Cafe at Book-ish in Powys

If you find yourself in Crickhowell, the café at Book-ish is a must-visit for coffee and food lovers. The staff greet you warmly, offering friendly and attentive service in an atmosphere surrounded by books, which adds a calming, nostalgic charm. The thoughtfully curated menu may be concise, but every dish shines. Even classics like avocado toast or a bacon sandwich become memorable bursts of flavor. The chef’s personal touch, checking in with diners, exemplifies the care taken here. Highly recommended—I can’t wait to return.

We loved it - very friendly service, a lovely building with comfortable furnishings, quirky and characterful. Great lunch menu too. The best cafe experience we’ve had whilst we’ve been in Crickhowell.

Consistently good food with a great ambience and lovely friendly staff who cannot do enough for you. Relaxed atmosphere and well cooked small but reliable menu. Just what is needed from a small cafe. ps please bring back the large teapots they were just perfect size for a good brew for two.

A super cafe with delicious menu.

Fantastic, relaxed space with friendly, happy and helpful staff. We had the most delicious tomato soup & focaccia ever!

Delicious food. Delightful staff. Debonair atmosphere.

Had a delicious breakfast! Generous portion, delicious extra touches, quickly served and reasonably priced! What more could you want?? The space is also lovely, I wanted to read every book! Must visit in Crickhowell

Freshly cooked healthy(ish) breakfast. Above an interesting bookshop. Recommended 🥑 🥚 🥓 📚 ☕️

Lovely little unexpected stop, lovely atmosphere and good selection Loved the recommended Dhal!

Good coffee, nice atmosphere, friendly staff :)

Everything here is AMAZING. We popped in for a quick cuppa then ordered lunch. The 3 cheese tuna melt is bliss. Not a stodgy, heavy sandwich, but a fresh, tasty experience with fresh herbs and capers. The tomato soup tastes of fresh garden tomatoes. The tea is top notch. The servers are kind and smile, leading one to think they like their job. I’m way too full to try the cakes.

The food is always delicious and the service impeccable at this lovely cafe. It has great views over the mountains. The books help too!

Fab cafe with gorgeous cakes - in a lovely book shop! Really enjoyed abstop in this cosy cafe for cake after a walk. Highly recommend

First decent coffee in the area and a delicious roasted peach granola. Really enjoyed it.

What a lovely cafe & a bookshop. I was so pleased to find an independent bookshop and also with a cafe offering great selection of food, drink, and sweet treats. All look absolutely lovely. My partner and I stopped by for drinks and a treat after our long hike on a very hot day. Sadly they ran out of ice so we got green tea, earl grey and a slice of ginger cake. What a reward it was! Ginger cake was so rich and has deep, carameli flavour and smooth mouthfeel with a good kick of fiery ginger. Cream cheese frosting complimented so well and not super sweet. We enjoyed a lot. Pistachio cake looked so tempting and I wish we tried that one too! We checked out the bookshop as well and they really have large selection of books for an independent shop in a small town which I appreciate. Should definitely come back and get a book to remind myself a lovely time I had here in Crickhowell ✨

A lovely little find in Crickhowell. Great breakfast, tasty milkshakes (from the 5 year old) and really friendly staff.

This cafe sells the best Welsh cakes and the flap jack was excellent. The staff were friendly and the toilets were great. An excellent place to sit mid dog walk and watch people go by.

Delicious food (cake too!). Friendly staff. Lovely atmosphere. Suitable for the very young. Clean toilets. Fab bookshop in the front.

We have visited Bookish on numerous occasions mainly just for coffee & cake or toast. When we go with our grandaughter we usually order a portion of toast (at least 2 slices) for us to share & we get this with dairy free butter. On visiting this week they had no dairy free butter so we nipped out & bought are own. Then when the toast arrived we had one small slice of sourdough toasted, this cost £3.00. We ended up ordering another piece but we felt it was an extortionate price. Doubt we will be going back

Such a great place to meet friends - especially with the lovely upstairs extension to the cafe. We made sure to arrive by 11am to enjoy the breakfast menu - the best bacon on sour dough bread sandwich😋 and great coffee. And the glorious selection of books solved multiple present needs!

