Basil in Tunbridge Wells

Even though I used to like Basil for their coffee and pancakes, I would never go back again because the owner is incredibly rude and openly made fun of my accent. The manager at the St John’s Road location had never made me feel welcome either. The prices are also ridiculous.

First visit to Basils. Excellent selection of food and drink prepared and served with equal excellence. Acoustics are rather sharp when busy due to lack of soft furnishing but this is a price worth paying. Staff work tirelessly and are most personable with Terri making our exploration of the menu a joy rather than a chore. Thank you. Graham, Jacci & Rebecca

Nice place in middle of town. Waited a lot for take away coffees, and, the size came wrong. The taste was okay. Foods looked delicious and fresh but didn’t try.

Lovely independent coffee shop, cakes were delicious very flavoursome, service very friendly

Lovely independent cafe serving panini melts and cakes.

Came on a recommendation and we’re not disappointed. Lovely fresh and very tasty food. Quick service and happy to make changes to the selections. Would highly recommend.

Love this little place!! Been here a number of times and sat outside in the sun. The food is always excellent, the drinks too and all reasonably priced. Staff are always friendly, helpful and welcoming. If I am in town and want to grab a coffee, I much prefer this than the other bigger chain brands close by.

For the management. There two points of interest we are happy with accepting card only if these areas where correct. The bread for the baps are toasted at other locations to revive the bread at other basil locations . Not here and the bread isn’t correct. Not fluff or soft… would say it’s like eating rubbery bread. And no eggs with breakfast. I felt there’s a chief problem that makes the waiting staff uncomfortable and took away from their service. Will be back to the Basil near St John’s but probably will go to bills on Sundays…. Mainly for the eggs. Food for thought on your strategy.

OK. Not as good coffee as expected but food is good although pricey.

Came here to get a takeaway smoothie, which was made to order, delicious and filled to the top. Definitely recommend. Food looked lovely and clean toilets. ☺️

We visited for hot drinks and brunch. They merged two tables to accommodate us. Staff were very friendly and welcoming. The drinks were delicious, quiche and ciabatta looked tasty and my granola breakfast was excellent! Thoroughly recommend.

I have had 2 extremely uncomfortable experiences here. As someone who has visited a few times i forgave the first but today was very upsetting and I will not be going back I ordered lunch here. I asked the waitress with dark red hair for a coffee extra hot and in a mimicking tone she said oh 'extra hot' to her trainee who was having trouble recording the order. They did not apologise about making me wait about 6-8 minutes while she showed him what buttons to press. It was rude and uncomfortable. She then charged me £18.45 for a coffee, quiche slice and salad which I thought was extremely overpriced and was about to leave. Unfortunately I was already short on time as they had been quite slow and I was nervous about creating a scene, I was also coming off a fast so was also really hungry and tired. I therefore (regretfully) just paid. I then asked if she could do it a little quickly and she said 'you will have to wait in the queue'. This was after an occasion a few months ago where the same waitress made me uncomfortable. I had actually brought a friend and while i was choosing our order she turned to her colleague and said 'This lady usually takes a while'. I think talking about me when I'm standing right there is belitteling and poor customer service, especially when the prices are not cheap! It's never harmful to be warm. I will not be going here ever again and it's a shame this waitress does not know how to treat customers. Especially ones that have attended several times and told other people about her business. Hopefully she changes her approach going forward.

Two regular takeaway cappuccinos were actually so small I thought we’d been given espressos. Then turned out they were cold. Two stressed out staff who kept telling customers “You need to wait/bear with us” Basil used to be great - not any longer. Plenty of better options in TW

Basil tucked away near shopping centre entrance. Plenty of seats, average prices, great-looking cakes, tasty coffee & mars milkshake.

Delicious, a good place for lunch

Oh, I love Basil. This is my 'go-to place' when I need a quick healty fix. Food is tasty and is very consistent. Whenever I go, I find that the salads and cakes are fresh. Staff works really quickly to get orders through. I am not voting on Atmosphere as I am always ordering to take away. Must visit place when you are in Tunbridge Wells. Please check their website as they have a few branches scattered around.

We like the place, we like the coffee, we like the food….. but the staff/ service are hopeless. Not just once but pretty much always on a Saturday morning. Owner needs to train and supervise better..

