The Best Cafes in Ashton In Makerfield, Greater Manchester, United Kingdom (2025)

What a cute little place. Great value and great quality cafe offerings! Stopped in for a takeaway as there was nothing at the train station. I ordered a club sandwich without bacon. I fully expected a tin foil wrapped toastie but instead recieved a lovely box full of a double decker toastie, with extra chicken to account for no bacon, coleslaw, salad and crisps. Delicious! Great decaff flat white (not all decaff is good) and the most delicious brownie (photographed from my train!).

Small place in close quarters with other diners, making it quite noisy. Plenty of seating on the ground floor with more downstairs. The decor creates an ambiance with a cosy atmosphere. Staff very friendly, smiley and happy to help with great table service. About a 30 minute wait for the food. I got the Barbeque Boston Butt (Special) - pulled pork, chorizo, melted cheese on toasted sourdough bread with a side of salad, coleslaw and crisps. A handful of crisps on the side. Small, standard salad with a drizzle of dressing and a smattering of coleslaw. The main focus is clearly the ‘Butt', which tasted great! The pork was well flavoured with the bbq sauce and the cheese well melted. The chorizo was a good addition flavour-wise, but meant that the toppings all easily slid off the toasted sourdough. I also had a cup of tea and cake. The tea was very good, a decent sized cup and a Speculoos biscuit on the side. The carrot cake was very moist, well spiced and full of walnuts. A light, creamy, very complimentary icing, topped with more walnuts. Though I did find the cake fell apart a little too easily, so I had to chase a lot of it around my plate. Overall, a very good place for a tasty lunch.

Popped in for an impromptu lunch on a Friday in June 2024. I had heard great things about the variety of vegan cakes on offer, so thought we'd try it as we were passing. Unfortunately, as was explained to us, because we were late the vegan cakes had sold out😒 But, whilst there wasn't anything explicitly vegan on the menu, they could adapt some of the items for us. So we had a gorgeous toasted salad styled baguette with balsamic glaze with side salad. The staff were extremely friendly & welcoming &, as stated, were very willing to adjust food options to our dietary requirements. The café is nicely decorated out in a relaxed tredy style & it is also larger than you first think as there is sitting both above & below the ground floor that you walk into off the high street. Take aways are possible, & certainly many took cakes away with them in cardboard boxes. The atmosphere is friendly & relaxed, it has WiFi should you need to have a working lunch, etc. It is a highly recommended place to pop into whether eating in or take away.

Wow! I’ve been coming to Mama J’s for the past year or two to enjoy the odd cup of coffee but today I decided to go for lunch and try some of the food out. Firstly, I discovered a new part of the cafe which has recently been renovated at the back of the building in a small courtyard but very well furnished. The space is beautiful and very peaceful. The food was impeccable and the quality of the ingredients was very impressive. I ordered a BOB from the special menu and it was to die for. Value for money and I would definitely have food there again. If I could give 6 stars I would. Thank you :)

What a gem of a place! The food is excellent. Really good quality, cooked to perfection and served piping hot. The home made baked beans alone are worth a visit. Plus, the decor and Frank Sinatra soundtrack in the background give this place a great vibe. Definitely worth a visit.

Visited this place today. Google maps took us to the other side if the river so had to detour, was a bit tricky to find but when at the mill it is signposted. The owner was lovely, friendly and chatty. Cafe itself is a little hidden gem! Lovely decor and a great feel to it. Our food was cooked fresh and the flavours were bang on. Wil definitely return and off course recommend to all reading this! You wont be disappointed. Upon hearing about the homemade pies and sausage rolls he makes we was gutted he had none available. That just goes to show how popular they are!!

We have just been and had a breakfast also aloud us to bring our dog in. The breakfast was lovely sausages are next level and he even goes to the effort of making home made baked beans and they are yummy. Definitely be back, it's a little gem hidden away.

Food was absolutely amazing, will definitely be returning again. Ham hock hoagie was immense

We love this place. Fresh food made in house every single time. It’s a lovely cafe and the owners are wonderful, kind and friendly people. The food is very reasonably priced. My daughter likes their pancakes better than anywhere else, the adults love the full English breakfast. Would highly recommend you give this small, family business a try. I don’t think you will be disappointed. Great place

Nice food! Nice people and nice services! Especially in love with their homemade cake. We have tried the Mango Cheesecake and Honey Cake, tastes perfect and not too sweet! amazing!

Wow what a lovely clean breakfast, surprised! If you want a horrible greasy spoon this is not for you. The food is great with homemade cakes, pity I couldn’t eat another thing or I would have had cake. The service was definitely with a smile.

Super cute diner/grill/café. Very clean, tidy and nicely decorated. Lots of love care and attention has gone into this place. It’s a big hit with and highly recommended by the locals. When you see their breakfast, you will understand why! Great prices, friendly service. Cracking place for breakfast or lunch.

Amazing little cafe, fab prices and excellent coffee. Perfect after a little dog walk around the lake - Service with a smile 😊 the young adults are extremely helpful and want to make your experience special. I’ll definitely be returning and may even treat myself to a slice of cake 🍰.