Had hot drinks only. Nicely presented cafe, quick service and good value

Fabulous place to stop and it was even open on a Sunday!! .. huge menu with something for everyone all beautifully cooked .. lots of books as you would expect.. cosy and comfortable.. and really nice staff

Lovely find while wandering around Crickhowell. Both a book shop and a Café. Wide selection of Gluten Free (and vegan) options, with much of the menu being altered to make is gluten free. Some other reviews talk about portion sizes, I did not experience this. The meals were larger than I expected and very filling. The whole family enjoyed the food. This Café also catered for dogs with their own menu. It is also accessible via the side entrance for those who are unable to take steps. Everyone was considered. I'll be back again when I'm next in the area.

Lovely find while wandering around Crickhowell. Both a book shop and a Café. Wide selection of Gluten Free (and vegan) options, with much of the menu being altered to make is gluten free. Some other reviews talk about portion sizes, I did not experience this. The meals were larger than I expected and very filling. The whole family enjoyed the food. This Café also catered for dogs with their own menu. It is also accessible via the side entrance for those who are unable to take steps. Everyone was considered. I'll be back again when I'm next in the area.

A hot day & I wanted somewhere quiet and airy. What a delight when I chanced upon Cafe at Book-ish. I was offered a selection of teas - I chose mint - it was fresh, fragrant and refreshing. When I return to the town it'll be my first choice to investigate the lunch menu.

What a fantastic find. Amazing views and food to match! The dressing with the avocado & poached eggs was fabulous. Friendly welcome and service. Just perfect 🤩

Really lovely cafe with very friendly staff. We took our two dogs in, and they were each given some roast chicken as a treat. We had sandwiches and coffee, and the food was incredible! Honestly one of the best sandwiches I've ever had

The food was absolutely delicious. Some really interesting books to browse too.

First time to visit The Cafe at Book.ish, as we walked through there were a handful of tables with no indication of where it was possible to sit, until we seen a group of people come from upstairs. We wandered upstairs to find a table, the place was busy which we thought was a good indication that it should be good here, found a table but sadly had a previous customers plates still on the table and two ther tables were the same. The menu was good nice clear with prices and any allergen information. Wasn't sure if anyone would come take an order or if you had to go to the counter downstairs to order until reading small print at the bottom of the menu. The counter with cakes was quite sparse with no indication of prices or any allergen information. A young girl was stood behind a till staring as we were picking what we would like, huffing and puffing as if we were taking up her time. This didn't give a good impression for first time visit... Upon ordering seemed like a rather big task for this girl as I'm sure I was taking up her time to do an order, questioned what table I was at, I described where we were where I was then met with an eye roll as I asked card or cash (as there's no indication of what tender they take) and a grunt of an answer. If I didn't have anyone in the vicinity of me I would have pulled her aside but I bit my tongue. I was told she would bring my order to my table. Went back up to my table to see that still no plates collected so placed them on an empty chair that was in the middle of the room between tables assuming it would be cleared or taken when our drinks and food arrived. Decor is lovely and the atmosphere and room. Our order arrived with the girl who was still very grumpy, and didn't even break a smile as myself, partner and son said thank you, not even a reply back. Sadly common courtesy doesn't exist with this person. You would think that after serving people you would like to gain a tip for good service etc but this wasn't the case, also looked at the plates that was left and walked past them obviously thought it wasn't in the job description to clear tables as you go. Finished our drinks and food which were good but not spectacular for the price that was paid and left. If you come here on a another day it may be another story but sadly it will be the first and last visit which is a shame as it has potential. My review is purely based on this one day, hopefully others won't experience this waitress as she lets the establishment down with attitude and manners.

Dirty chai at it's best. It's harder than it should be to find a place that actually knows how to make good coffee. This place does. Cake was great, didn't order food but others said it was good.

Such a friendly space! We popped in the day before asking about lunch and the chef went above and beyond to accommodate. We were offered to pre order because we were a bigger group so when we arrived food and table was ready. Very accommodating staff and a lovely view from the second floor! Wish there was room for the cakes but will have to get that next time.

Nice coffee and range of drinks. Friendly staff. Liked the atmosphere as well and the book themed decor

A ĺovely tasty lunch, looked and tasted amazing

Great space upstairs under eaves. Coffees brought to the table

My granddaughter and I visited the Cafe at Bookish for lunch, we ordered one of the pasta specials and a salad. Both were equally delicious and perfectly adequate in portion size. The staff were really friendly and the service was quick.The coffee is the best. We like that the owners strive to use local producers and suppliers. I will continue to visit the cafe and enjoy the food.