I just grabbed a coffee between trains, but good grief, what a coffee. It's been ten minutes since I left Basil, and I'm already writing this, that's how good this coffee is. And I'm difficult: decaf soy latte with hazelnut syrup. Yep, I'm one of those people. No eye rolling, just excellent service and this top notch coffee to boot. Nice one.

this is one of the best cafes in RTW. the other Juliets. the coffee here is lovely, if you love coffee give it a go. the food and cakes are homemade. it is pricey, but it is homemade and lovely. you get what you pay for.... sausage roll is heaven

Good food and great service from staff. Can be crowded during lunch times but quiet on Sundays

Lovely place in middle of town. Good food and service.

They took a long time to serve us, I had to ask 3 times for our table to be cleaned /wiped Dissappointed

This could be great but the service is so disorganised and slow.

Lovely hidden gem. Food fantastic

I had a Sausage Bap, looked lovely, but wasn’t very good. The sausage was so dry, if It hadn’t have been for the sauce that was provided I would have had difficulty swallowing it. It was also the only thing that had any taste. Disappointing.

Excellent sausage roll for lunch, but a bit thin on the choice of salads

Really good pancakes and coffee, I'll definetelly go next time I visit Tunbridge Wells.

very popular cafe but NOT a greasy spoon. A good selection of alternative foods. Cafe was busy, service was polite and efficient. There was a good 'vibe'.

Always friendly and food delicious

Great coffee.polite and friendly staff.

Best coffee in town. Lovely, cosy cafe. Great for a catch up with friends. Fresh, tasty food on offer.

Great service and nice staff but unfortunately they decided to join the wrong side of history and have stopped taking cash. Its a shame as I used to go there every day for a coffee. The money I've now saved I've recently bought my own coffee machine. Also £4.50 for a flapjack? Come on now..

General discomfort in service. Staff very rude banging, and snarling which may have been due to some racial prejudices. What a shame as we try to support small cafes. Wont be going back

The food is very nice, and the staff friendly. However, 3 stars and I regret that I will probably have to avoid in future: Why? If I recall, there was a sign saying cashless only. I'm very much against losing the option to use cash in the UK. Unfortunately, the more establishments that go down this route, the more likely that is to happen. Then we will have no choice.

Allways great lovely manager and staff.

Lovely independent coffee shop very friendly staff and nice atmosphere inside. Lovely clean toilet too.

They had good coffee, delicious baked goods and a good range of healthy and tasty lunch food.

Lovely food. Healthy options as well as tasty Cake treats. Friendly staff. Highly recommended

Broke down outside just popped in for a coffee

Visited Basil several times in various locations. It's usually pretty good. Had lunch today in the Tunbridge Wells restaurant. My wife an I both ordered a Savoury Plate (slice of quiche with a spoonful of coleslaw) and 2 small coffees costing a whopping £32.50. Checked the menu after ordering. Quiche on its own is okay at £6.55. But with a spoonful of coleslaw it's £12.95. I just spend £12.80 on coleslaw! Ridiculous! I feel robbed, how can coleslaw cost the same as Quiche.

Absolutely delicious food. Best brownie in town. Relaxed atmosphere and nice place to be.

Basil's brownies are my favourite in town -- dense and dark chocolatey and the slices are not over large.

Lovely friendly helpful staff. Very healthy options. Clean and tidy everywhere. Superb service. Food delicious and received really quickly. Can’t fault it hence highly recommended

Very friendly staff. Not cheap but good quality

Great food lovely friendly staff fab coffee and gluten free cakes

Prompt service, lovely tasting food, and pleasant seating area

I will not be returning until Basil accepts cash again. Used to come here all the time with family but will not be returning.

Great service and fantastic food

Good food, service was a little slow unfortunately (tail end of the lunch rush). The goats cheese quiche was really great. Also dog friendly

Very poor value for money. Basil used to be good value and delicious food but I feel the choice isn’t as good, food isn’t as good and it is now so overpriced. £38.85 for 2 of us. A small piece of quiche each - both with a bit of coleslaw and quinoa, a couple of cans of Cawston press flavoured water and one flapjack! I can’t eat nuts and there isn’t as much choice as there used to be for salads that are but free and I struggled to get the knife through the crust on my quiche. Nearly £20 each for what we had is a joke and have had much better meals for less money. Have been many times since it opened but no longer.

Food was alright but very very expensive for what it was :( not sure I would go again.

Very friendly staff who were so helpful. The quiches are great!

Excellent service, nice vegan breakfast and coffee was good (not bitter / cheap).

Lovely independent cafe. We had the homemade salads and panini’s which were all delicious.

Lovely coffee and food. Always friendly staff.

