Lily's Cafe brings Indian-British flavours to Westhoughton

A new café is bringing fresh Indian-British flavours to Westhoughton Industrial Estate.

Lily’s Café opened in late July and is already making a name for itself with hearty British barms and wraps to start the day.

And for lunch, Indian favourites like chicken samosas or Rogan Josh are made fresh to order.

Leela Singh (Image: Marge Bradshaw Photography)

The open-air café also offers a cycle of weekly specials like chilly chicken with rice and a tender lamb mashed wrap.

Chicken tikka wraps, with generous chicken slices, fresh peppers and a creamy sauce are served with friendliness by the Singh family.

And it’s no wonder.

It has been the Singh family’s dream to open a café or restaurant for eight years, almost as long as they have lived in Westhoughton.

Leela Singh, 45, and her family moved to Westhoughton by way of Scotland and before that, Delhi.

Her daughter, Gunjan, 22, who does the marketing for Lily's Cafe, said:

"We’re a small family business and are all keen on cooking.

Centre: Gunjan Singh and her brother (Image: Marge Bradshaw Photography)

"My mum and dad have always wanted to open a restaurant.

"After working in hospitality as a head chef for 15 to 20 years, my dad always wanted to be his own boss.

"My mum used to give him ideas about dishes to make when we would open."

Leela, a homemaker, has always been creative.

And her creativity runs through the cafe.

Chicken tikka wrap (Image: Gunjan Singh)

Gunjan said: "She came up with these dishes that have become our weekly specials.

"Her idea was to focus on a small menu with premium products, not a massive menu with 50 odd options where people have to decide what to choose.

"We always like to give customers a good experience of our food and our own touch.

"We made sure to think of what the customers would like when we built our menu.

"We did a survey and tried to build our menu around it."

Lily's Cafe opened during school holidays and the family did not know what to expect.

Gunjan said: "We’ve always wanted to open a café or restaurant one day, but we didn’t know that would be this year.

"We opened in late July and didn't expect many people to show up but loads did.

"At first, we were not sure about how this would go, but people have been loving it so far.

"People have been enjoying the chicken tikka wraps and samosas."

"And recommending us to other people."

The family is hoping to open a  café with seating if all goes well.

She said: “We have been planning this for eight years, it has been a long process.

“We could never find a proper place to open because it was usually too expensive.

“This is the perfect place for now.”

Lily’s Café is in Unit 4B, James street on Westhoughton Industrial Estate. To learn more, visit @lilysscafe on Instagram