The Hamlet is a brilliant place! The trainees/team are fantastic and take such pride in their work! Food and drink from the cafe are always brilliant and Served with a smile! The Woodland shop is always full of goodies! Definitely worth a trip x

A wonderful, inclusive community space that provides many opportunities for young adults with additional needs. The cafe is innovative in its approach to supporting the young people in a work setting, whilst offering a lovely social experience for its customers.

The Hamlet is a lovely place to visit, the service provided by the trainees and the staff in the Nest cafe is amazing, as is the food and the hot drinks. Everyone is so kind and friendly and offer such a warm welcome. I can’t recommend highly enough.

This cafe is a hidden gem with a charming and peaceful outbuilding behind it, where you can enjoy a warm fireplace and a scrumptious cheese cake. The place is festive and cozy, adorned with lovely Christmas decorations. I highly recommend it!

Very nice little cafe on Wigan Lane, we both had toasties. Cheese, ham and tomato, and a bacon melt. Good, quality thick bread with a good amount of filling. The toastie comes with slaw, salad and crisps, I think they were about £12. Lovely, friendly staff and it got busy very quickly! We didn't book but others had, so I'd recommend booking to avoid disappointment. I'm definitely returning soon!

We had a lovely afternoon tea to celebrate my in-laws 80th birthday. Food was delicious and amazing value for money. Will and the staff were so accommodating and nothing was too much trouble. They even sang happy birthday and made the bday boy feel so special. Definitely recommend 👌

Staff are incredibly friendly and welcoming. The food is amazing, presented beautifully and they even brought us a sample of the freshly made soup which is all home made. I had the large toastie, and my mother had the afternoon tea platter. Do give it a try if you're looking for a nice afternoon lunch.

Coffee and food are lovely, staff are very friendly and so nice inside

Lovely family run business!!! ❤️❤️❤️❤️ Amazing drinks The CLEANIEST CAFE in Ashton!! Should be proud!!!

Delicious food! Really glad we called in today.

Loved the woman working there - she was so accommodating of our orders. The food came out piping hot and was delicious. Chicken was crispy and juicy. The sauces and toppings are unique enough to be interesting but familiar enough to be classic. Fantastic mocha - nice and chocolatey without being bitter. I wish I lived near here so I could eat there often!

Cosy little cafe with lovely friendly customer service. Best breakfast me and Dad have had since moving to Wigan. Defo will be going back for the lunch menu as its highly recommended. PS. Thanks Gemma for the home made slice of Kinda Bueno cheesecake - tasted absolutely amazing. Can't wait to try the Biscoff equivalent 🥰😋

Had a full breakfast and a mocha. Both were very nice. First time here and will definitely revisit. Good location

Love this place great home cooked food at affordable prices.

Always go here for breakfast with family, food is hot, good quality, plenty of it and delicious. You get service with a smile and if you want something 'tweaked' off the menu they always try to accommodate. We also used Cwtch's outside catering for our Dad's funeral, everyone commented how good the buffet was, especially the home made sausage rolls and home made cakes. They even catered for our vegetarian and gluten free friends. We also needed a small separate buffet for the sheltered accommodation which Cwtch put together little picnic boxes, these were also well received. I would deffinately recommend Cwtch for outside catering.

One of our favourite places to go for lunch. The coffee here is always really good and I definitely recommend. The food is always tasty with a good selection to pick from, and the outside seating is much better than you'd expect, covered with heaters spread throughout.

What a lovely place! Sat outside in the covered area back in autumn (only just got round to reviewing). Friendly staff. Good menu. Bought a gift from the nice little shop too. Large parking area. Recommend.

What a lovely little cafe . I only had a coffee and teacake, so I can't comment regards food. But the atmosphere was lovely. The staff too were super friendly. Will definitely go back again for lunch this time. A lovely little shop attached to it.

A very heartfelt restaurant with homemade UK-European menu. Different types of all day breakfasts are ready to order. Spaces not big but intimate with the owner’s choices of antique decoration. Worth a visit.

Visited a few weeks ago. Very busy & parking difficult. We sat outside but it was lovely and cosy, with the heater on. The lighting was lovely and staff were amazing. What let it down for me and why I wouldn't return was the prices and the food. I spent just over £40 on food for the 3 of us, and one of us is a toddler. I couldn't get over the kids meal, I ordered him a sandwich and it wasn't even a full piece of bread, it was half a piece of bread shaped into a car or something, I can't remember the shape but I was gobsmacked at the portion size and with that was a small portion of Crisps. Kids meals are usually good value for money and I thought the fact that you'd only provided half a sandwich and to charge a fiver or whatever it was, was pretty bad and I think that needs changing. Mine and my partners food were okay but definitely not worth what we paid. My partner was disappointed he wasn't warned the tomatoes were pureed tomatoes with his breakfast as he wouldn't of chosen to have them. I paid for a hot chocolate and milkshake which were expensive and again really nothing special about them, i expected something special for what I paid. The four star rating is due to the lovely staff, the atmosphere and the toilet/bathroom was lovely and clean.

Good overall experience, tasty food and good portion sizes. The only thing that lead me to 4 starts was we felt the blonde lady member of staff taking our order was a bit rude, also noticed she was the same to other customers and staff.