Benenden's in Tunbridge Wells

A lovely village cafe with friendly and efficient staff. All the usual cafe items are available including delicious cakes,bacon rolls, sandwiches etc at a reasonable price.

A great little cafe staffed by very friendly volunteers with a good choice of snacks and drinks. Well worth dropping into. My cup of tea was even served in proper china cup!

Went in for our usual tea/scone…kids treats…some guy stood behind counter doing nothing…and the lady behind counter in cafe didn’t quite know how to organise our order…we were only ones there…we walked out for the first time in 2yrs of going to this place! It’s organised chaos…entitled volunteers tearing up a good community shop!!

I love this little community cafe. One of our cycle group rang them ahead of our visit to warn them that a large group of hungry and thirsty cyclists would be descending on them. They reserved a table for us inside. Food and drink was served so quickly and efficiently. We have been to other places where we have had over an hour wait for a simple sandwich. The sausage rolls were yummy and several of our group hungrily hoovered macaroni cheese! Cakes delicious and coffees well made and piping hot. Will definitely be returning ! Thank you ladies for refuelling us to finish off the rest of the ride !

Poor customer service was going to sit outside but asked where the toilets were first before ordering for my pregnant partner but we’re refused use of the toilet as we hadn’t ordered

I only tried the coffee and biscotti. The flat white was excellent (they have a 'proper' coffee machine) and the almond biscotti was one of the tastiest I've tried.

Lovely staff, plus Lorraine makes the nicest scones! Was shocked to see a couple of unhappy reviews on here so although I haven’t been here since COVID, I do highly recommend

My wife and I stopped by for a coffee and cheese scone before a walk on the High Weald,The lockdown was imminent but the relaxed atmosphere was reassuring of times gone by and times to come, It is extremely well stocked as a store and the menu fresh and inviting . I regularly look up the website which is up to date and can only await with antisipation of the coffee shop side of the busineness to open. Thank you for such a pleasant experience.

I was recommended this cafe by a friend so I went for lunch. The menu is limited which is fine but all the time we were there, I felt like I was in the way. They were not busy either. Not sure if I will return.

Arrived at 4.20 after a tiring winter walk. Stood looking at the cakes and deciding on what tea to order when one of the staff came forward to say "no service after 4.15pm. When will people who run establishments such as this learn that a friendly " it's late but we can serve you" make all the difference?

Called in for a snack one lunch time. The staff were very friendly and helpful and the snack I had (a sausage roll) was good. This is a very good and well run (by volunteers) community shop, post office and cade and is an asset to the village.

At the heart of the community, this is a lovely place to drop in for a coffee, breakfast or lunch. We only had coffees and breakfast baps but these were very good. The lunch menu looked good and the cakes looked amazing. Well worth a visit!

Me and 6 friends on a rambling holiday turned up and asked for 6 cheese scones. They only had one ! The lady behind the counter said she would make us 6 on 20 minutes which she did. They were absolutely delicious. Thanks very much Great service

I live locally and as I had the day off work I decided cycle with my 12 year old daughter to the shop for an ice cream. Once bought I looked outside if there was somewhere to sit but 3 men were using most of tables and as they were smoking I didn’t want to sit beside them. As only one of the tables inside were being used we sat down with the intention of being there for 5 minutes while we ate our ice creams. While sitting there I noticed the information screen showing that they had raised £5,000 for a new play ground and that they were still looking for new members. As I am not a member I made a note to myself to sign up when I got home and become a member and denote some money. After about two minutes a lady very bluntly said if we weren’t going to buy anything from the cafe we couldn’t sit there. When I explained we had bought the ice creams from the shop area in the same room she said again very bluntly there was a sign outside stating the rules that I was not allowed to sit at these tables even though they were all empty because I had made my purchase at the shop till and not the cafe till. Had the cafe been full I could understand if this had been politely explained to me and would have would have moved on. However this lady was clearly angry and unnecessarily blunt and rude. We got up and ate our ice creams standing outside beside our bikes. The shop may be a great community asset but someone needs to train the volunteers on customer service. I will now not become a member and will go to the shop in Rolvenden in future who are much more welcoming. That lady really needs to get life in perspective!

Benenden's is a Community Shop, a Post Office and a superb Village Cafe... and a great place to stop for a break... The Cafe provided me with an excellent breakfast cob and a pot of English Tea to eat in... well worthy of recognition and a great place to stop if you are in 'The Weald'.... The lunch menu also looked very appetising and the service of 'home-made' food is very friendly... Merci beaucoup... cordialement - M....

I have been here on several occasions to eat in and to take away. Plenty of attentive staff. Good coffee. Yummy cakes.

This place is a must stop. It serves as the local shop, post office and cafe. The service from the two lady volunteers was impeccable. The shop is thoughtfully and well stocked and the cafe serves excellent coffee and cakes as well as a range of sandwiches, sausage rolls and pies. For something more substantial the salads and jacket potatoes looked great too.

You really must try the chicken curry, friendly staff, clean tables, fantastic pit stop good value too.

Excellent Community run Village Shop, Cafe and Post Office. Great range of coffee's tea and snacks. Served by friendly staff and volunteers from the village community.

Absolutely gorgeous coffee. Nice place for a light bite, afternoon tea and a place to meet friends. BENENEDEN S is run by volunteers which is very admirable but a smile and a welcoming hello would be nice.

I went with 2 friends to the cafe this morning, when we arrived there were no tables so we decided to purchase pieces of cake to take away. I had to ask to be served as the 3 ladies behind the counter were content to carry on with their conversation, I choose the cake and proceeded to pay for it. One of the ladies made it plainly obvious that it was too much trouble. Whilst communicating to the other ladies "she wants to buy a piece of cake " .They continued to talk amongst themselves including a gentleman that was propping up the counter on a bar stool. They then suggested to the gentleman to get up, collect cups and to move customer's on. This was in all within my ear shot. Then a table became available so I suggested we brought drinks and sat at the vacant table. This met with great discussion with the 3 ladies " she's brought the cake, now she wants to sit down". I decided this was no the place to sit down for a catch up with friends and have a relaxing coffee. I understand it is a community venture run by volunteers , but they should be there to serve customers not to think they are there for a social gathering and make the customers feel they are an inconvenience.

Cozy little cafe, with great selection of sandwiches and and sweets/cakes..it also has a mini store...quite convenient actually...love the place!

Staff and service excellent, menu limited but it is only a cafe, excellent value, parking a bit hard, handy to have a shop as well

Having recently moved in to the village, Benendens has become a godsend! It stocks many popular items, has a fabulous wine selection and serves the best coffee and home made treats around. Run by volunteers who are always extremely polite and helpful, Benendens has become a firm family favourite for us all. Wether it's for a loaf of bread, takeaway coffee, an ice cream or pocket money spends- we all love it and are very glad to have it so close to home.

A village shop run largely by volunteers. Totally refurbished with quality products and a cafe to be proud of.

We ate at the Bull at Benenden last night. We loved the friendly atmosphere and staff. The service was quick, the food delicious and ambience enjoyable.