Luckes Live Well Café, Chichester, West Sussex

Geoff and I had just had a delicious flat white and just an ‘ok’ brownie in the Coffee Lab in the Cathedral Courtyard, Chichester. They’re usually quite tasty but this one seemed to have no taste whatsoever, although I must say that it was still nice and gooey. We were doing a spot of shopping for an upcoming holiday and noticed a new cafe in North street called Luckes.

We peered through the window at the cakes, a paleo lemon & raspberry cake, banana loaf to name but a few. We were supposed to be going out that evening for a curry to celebrate Geoff’s birthday but decided to check out this new joint anyway.

Luckes is so much more than just a healthy food café, its a wellbeing clinic with a wide range of therapies such as hypnotherapy, acupuncture, homeopathy and lots more. They also hold events, twice a month an evening group with a herbalist and a vegan wine-tasting evening coming up.

It’s very simply decorated inside, mainly white, in fact I think it was just white. We asked what the protocol was, was it waitress service? Unfortunately not so we had to queue by the entrance (luckily it wasn’t raining) whilst the people in front were deciding what to order, or should I say someone’s other half was ordering for them both and not really knowing what she wanted which didn’t help. An older couple behind us were getting agitated so it became a little stressful especially when eventually it was our turn to order.

Upon the counter they had several different salads, only Geoff doesn’t eat salads, he’s more of a meat and two veg’ kinda guy. He went for some spicy chicken pieces and a slice of sweet potato frittata, which was a bit odd as that’s like having two mains and nothing with it, which was queried by the server. There were slices of focaccia on offer so he asked for a slice of that to be added to his plate too.

I made sure I knew exactly what I wanted without any umming or ahhing so the people behind me would stop moaning. Jeez. I had the blue cheese, walnut & watercress tart along with three salads, one being frisée lettuce which has to be my least favourite lettuce variety ever. Beetroot salad came with a teaspoon of feta cheese sprinkled over it and I also had the quinoa, courgette, pea and mint salad too. I had a bottle of Fentimans rose lemonade whereas Geoff ordered a fresh orange juice. I missed out on having an ‘organic superfood smoothie’, mainly because I didn’t look at the blackboard with the list but they do several for post workout and hangovers too, they also have a list of organic juices – the more I read on their website the more I want to return.

We found a table easily enough, there were also a few outside at the rear and at the front of the cafe but the weather was a bit dodgy so we played safe and sat inside. The rear garden is mostly brick walls, one wall being particularly in need of some pointing but I guess that gave it a rustic feel, there was a tree with a few plants around the trunk. Hanging baskets or some pots with colourful flowers would have cheered it up a bit.

Annoyingly our table was wobbly, not the legs so we couldn’t shove a folded napkin under it, it was the base which attached to the legs which wobbled. Geoff’s OJ took some time coming, it was however just made freshly for him. It arrived in a plastic take away cup with a straw instead of a glass which would have been nicer.

My blue cheese & watercress tart was nice enough although slightly warmed through would have made it even more enjoyable. I also had to take it out of its cardboard wrapper. They had nothing quite so unhealthy as mayonnaise unfortunately 🙂  The lettuce should have had a French dressing on but I tasted none.

Geoff liked his sweet potato frittata and the spicy chicken was ok but lacking of any spice. The focaccia had been reduced in price presumably because it was most likely yesterday’s and so it was a little stale. Disappointing.

If you’re not into healthy eating then obviously this place will be a no-no for you unless visiting for cake and a coffee. I saw someone I know having a coffee with friends and have since spoken to her about Luckes, had she been before, what had she eaten etc., she said she’d been a couple of times and liked it, the coffee was very nice indeed but had not had anything else. She agreed about the queuing and her friends also stressed about this. I hate queuing in cafés which is one of the reasons that there are a couple of places in my home town of Portsmouth which I don’t visit. It works in some places, but not others.

We couldn’t really manage a cake or a coffee as we’d had enough and as I said before, we were hoping to go for the curry later. Needless to say we’re not quite as piggy as that and didn’t bother going out after all nor did we have much that evening – honest.

Would I return to Luckes? More than likely actually, even though re-reading what I’ve written doesn’t sound as if I enjoyed it much. I’d like to try a smoothie definitely and probably a cake too.  Waitress service would be better in my opinion. Watch out for an update on this post.

Ambience 8
Value 8
Service 7
Quality 7
Return? Yes, I’d like to give it another go.
Overall 7/10

Living life, loving cake

A x