‘Coffee Start’
The Mall
Coffee Start in The Mall.
TRALEE people were saddened when Charlie’s on The Mall closed its doors on Christmas Eve.
For many over the past 30 years, the cafe/bakery was a place to stop off for a chat and a bite to eat, while many a school romance was kindled there over the years.
It was heartening then when a new business, ‘Coffee Start’, opened there back in early February with the creation of ten new jobs.
Continued below…
The new owner, Jaroslaw Lukasiewicz, a Polish man, who has been living in Ireland for the past nine years, promised something new for the town.
I visited there a few days after they opened and had an enjoyable sandwich, but the service was slow as the staff were still finding their feet at the time, so I left off the review until now.
I returned on a wet Friday afternoon last week and found the old laminated menu was gone and everything available was now written on large blackboards stretching halfway down the cafe.
I had a look. They have all kinds of sandwiches, baps, toasties, breakfasts, a soup of the day (€4.50) and special coffees. I ordered a cajun chicken ciabatta (€6) and took my seat.
I’m not mad about the interior – the same seating that has been there for years remains, having had a lick of paint. I just think a new more modern look would suit the place better.
It was about 1.30pm and there was about 15 people there which wasn’t very busy, but then again, with the weather so bad a lot of people probably stayed didn’t venture out to eat.
The food arrived promptly enough and it was hard to fault. The bread was lovely and fresh, the chicken was really tasty and there was a lovely sauce which worked well with the salad in the sandwich.
It also came with a nice side-salad. A really nice lunch was followed up by a very good cappuccino. The bill came to €8.70.
When I was there, Jaroslaw, recognised me from when I interviewed him some months ago.
He said he has plans for changing the layout of the cafe with a huge ice-cream fridge to be placed at the front by the window serving Margaret McCarthy’s Ice-Cream from Kenmare.
Let’s hope we get the weather for it!
