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This week I took my mother Yvonne for a late dinner/early tea at The Cow Shed in Penwortham.
I haven’t been for around five years, and noticed some changes. The new owners don’t make the ice cream themselves, it’s now purchased from Wallings; a dairy farm and ice cream parlour out Lancaster way. Whilst there weren’t as many desserts on show, there are some interesting savoury items on the menu that provide a nice balance.
It’s a cheerful place and obviously popular so we were lucky to get the last table indoors, a few feet away from the entrance. It was mostly cosy inside, but as it was a cold day we’d get the odd chilly gust when someone opened the door. As it’s a dinky room, it heated back up again quickly, however if you visit in winter take your big coat, just in case.
There were two impeccably dressed senior ladies at another table with their two impeccably dressed dogs, so it’s likely that well-behaved dogs are welcome. Sadly, that would rule out my dramatic old chihuahua, Archie, who defends the planet and everything in it from what I can only deduce is himself, because nobody else is getting their panties in a bunch.
I could put a coat on him, in which case he stands silent and rigid in one place like a tragic footstool until I take it off, then he pretends to be dead so I have to pick him up and carry him home. Not worth it.
The friendly lady behind the counter told us that although The Cow Shed closes at 4pm, the kitchen closes at 3pm, so we only had five minutes to choose what we wanted and order. Fortunately the menu was small enough for me to make a decision without panicking and ordering something contaminated with a sly mushroom. I hate those wet, bouncy little freaks that occupy the dank, creepy dimension between being soil and a slug and have no business being anywhere near a fork.
Yvonne ordered an Americano coffee. I should have done the same because Americans are pretty trustworthy as far as their coffee is concerned. That said, anyone who’s ever had a cup of tea in the USA will know that there’s a reason why Americano tea isn’t a thing over here. It tastes like someone dropped a tea bag mid-flee after we lost the War of Independence and they’ve just been passing it around for the last 241 years.
I found myself ordering a pumpkin spiced latte for £4.50. I don’t know exactly why I did it because I’m not a big fan of milky drinks, but they sound so warm and cosy that I fall for it every winter. It was exactly how a pumpkin spiced latte is expected to be: creamy, fragrant and sweet enough to melt teeth. It was only a small glass but I couldn’t have managed any more, and by the time our meals came I wasn’t very hungry at all and feeling vaguely guilty that I’d had pudding before my proper food.
Yvonne had gone for a bacon and brie bagel with red onion chutney, rocket and tomato. At £9.50 it wasn’t cheap, but the amount of filling piled into it was impressive and the bacon was perfectly crispy, as requested.
I went for one of the specials: a slice of sourdough toast topped with apple, burrata, hot honey, walnuts and seeds mix for £10.50, which looked so appetising on the plate that even I couldn’t mess up a photo of it.
I’m a sucker for a good sourdough (digressing slightly, the best wholemeal sourdough loaf I’ve ever had is sold in Holme Farm Dairy’s shop in Penwortham) and, despite the toast being loaded with other items, the sour taste was nicely discernable.
Review: For delicious, local food and a spectacular farm shop, there’s no place like Holme in Penwortham
Considering that I love all of the toppings individually and that they were generously applied and clearly of good quality, I wasn’t as keen on my sandwich as I expected to be. It took a while for me to figure out that it was due to the overall sweetness from the ingredients, which wasn’t balanced with sharpness or saltiness.
Instead of sloshing the dipping pot of honey all over my sandwich like I was a teenage boy and it was a can of Lynx Africa, more restraint on my part would have helped. Though not completely, as the creamy burrata and other toppings were still too mild to cut through the honey and apple’s sweetness. It’s a matter of personal taste but for me, if the burrata was swapped for a punchier cheese like Blacksticks Blue or Lancashire Tasty, the sandwich would have been magical.
The ingredients, quality and presentation of our food was exceptional but, as I’d already pigged out on a pumpkin spiced latte, my choice to follow it with more sweetness was the wrong one. Later I noticed that the menu also features cheese and toast made with creamy Lancashire and red Leicester, so next time I’ll ask for that instead of the burrata, go easier on the honey and swap the latte for a pot of tea.
I might even try one of the desserts as they look amazing on social media but, probably due to visiting so close to closing time, there were very few left on the counter.
The Cow Shed is another independent little business that, along with the likes of BonBons, Bread and Butter, 1260 Craft and Crust, The Artisan Deli, and pretty much every other eatery on Liverpool Road (except Greene King’s Fleece Inn) makes the ‘Penny Strip’ so popular with Preston’s foodies.
Have you gotten carried away with some honey? Keep it clean in the comments, this is a family blog.
