If the walls at Argento Lounge could talk, there’s a chance they’d be shouting.

With paintings crammed on to every inch of the patterned wallpaper, the eclectic decor is as loud as the atmosphere – and when social video intern Ellie and I visited on Thursday night, it was loud.

In pictures: Argento Lounge opens in Preston’s Animate

The volume levels were so high, in fact, that when I commented to Ellie about the decor, a passing server half-heard me and agreed it was noisy. Perfect.

Of course, excitement was particularly high in that part of the city on Thursday. Earlier Nick Park had unveiled the statue of Feathers McGraw as part of the official opening of Animate – so it’s quite possible the noise levels might have been a bit above the usual.

In pictures: Nick Park unveils statue of criminal mastermind Feathers McGraw as Animate launches in Preston

Watch: The opening of the Animate complex including a peek inside Argento Lounge on YouTube

We were seated at a table for two fairly close to the door, and helped ourselves to water from the bar.

We decided to order through the QR code on the table. In theory this is a simple method with no need to interact with another human.

Unfortunately – despite having a day job in IT – I somehow messed up and ordered Ellie’s buttermilk fried chicken twice. I’ve no idea how I managed it, but the server kindly arranged a refund with the manager without any fuss. It was great customer service and much appreciated.

For drinks, Ellie chose from a long list of softies and went with a Cawston Press cloudy apple (£3.90), a sparkling juice that she found flavoursome with a nice aftertaste. I had a Lucky Saint (£4.75), the ‘superior’ alcohol free beer, which was lovely and refreshing.

For my food order, I decided on the deal of three tapas for £13.25 from the vegan menu, which happily (and shockingly!) offers a decent amount of choice.

Ellie enjoyed the chicken dish, priced at £12.50, deeming it well-cooked and tasty. It’s her staple food group so she’s well placed to judge. The lightly-spiced chicken breast was served with fries – rated a 7 out of 10 – plus house slaw and chipotle mayo, which went sadly untouched by the plain food enthusiast.

Read more: ‘Nachos fries seasoning a hit, yummy churros and sparkling toilets’ – what a pair of eight-year-olds made of Taco Bell opening in Preston

My tapas choices were the vegan bang bang fried cauliflower with ssamjang mayo and chilli ketchup, vegan guacamole with coriander pesto, roasted peppers and pickled red onion served with tortilla chips, and vegan patatas bravas with roasted garlic mayo. The dishes would have been £4.95 each if bought separately.

Each dish was enjoyably bold and complemented the others, though altogether perhaps the combo was a bit too heavy on the garlic. Thinking about it, I’d never let my Mum order them. Liz once felt slightly unwell after eating a garlicky meal and has had an aversion that she’s been very vocal about ever since.

The cauliflower was cooked perfectly with a delicious topping featuring ssamjang, which I later discovered is a Korean barbecue dipping sauce that combines sweet and savoury flavours.

The addition of the pesto, peppers and red onion to the guacamole was a great touch that made the dish feel that bit special. The tortilla chips were crisp and fresh, and the chip-to-guac ratio was almost perfect for me.

The patatas bravas were another winner, with a crispiness that held up under the weight of the rich, flavourful topping.

We were happy with the portion sizes, both leaving feeling full and personally with noticeably tighter fitting jeans than when I entered the establishment.

Would we go back? Well, I’ve popped in before for coffee and had an excellent slice of vegan carrot cake, and now I’ve enjoyed having tea there, so I’ll be returning to try my favourite meal of the day, brunch. I’d like to explore more of the menu because there are plenty of vegan options and it’s such a nice change from usually having a limited choice.

Ellie meanwhile says she’ll definitely go back, and has already recommended it to her family as she thinks they would love it.

We’re also both excited to try the future openings at Animate – particularly the independent traders that are set to fill the Mad Giant Food Hall.

Read more: What’s opening and when at Preston’s new entertainment and leisure destination Animate

While you may need to bring your outside voice and nimble fingers, all in all we think Argento Lounge is a cracking addition to Preston’s dining scene. The stylish yet lived-in vibe, plus the extensive and varied menu, make it a spot that will be appealing to return to, no matter the time, meal or occasion.

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