Sheffield's Thyme Café a 'buzzing place with smiling staff and amazing food' - review

I was invited down to the restaurant on Glossop Road to try out their new set menu offer, which takes place between 12pm-2.30pm and 5pm-6.30pm on Tuesdays until Fridays. Customers can devour two courses for £17 or three courses for £22 and both include a free small drink as well.

I was greeted with a wonderful, warm atmosphere as I entered Thyme Café, with lights surrounding the entrance and the smile of David Hoyland, the restaurant manager, as he enthusiastically showed me to my table. Kevin Alder, joint owner of Thyme Café, told me their aim is to offer great tasting food, in a relaxed atmosphere and great value for money. This was certainly the case.

Value for money was epitomised in the bread and hummus starter I had, which was labelled as a snack on the menu at just £4. I was treated to a loaf of sourdough bread with two large ceramic pots of hummus and chilli oil which complemented each other perfectly and kick started a fantastic meal.

For the main course, I opted for the southern fried chicken burger and crispy sweet potato wedges, which were cooked to perfection. The burger was enormous, with the southern fried chicken sticking out at both ends on a bed of lettuce. Other main courses on offer were: smoked haddock Gratin, crispy ham hock Ballontine, fish finger butty or grilled mixed vegetable bruschetta. The choice of a vanilla rice pudding, warm sticky toffee pudding or mulled peaches await you on the dessert menu. The cherry on top is that kids eat free during the set menu times.

Mr Alder said: “Success for us is happy customers, returning customers, seeing empty plates and the restaurant buzzing. We want to help our customers to have a great meal and a great experience with their family.

“Whether it be in the kitchen giving great food to the customers or the front of house giving great service and great drinks, we can’t take customers for granted these days. We need to make sure we’re looking after them and every customer is key.”

A “buzzing restaurant” is an understatement from my experience of eating at Thyme Café. I was at a lunch sitting on a Wednesday, not expecting the restaurant to be busy, but I was met with the opposite. Families and friends of all ages met for a high quality meal and the restaurant was a hive of positivity.

The set menu is not the only introduction to Thyme Café to help family and friends enjoy a great value for money meal. A wide range of dishes are written on blackboards that are placed around the restaurant and there are weekly changing specials every Thursday night for customers to relish. I left Thyme Café with a rewarded feeling I hadn’t taken away from a restaurant in a long time. The service was both polite and friendly and the food was rich in quality but at a valuable price.