With two locations in Wakefield, West Yorkshire Grind Coffee Lounge has been around for such a long time and between both spots is loved by a variety of locals.

I hadn’t stopped by for over a decade and decided it was time to right that wrong on one hot summer day by sitting down and slurping at a milkshake.

The atmosphere and layout of the cafe in The Ridings shopping centre is simple but cosy. If the place had walls I can imagine dark walls, little pieces of glowing art to add some colour and a little fake fireplace for you to sit around with a hot chocolate on a cold day.

There was an older couple in there on this day and the woman asked where somebody else was to be told he doesn’t work that day. Turns out they normally get afternoon scones and a drink on a Thursday. Of course having older parts of the local population visit doesn’t always mean somewhere is good; If it’s just where they have always gone sometimes they are unlikely to change or see tweaks in standards. However, in Wakefield, there are so many small and independent coffee shops that they could very easily go elsewhere.

Whilst Grind call themselves a coffee lounge I know them for their smoothies and milkshakes. I always adored the milkshake options growing up as you can choose a normal flavoured milkshake or you can get things blended into it. And when I say things I mean a whole variety of chocolate bars or candy.

What you see here is Galaxy salted caramel blended up into the milk and topped with cream. As you can imagine some blend easier than others and I still had a little chunk of some of mine at the bottom that I scooped out and nibbled on. The one in the distance was After Eight and that packed a strong chocolate mint punch that was able to coat your mouth thanks to the thick and creamy milk.

The only tweak I wish we could make is to select the flavour of milkshake base alongside the thing to be blended up. If you were wanting something like Chewits to be mixed in there it might be pretty nice to ask for a strawberry milkshake base.

As well as drinks, as mentioned with the scones, they do a variety of freshly made sweet treats but they also do larger meals that are perfect for lunch too. Making this a great pausing from shopping spot or simply just a place to get away from the office for a longer lunch.

Don’t get me wrong Grind isn’t anything out of the ordinary or a one in a million but for where it is it works perfectly and I’m really pleased I took a trip down memory lane by giving it another visit.