Café Mozaic

Working in Ashton Under Lyne can be somewhat depressing at lunch time and I can regularly be found at the butty counter of Marks and Spencer or Sainsburys. That was until I discovered this little gem on Warrington Street. Moroccan and Lebanese cuisine served up by AJ with a smile this place gets really busy but you can call ahead and order. I always have the same… lemon chilli chicken and halloumi on a houmous spread wrap with a side of feta and couscous. An absolute bargain at £3.60 and beautifully spiced.

My wife and I stumbled upon this café one Saturday afternoon late on and as all their food appears to be freshly made, they had virtually sold out. Luckily for us though they rustled up two fabulous meals for us with what they had left.
We have been back a second time and this time arrived earlier and the food and the choice was excellent. It was hugely busy but still they managed to serve us wonderfully tasty food in good time.
It is now our café of choice whenever we are in Ashton.

Café Mozaic co-​proprietor Esther B. kindly answered our questions on Moroccan and Lebanese food on this Talk thread
I visited Café Mozaic for lunch today to find Esther’s Moroccan husband Abdeljalil (AJ) holding the fort along with four other friendly staff. They were serving a lot of takeaways, but I chose to eat in — they have about twenty covers with plenty of free seating when I visited, and a warm, Mediterranean vibe about the place. Hot vegetarian options were falafel, a spicy potato dish, and three rice dishes — plain, saffron or cashew-​vermicelli rice. All sixteen mezze in the display fridge are vegetarian. I decided on a wrap, which AJ warmed then spread with hummus and chilli sauce before asking me to make my mezze choices. I was really greedy — falafel, spicy potato, beetroot, green bean w/​walnut, spicy green bean, feta, mint yoghurt dressing and so on. AJ’s technique was to crumble and spread everything evenly along the wrap, which was folded and returned to the heat press, before being served with sides of tabbouleh, spicy carrot and a delicious dressing. Although their khobz flatbread is from a packet rather than made on the premises, I found it really wholesome and will be seeking out a packet of these wraps myself from Worldwide Foods in Rusholme.
As you can imagine, the wrap was a complete riot of fresh flavours with all those fillings, and great value too at just £4.50 to sit in.
I would be interested to see what other Moroccan-​inspired hot vegetarian dishes Café Mozaic could come up with — maybe a vegetable tagine using chickpeas for the protein. In any event, I’m delighted to have discovered this ethnic treat to pop into when I’m in Ashton, which I found to be quite an upbeat locale. Look out for my forthcoming «Ashton-​under-​Lyne — a vegetarian explores» list!

For far too long my home town of Ashton under Lyne has been short of an eatery which offers an interesting alternative to the usual British lunchtime food.
Then I was lucky enough to be recommended a new café in town called Mozaic, it’s an authentic Moroccan establishment with all the food freshly prepared onsite.
From my first visit I was instantly welcomed by the owner who is only too happy to let you try any of the exotic looking dishes on offer before you buy. You can certainly tell they are passionate about the food here… you can taste it in every mouth full.
They really know they’re stuff and can reassuringly explain the ingredients of their dishes, offer serving suggestions or if you are hungry enough can give you a little taste of everything if you wish.
You can take away or eat in, there are only five or six tables if you do choose to eat in so it’s rather cosy; however this adds to the charm of the place.
The falafel is the best I have ever tasted and if you want something filling and tasty on the go then I would suggest one of their flat bread wraps, which with any 2 side salads for about £3 — is about as excellent value for money as you can get for fresh food.
There is a large selection of cold salads as well as hot dishes including vegetarian options, all the dishes I have tried so far I have enjoyed tremendously.
Normally this is the kind of place that would outshine most similar establishments in Didsbury, Chorlton and the like which why it’s even more exciting that we have something to sparkle on this side of the M60.
For those of you who think that excellent cultural culinary delights finish at the End of Wilbraham Road, I implore you to make a visit Mozaic.