Such a lovely café with excellent service and we really enjoyed their new menu! Would recommend the Nduja chicken bowl and new potato and chicken salad.

Had a fabulous lunch here. Great food and lovely atmosphere.

It has been a while since we last visited and given our experience here today it will definitely be a long while before we return . The portions are absolutely ridiculous and we aren't big eaters . One half of a small ciabatta roll acting as toast is simply not good enough . The poached eggs were solid and although I said to my Husband to tell them , he said he didn't want to wait for fresh ones when I'd have finished my tiny portion of food ,and more than likely they would be solid again. Not cheap either for what you get ,. Coffee was fine and he said the pain au chocolat was nice . Freezing cold room just to top it off .

Wow. What a delicious meal that was! I don't normally write reviews, but the meal and service we just received, absolutely deserves a good one. We popped in here for a post-walk lunch, both feeling very hungry. I chose the 'Book-Club Sandwich' and my sister chose the 'Three Cheese Tuna Melt'. Both were absolutely delicious, and so filling too. We finished our meal with a well portioned slice of coffee cake, and two flat whites to finish - the perfect finish to our hearty meal. It was so lovely to see this cafe support local producers too- the 'Book-Ish Blend' by 'Black Mountains Roast' was a lovely way to get that extra taste of Wales we were after this weekend. Service was great; fast and friendly, and nothing ever seemed too much trouble! We sat upstairs by the window, in the sun, looking at the views. The music was also lovely and calming. All in all, the perfect vibes for the post-walk Sunday lunch we were after! 100000% recommend this little gem in Crickhowell. We will absolutely be back, and certainly passing the word around!

Generally, we've had a pleasant experience in this cafe, and the food is tasty, but not this time. When ordering food like the Dahl or Tagine, previously these dishes were served in adequate small bowls, the bowls were always full. Now the portion size is served in large bowl but the portion size is noticeably smaller, you can see three quarters of the base of the dish when presented with the food. Despite raising this concern we were fobbed off that the food portion size had not changed. Not true, we had eaten their on many occasions and it was a remarkable difference. if you're seeking value for money give it a miss.

Really fab cafe with an excellent book shop attached.

Easter in Wales, went here for lunch, best meal we had in all of the pubs and cafes we visited. . Wish everywhere else we visited had been as good and clean as this place.

By the off chance we called in for lunch. We’ve previously only had coffee and cake. We were blown away and very impressed. Three of us visited and enjoyed two of the tagliatelle special and the dahl. The food was outstanding and the service great. Thanks to Ian and the team for the fantastic time.

Had their absolutely superb Shakshuka for breakfast, can't recommend it enough! Freshly prepared for us with the cafe's own blend of coffee beans in the form of latte/ cappuccino. Came in the previous day for great tea and cake so thought we'd try a breakfast. Good decision! Great service too, thank you all!

Lovely staff, nice cafe and good coffee.

Excellent little cafe within independent bookstore. Enjoyed a delicious toastie with the alternative mozzarella filling. Very good service and upstairs seating offers the greatest comfort and best atmosphere.

Lovely little cafe with a bookshop attached. We loved the coffee and the cakes were amazing. The prices for cakes were a little on the high side but very good. We would definitely recommend if in the area.

Very nice place and great service. We will be back!

Warm and friendly atmosphere. Excellent for a fill you up on a miserable winters day. Great coffee too .

Lovely atmosphere and delicious food options. I love that it's part of the bookshop. Good gluten free options :)

Great place to chat and eat coffee and avocado toast I had friends had cake all very good

Busy on a Saturday! Great books too....

Consistently good food with a great ambience and lovely friendly staff who cannot do enough for you. Relaxed atmosphere and well cooked small but reliable menu. Just what is needed form a small cafe

Un sans faute pour ce lieu adorable, cette bulle de douceur pour un petit déjeuner délicieux. Nous avons pris thé, milkshakes et pancakes... Tout était gourmand sans être trop sucré, les quantités parfaites pour réveiller nos estomacs. Bonus pour la playlist !

First visit here & sadly have to deduct a star even though the people and the vibe were great as our pizza was a bit burnt & the waitress didn't remember my cheese request, the flavoured tea also was a bit disappointingly bland :/

this is our chosen regular cafe, very freindly staff, dog freindly too and occasionally we indulge in a delicious breakfast or cake mmmm

Lovely café! Lots of veggie and vegan options. Great service. Lovely environment - includes upstairs seating with lots of natural light. Great find, definitely recommend.

