Favourite lunch option on cafe menu?

[foxrobin]

As the title says really! Trying to get an idea of favourite lunch options on a cafe menu. My sister is opening a cafe in a popular market town and wants to offer a traditional but beautifully done menu so I'd love to know your favourite lunch options and anything you'd like to see more or less of. Thank you! X

. . . and I agree about the dogs. One sat near me on a rainy day and it smelt so bad it put me right off my bagel.

My favourite cafe is a flower shop one which does lots of beautiful homemade cakes and homemade breads (not sourdough)

Love a homemade soup - leek and potato, French onion, vegetable etc with nice bread and butter.

Went to a cafe the other day where they had made a lovely homemade veg quiche homemade coleslaw and salad and you could help yourself to what salad you liked and then eat it in their flower garden.

Used to go to a cafe by work which did lovely pasta dishes and a panini with chicken escalope and cheese I loved.

Quite like a ploughmans as well.

Half a griddled cheese sandwich with a small bowl of onion soup. Food of the gods

Oh, onion soup! Great suggestion!

Proper thick cut ham with egg and chips, beans a good additional option.

Plate meat pie.

Please make sure the cakes are homemade - parkin, date and walnut, carrot etc. I'd happily pay a fiver for a slice of good cake.

Jacket potatoes
Tuna melt
Nice bread and nice sausages
Pancakes
French toast
Brownies

Yesterday I went to a little cafe and had crepes with gluten free flour, and the filling was garlic mushrooms, spinach and brie and topped with a fried egg.

It was incredible.

Love this as a new take on French onion soup.
I have a recipe along the same lines for onion soup with Welsh Rarebit topped croutons and another for cheese and onion soup. The latter's done by stirring Gruyere cheese sauce into the soup.
Sounds a bit odd but it's always a hit.

Oh i love french onion soup.

On my birthday DH had a cream of onion soup. It was exactly what it sounded like- white onions pureed with cream. It had a bit of either thyme or tarragon in it from memory. Served with gorgeous fresh bread and butter. He said it was quite outstanding and I keep meaning to make it myself.

Butter! So many places ruin a sandwich with cheap axel grease margarine. Even worse when butter is offered on a baked potato and it turns out to be some kind of spread 🤢

Yes, this.

This!

I always ask for things like bacon butties and sandwiches made to order to be without ‘butter’ because of fake spreads and margarine. And never have baked potatoes in cafes unless I ask if it is real butter.

I also think real butter makes a cafe stand out!

I love somewhere that does a couple of lovely fresh salads, perhaps rotating different ones. It seems to be far easier to get these in other countries. Probably the type of thing that's sometimes marketed as "super food salad", but honestly usually just means a nice mix of veg, maybe with quinoa or butternut squash or nice bread on the side to add some filling carbs.

I nearly always go for a loaded sourdough with roast veg or halloumi if I spot it, especially if it comes with a good slaw or crispy fries. I also love menus where you can mix small plates, like at a cocktail bar—then I’ll get a few bits like olives, hummus, maybe calamari and a little salad. Feels like more fun than one big dish.

Potato skins filled with tuna mayo/spring onion and caramelised onion chutney on top. Serve with with salad and homemade coleslaw.

A really good baked potato with cheese and beans

A sausage and egg sandwich

Good tea or coffee, and if there's hot chocolate, make it with milk not hot water.

A lot of people eat low carb and this is never catered for, also veggie not just vegan options.

Love the descriptions!

A good selection of breakfast rolls with decent bread and good quality bacon / sausage. I have had a bacon and egg roll in two cafes recently, one of them used a ciabatta roll with loads of hot, salty bacon and a perfectly fried egg, it was amazing. The other used a soft, tasteless bap and the bacon was fairly tasteless too, won't be rushing back but the first one I went straight to Trip Advisor and gave it a great review (it also met my tea requirements, see below)..

Big pots of tea and proper mugs, none of these tiny china bowl shaped cups where the tea has gone cold within a minute of pouring it and the pot barely makes two cups full.

No to soup, just no interested. Sandwiches with good quality ingredients on good quality bread (not sourdough unless toasted). Chips available as a side but not as the default so you end up paying for them when you don't want them.

I love a Ploughman's lunch, really good quality cheeses and pickles, not too fancy,

I'm another who says no to butter because of the risk of it being margarine. Yuck. Use real butter and make it clear you are doing so.

Homemade cakes and bakes, not too large portions. Make it clear they are homemade, if I think they aren't I won't order.

Offer food with or without mayonnaise-don’t just plaster it on everything. If you can’t/won’t do this at least list it as an ingredient wherever it is used.

I'm not a huge fan of bread so options that aren't sandwich/toastie/bagel based would be, although saying that I'm a sucker for a really good smashed avocado on toast. Interesting soup options - french onion, mulligatawny, chicken noodle rather than the ubiquitous tomato & basil or carrot & coriander.
One of our local coffee shops used to do a ploughmans sharer but it's disappeared, it was fab!

I really love a good old traditional Australian ham and salad sandwich. White bread, real butter, ham, shredded iceberg lettuce, tomato, grated carrot, sliced beetroot or a pineapple ring and maybe a slice of cheese. That with a cup of coffee is lovely.

Skashuka