SUPPING coffee all morning had left me with a raging appetite by the time I got to Megabites of Cumbria.

The new outlet had a steady stream of customers at the start of the lunchtime peak, including business types and schoolboys.

A quick rundown of the menu — full or half, brown or white baguettes, bagels, salads and oven-baked potatoes — by one of the friendly staff and I picked a cheese and ham granary baguette and a salad box (£3.20 each).

From the selection of chicken toppings, I picked garlic chicken.

The generous serving of mayo-coated chunky breast meat came on a bed of red pesto pasta, potato salad, coleslaw and salad veggies — all fresh, homemade and plentiful.

Thank goodness for that coffee hunger: It was delicious and mega-filling, although I would have preferred the balance more in favour of the vegetables as all the dressings did slightly overwhelm them.

Ham and cheese was topped off with mustard and salad — and was also declared a success by my lunch buddy.

Treating our colleagues, I picked up a selection of the homemade bakes; brownie cake, fruit and seed bar, flapjack and Mars Bar tiffin.

Every one was a winner.

One thing puzzled me — while they definitely serve up Megabites, I’m intrigued by ‘of Cumbria’ in the heart of the Ribble Valley.

TASTE 9, TEMPERATURE 9, SPEED 8, VALUE 8, CHOICE 8