H&F Cafe, Barrow

THERE used to be a jovial conductor on the Furness line trains who always referred to Barrow during his onboard announcements as "the Windy City".

I don't know if the chap in question is still working on the trains but if he is, his description of the town was certainly apt this week.

On Tuesday I was meeting two Mail colleagues for lunch in Windy City's Dalton Road – and by the time I'd battled my way from my car to our meeting point, my nose was streaming and my hair was well and truly blown away.

Yes, spring has well and truly sprung in Furness – as evidenced by the biting wind, snow and torrential rain we've endured this week. We were meeting at the Home and Finance cafe – and any thoughts of continental-style pavement cafe culture were knocked well and truly on the head by the gale whipping down the street (and the fact that there were no tables outside, probably because they would have blown half way up Abbey Road).

Not that the three of us had actually been reckless enough to contemplate an al fresco Barrow lunch. Mid-July would be pushing it in these parts. March? Forget it.

Inside at H&F, it's large, airy and spacious, although it's perhaps just ever so slightly disconcerting to find oneself dining in the same open plan space as people buying houses or sorting out their insurance.

Still, I'm a great believer in business diversity, which H&F clearly are, too.

We settled ourselves in a booth towards the rear of the eating area and ordered coffee all round – de caffs for the lightweights, a full monty cappuccino for me.

The cafe is clearly a popular venue for ladies who lunch – in the entire place (and it was busy for a windy Tuesday lunchtime) I saw just one male customer.

The only other discernible man in the building was a member of staff whose birthday it was and whose colleagues presented him with a candle-bedecked cake and a rousing (ish) chorus of Happy Birthday.

The menu contains the standard cafe fare of breakfast grub, paninis, baguettes, baked potatoes, soup and wraps, along with a selection of house specials, including fish dishes, "paradise chicken" and Cumbrian rarebit.

I chose the latter, librarian and editorial department pot plant whisperer Heather went for the fish goujons with H&F chips, and admin ace Sheila settled on a tuna savoury baked potato.

The food arrived promptly, which is always welcome for lunch-partakers who need to get back to work in a timely fashion. All were presented on rectangular plates and for the prices (the fish goujons were the dearest dish at £6.95) they were generous portions.

The baked spud was groaning with a veritable mound of tuna savoury, as well as an attractive, dressed side salad. The goujons came with mushy peas, chunky chips and tartare sauce, and my rarebit was accompanied by a salad.

I wasn't entirely taken with the rarebit topping, the constituent parts being just a bit too separated for my liking. It was good but the grated cheddar didn't quite work for me – and the toast was definitely on the well-done side.

The other dishes were great, though, with the star of the show undoubtedly being the goujons – mainly because the H&F chunky chips were just so fabtastic.

The secret – as Heather later discovered – is that they are steamed, frozen and then plunged straight into a fryer: a method I might well have to give a try, if I can work out exactly how to steam chips.

Under duress from me for review purposes, Heather nobly agreed to force down a vanilla slice for afters as, according to her Fitbit wristband, she'd walked off hundreds of calories already that day and could afford to indulge. I'd only walked to and from the car and around Marks & Spencer's food section, so I doubt I'd burnt off more than half a stick of celery's worth of calories thus far that day.

All told the bill came to just over £25 which, for a good quality cafe lunch for three, seemed pretty good value to us.

So there you have the H&F coffee shop. Good food in pleasant surroundings, with efficient service. Chips, vanilla slices, three-bed semis with double glazing throughout – you name it, H&F provides it.

By LOUISE ALLONBY

Ratings (out of five):

Food 4

Value 4

Atmosphere 3

Service 3.5

Pros

Spacious and airy

Great chips

You can house hunt and eat all in one place

Cons

They don't take cards at the cafe till

Some tables too close together