The Olde Cotton Mill Bistro and Tea Room

The Olde Cotton Mill were amazing when we booked for 20 people after a funeral. The service was warm, attentive, and effortless, and the food was fresh, delicious, and plentiful. They made a difficult day so much easier — truly above and beyond. Highly recommend!

The experience was so good, we came back twice in a week! Photos and video from 2nd visit.

Came here for my birthday with family. Excellent food. Superb service from the staff especially Hayat. Lovely restaurant will definitely come again.

What a stunning cute place to dine! We ordered the desi nashta and lattes, everything was absolutely amazing and delicious!
The atmosphere and ambiance was truly relaxing.
We traveled from London and every time we are up north, we will definitely come back and I highly recommend The Old Cotton Mil.

Not a place id venture into normally but wife wanted to go.

Inside the place looks more visually appealing... its a converted pub and the pub bar is still there but obviously repurposed as the reception. I like the different rooms / areas... so you got a choice of seating including outdoor seating.  I was expecting it to be open floor plan.

We were served pretty quick and able to choose to sit outside.

We were given menus for breakfast and lunch it decent range of starters and few main dishes like lasagna, sizzlers, pies, drinks and desserts

I got the chicken strip sizzler. And my wife got the chicken and veg pie. But we had to go back inside to the reception to order which is bit uncommon for restaurants or cafes.

Wait wasnt overly long... id rather wait a bit and get freshly cooked food.

Issues we noticed:
Waiters twice approached us with food which wasnt ours... then there were mix ups about who ordered what food. And I overheard the tall dude maybe owner, saying its cos people moving tables... I think there is some communication issues with the staff, lack or coordination.

When we got our food served it was placed in front of us on a completely bare table. There was no cutlery or napkin or sauces or anything. The waitress just dropped the food and walked away. She didn't ask us if we wanted anything else or about cutlery or tell us where to get it from. Were we expected to eat with our hands? I dont know...  Tbh im really not fussy over these things... but this is a dine in cafe / restaurant you expect basic level of service like cutlery especially with the prices they are charging.

There was no salt, pepper, red salt or chilled powder or sauces, neither were we offered any which is bad service...

Wife's chips def needed salt adding...

The sizzler was hot enough... but i think they had served it in a overheated hot plate so some of the rice and onions at the bottom had burnt to a crisp by the time I got round to it, but it wasnt as major issue.

The chicken had a good vibrant coating and there was enough sauces. Overall visually appealing and very instagrammy.

The chicken strips were quite thin and dangly, would be better if they were bit thicker and separate pieces not strung together.  They were placed on top of a bed of noodles, rice and chips.. This is great for variety or when you can't choose but there was not enough chips... I've had sizzlers from other places and they get served in a big plate with lots of chips, chips are cheap...so... well more chips would def help make this better value.  For about £13 it's on the high-ish end in terms of pricing and for the level of service and portion size it's not very justified for me... Esp in  Blackburn.

The chicken pie I was told was ok, it's not 'desi' in any way, so not spicy etc... but im not sure if it's meant to be... but she got more chips than I did and a garlic bread piece.

Then wife said the two J2O bottle of mango drinks she ordered afterwards cost extra £5... ouch!   I would only think that was fair price if at an airport or top end nightclub etc.. This is more than double normal retail price of these bottles...

If you ok with the pricing, want somewhere decent to dine in with halal food, it's not that bad.

Fantastic family owned bistro with fabulous friendly staff.  Attentive and very accommodating towards customer needs.  Generous portions,  Good Verity and cooked freshly on site.  My young boys love this place not just for the food but to meet the staff.

Order from The Olde Cotton Mill Bistro and Tea Room