Time has not treated Conisbrough kindly. It was once an important Saxon burgh – the name literally means the town of the king. It has fought back against the deprivations caused by the miner’s strike and the closure of the coal mines. The pride is still there with the ruined castle and the church is the oldest building in South Yorkshire. At lunchtime on a Wednesday in June, the place was deserted. Fortunately Molly’s was open.
This is in the small white building opposite the church and I was given a warm welcome. This is more cafe than haute cuisine with a basic menu of hot food at very reasonable prices, but no cakes. It is trying hard to provide a service to the community with four computers, free internet, access to a fax machine, printing and scanning. It can also offer money transfers via Western Union. It also provides a selection of popular magazines for customers
There is a small service counter with the kitchen at the back of the cafe. It is a functional space with a mix of tables with purple tablecloths and pale yellow walls. It serves a range of different breakfast choices until 2.30pm and has a limited range of hot meals including the regular stand-bys of fish and chips, gammon and egg, burgers, steak pudding and Irish Stew. It also does a selection of sandwiches, toasties or jacket potatoes all at reasonable prices.
I decided on the ‘Just Steak Pudding’ with a glass of water. The steak pudding was reheated in the microwave but the chips were freshly cooked. It came with a big jug of gravy and a plentiful serving of peas – tinned rather than frozen. The steak pudding wasn’t huge but had a thick gravy with small chunks of meat. It smelt good and was tasty. As I said, this is basic cafe food and at £3.59 I felt was reasonable value.
Molly’s is open from 9.30-6 Monday-Saturday and 10-4 on a Sunday. There aren’t many places to eat in the centre of Conisbrough. The tea room in the castle closed after only a few years. So full marks to Molly’s for trying.
“Website and menus”:https://www.mollysatchimes.com/
