end I was so jealous I had to order one too.
Whether popping in for coffee and cake, a light lunch, tapas, or to try something completely new, the Dish will not disappoint.
It sticks to a tried and tested recipe of fresh, good quality ingredients, good value for money, and extremely friendly service.
Dish Deli Dining Elm Road, Leigh 01702 719073 What we ate Turkish set menu for two. Included olives, hummus, pitta breads stuffed with salty grilled halloumi cheese, spicy prawns, lamb kofte, lamb kebabs and baklava £30; Two coffees £6; Two cheesecakes £ 5.90.
Our verdict (out of 5) Atmosphere 4 Food 4 Decor 4 Value 4 Service 3
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