Just a quick coffee on a Thursday morning... nobody else in there. Why? The coffee was delicious and the millionaire's shortbread was yummy. The staff provided good service and conversation: a long lost brother in Gibraltar, the joys of a velvetiser... I'll be back!

We stopped in here on Good Friday when it wasn't too busy and very much enjoyed our coffees and flapjack, served by the friendly staff. A very nice start to our Easter visit to Tunbridge Wells.

Pop in for a light lunch food and service were excellent 😀

Visiting in the summer and sat outside dumb move plagued with wasps and no available seats inside when we asked to move

Lovely cafe with great food and drinks would definitely recommend 👌

Lovely lunch. Quiche and salad and service efficient and personable.

Arrived at Basil to find a sign asking all customers to wear a mask (which all the customers were). However no staff were wearing their masks. I got to the till and a young staff member went running out to greet a dog at the front of the shop, meanwhile a queue was building. Eventually another staff member asked to take my order, for 2 hot drinks & 2 pieces of cake the bill came to £14.60! I was asked to wait at the end of the desk for my order. The girl who had greeted the dog had by this point returned, I hadn't seen her wash her hands & she was slicing the cake with no gloves on. She brought them over to the end of the desk where I was waiting, stared blankly at me & asked what I was waiting for. I said I'd been asked to wait there for my order, she grunted & rolled her eyes as she walked off... I then had to make two trips bringing my order to the table. I don't have an issue paying for good quality products but the cake was stale & the customer service appalling! Also just a suggestion, if you're going to have a rule that everyone should wear a mask you should think about showing your staff how to properly wear one...

Great place to have a coffee and cake in tranquil setting

Basil's is my secret treat. They have some of the best cake in town. Always fresh and tasty. Their salads are wonderful too. If you want a fresh, open space with good atmosphere and food there isn't anywhere else this end of town that rivals it. Service has occasionally been a little slow but not too much to worry about. Maybe I don't remember that clearly but once a little while ago I had to order and then go and collect my drinks from the counter. I didn't like that very much and the usual table service is much nicer... It feels more of a treat as opposed to the 'usual' coffee shop experience.

Lovely cafe. Good coffee. Nice space

Amazing service, great food and drink. Only problem is it isn’t accessible to wheelchair users unless your ok sitting outside.

Lovely independent cafe with quiche, salads and coffee. Vegan and gluten free options available and the staff were very helpful checking the recipes for allergy information. Lovely cakes too!

I popped in while driving through the town. The cortado was very strong but just how I like it (think more traditional than costa or starbucks). Was tempted by a panini with a few very good vegetarian options and was not disappointed. The staff were very friendly and welcoming. Will definitely return when I'm in the area.

Great little cafe very popular so seating can be limited however the sausage rolls are to die for and the cakes devine

Smiley owner and girls who worked there made me feel super welcome, so ended up doing some work on my laptop here and having lunch instead of just coffee. Very welcoming and friendly staff!

I visited Basil this afternoon with my 6 week old baby. When I arrived he was unfortunately crying as he wanted to be fed and I was carrying him whilst pushing his pram. I sat outside and started to breast feed him, hoping to get someone’s attention to order a drink. I was unable to get inside the cafe with the pram due to the steps at the entrance. A kind man went in the cafe to ask for someone to come out and serve me, but no one did. A member of staff came out to clear a table next to me and did not acknowledge me. She came out again and I called to her and asked if I could order a drink, she said that I had to go in!to do so. When I explained that I couldn’t get the pram in whilst carrying the baby and feeding she went to check if she could serve me outside. I was then told that they were closing and I couldn’t order a drink. Despite a table of 3 being served about 5 minutes before this. I wonder what happens if someone is disabled and cannot manage the steps to get in and order? Do they get turned away as well? I was very disappointed with the discriminatory customer service and won’t be attending again.

Good coffee .and the cakes are amazing.

Having heard good reviews of Basil, my husband and I decided to finish off a couple of days celebrating our anniversary here. What a mistake. £4 for a “special” hot chocolate……..and I could find nothing special about it whatsoever. Bland flavour, served in a normal sized coffee cup, lukewarm, no cream, sprinkled rather sparsely with very hard mini marshmallows and, to top it off, my husband was told they’d run out of flakes, so two sad and broken Oreo biscuits were plonked on the saucer instead….and I’m no lover of Oreos. My husband had a flat white which was bitter and cold…..as he had waited over 5 minutes for my hot chocolate to be made whilst his drink sat on the side. Staff were rude and unwelcoming, my husband being barked at that they didn’t accept cash, only cards, when he went to pay. The only up side was that we didn’t order any food, having already filled up with a delicious cooked breakfast elsewhere. I fear we would only have been more out of pocket and even more disappointed than we were already. Somewhere that we will not be returning to….Costa will continue to receive our custom, Basil is certainly no threat in the drinks department.

Only had coffee and cake here (a couple of times) but saw others eating what looked like nice salads. Basil is right opposite Bills on a quiet little street and has inside and outside tables. RTW doesn't have a shortage of coffee shops with the usual chains abound, but Basils is a refreshing change.

Not great and certainly not the basil I remember. Genuine air of dissatisfsction from quite a few customers. Really quite disappointing.

Excellent choice for lunch with a friend. Food was very good and service friendly and welcoming.

Food was amazing. Service a bit ponderous otherwise this would have have been 5 stars The above was my last review and I normally only review somewhere after several visits as one visit is unfair. But now I find that there are nearly always mistakes with our orders or you wait forever to get your order or have to remind a member of staff about your order. The last straw was ordering the rest of a cake to take away half of which was subsequently given to another customer. My last 5 visits have suffered from all of the above so have reduced my score

What has happened to this place? Average service and boring mediocre food. I’m not surprised Bill’s was rocking across the road. Basil isn’t a great anymore . I won’t be returning.

Delicious coffee, friendly staff and lovely setting. This is our go-to local coffee shop and we always feel welcome.

Basil is a local coffee shop which has a 2 other branches. Very good coffee and baked goods.

Very tasty food and fast service, options could be more varied.

Cannot believe that today was my first visit to this delightful establishment.My other half and I decided to try today.Lovely coffee and chocolate brownies to die for.The staff were friendly and helpful.We sat outside as we had our dog with us.But inside it was very...

Great place.Lively friendly staff delicious coffee and cake.After the sameness of all the chains, this independent establishment is refreshing and a must try!

Basil bake some of the best cakes in town and offer amazing salads for lunch. The coffee doesn't get quite such a positive review, but it's strong and usually ok. This location has lovely indoor space, though often very full in usual times. The outdoor...

First time visitors to the town looking for lunch. Lovely day, and the good weather meant people wanted to eat outside, so difficult to find a table except for here. Quiche and some salad £10.80. Nice enough food but over priced. just because it sells...

Food was delicious. The best pancakes. Smoothies very good. Lovely to sit in the sun. Odd covid rule about not giving the table a jug of water instead the poor waitress runs back and forth refilling the smallest water glasses. Maybe larger glasses for the water if jugs are banned.

Fantastic staff and quality food and coffee

Awful on all points : Food / service / pricing

Screamed at by staff on entry Awful selection - 1 quiche 1 salad Filthy tables Then - charged one price - when I got home - noticed I was charged 50% more !

Nice place with good coffee and quiches. Love their brownies.

Wow! First visit and food amazing. Luv the quiche.

Wonderful food and friendly staff.

We had a brief stop in Tunbridge Wells and found this place perfectly suited our wanting a light lunch. Between us we had a vegetarian sweet potato quiche and a frittata which had chorizo in. We had them warm and they both came with a...

Coffee tastes great as well as the tea (roobios)

Sadly we were very disappointed with our coffee and service here. Went in for coffee and cake, served our coffees and then had to ask for cakes to be served. We had to return a coffee after it being burnt but the customer service in response was poor and obvious that this feedback wasn't welcome. The coffee was burnt instead of being too hot but this didn't seem to register with the barista staff. Wouldn't return unfortunately.

After going out for a girls lunch last week, I made the decision to return to basil with my Sister today (sat 3rd). I’ve been to basil previously and very much enjoyed the food, and did so last week. Today I’ve come in after praising...

Ideal place for a breakfast, or brunch. Great food. So much better than Bill's opposite. Sorry Bill...

Delicious food and attentive, friendly staff. Just love it!

Love the coffees and cakes and fresh salads! Even tried the pancakes (though I am not sure if they are on the current menu). Sadly there are a lot less cakes and salads to choose from (due to Covid) however the selection is always tasty....

Honestly, 5 Stars just isn't enough for this place. Surrounded by high street coffee and sandwich chains it would be easy not to look around the corner and take the 10 extra steps to experience proper service from friendly staff, excellent coffee and the most amazing selection of salads and lite bites. Whatever you do make sure you have a slice of cake too and if you're too full take it home with you. Believe me in a life full of cake eating the blueberry, hazelnut and honey slice just smashed it's way to a top 5 position - it was so good we couldn't resist going back later in the day for another slice.