Lovely café! Lots of veggie and vegan options (I’m a vegetarian myself). Great service. Lovely environment - includes upstairs seating with lots of natural light. Great find, definitely recommend.

With great anticipation my friend and I awaited our order of goats cheese salad and Mackrell salad. What arrived was a sad apology for value-for-money meals...at around £8 we could not believe our eyes. The 'salad' comprised of approx 2inches deep of rocket lettuce, aided by 6 halves of mini tomatoes. It became apparent the goat that provided my cheese obviously came from the'mini-me' farm, and the potion size probably was around 2 inches square, and that's being generous of me. The Mackrell potion was the size, reconstituted of a small box of matches. I even got an angry frown from the mature when I asked for balsamic vinegar and butter for the bread. We were both too flabbergasted to complain, but are sure no other will ever be made to the establishment. As we left we noticed a pair of bikers, their proud French accents singing the praises of the beauty of the village. They tucked in with gay Galiic abandon to their newly bought sourdough bread and local cheese from the hight Street shop. They laughed with sheer enjoyment at their table full of generous joy. We walked by, saddened by our luckless meal.

We visited this cafe which was down a side street, the place was rather empty and most other places were busy so that should have been a good indication really but from the outside all looked ok. We had sandwiches coffee and a cake. The coffee was quite nice but the bread on the sandwiches was dry and stale with no butter on either slices of bread. We ate the ham salad inside the sandwiches but could not eat the bread, the cake that looked good behind the glass counter was dry and hard as if it had been there for many days, these were returned as they were inedible. All in all we were very disappointed in the food and will not return to this place again.

Lovely and cozy space for quick coffee and fresh cake. Also pizzas here are super tasty! 🫶🏻

Great and inspiring place! 😍 Great food and friendly staff. Such a nice place in little town. Definetely recommend! 🥰

The best Cafe in Wales!!! So delicious, fresh and tasty! Thank you!

Some of the freshest and most delicious soup I have eaten out, served with soft bread and Welsh butter. Naturally followed by cake and browsing the beautiful books. A highlight of our day!

Busy cafe, delicious salad 🥗 😋 they have events where you can hear authors speak about their books

Nice, chilled out little cafe attached to a great book shop. Breakfast menu was short but the shakshuka was decent. Coffee was great and staff were friendly and efficient. Nice spot to start the day

So disappointing We ordered 2 slices of cake and a ham sandwich. Cakes were dry and not edible, bread for sandwiches also dry and not buttered. Expensive for what u get. Could do so much better!

Not only is the small Bookish bookshop a magnet for readers, with its tightly packed host of absorbing, challenging, utterly readable books for readers of all ages (literature mostly not featured on the dreary shelves of W H Smith), but the Bookish cafe serves a focused menu of cooked in-house truly tasty sandwiches, salads and the most sumptuous brocolli and stilton soup. Love it! Enterprising businesses like Bookish really merit our support and attention: don't buy on Amazon if you can get your books - and lunch - locally.

Often visit the Book- ish cafe , coffee and often poached eggs on toast . Experience has always been brilliant, all the staff are fantastic and so happy in there work and approach towards customers .

This is such a lovely cafe. Super friendly, helpful staff, dog friendly and vegan friendly. Food was fresh & delicious. Great selection of books to browse & buy. Proper tea ( leaves) This was our second visit - highly recommend.

I had the Shakshuka with Tofu. It was one of the tastiest dishes I've ever eaten! I'd drive an hour and a half back to Crickhowell to have this meal again. Simply stunning!

Popped in for a quick lunch and chose the soup of the day - spicy root veg. It was absolutely delicious! Great flavours, chilli kick and some crunchy croutons on top. Served with a huge chunk of locally made bread. Very relaxed atmosphere, friendly service...

Very stylish and relaxing cafe in the book shop, with very friendly and helpful staff and some awesome cakes. Would highly recommend whether you’re looking for a coffee and cake or a meal. Really nice place to relax and lovely and clean and fresh.

Only had coffee and cake but all good

Lovely coffee and Welsh cake in really nice independently run café in Crickhowell. Interesting book selection.

Sorry to understand that Sam has moved on , I was shocked . He was a Benefit to your company . Massive shame to all concerned ! I have noticed lately that the food quality has reduced in standard , only over the last few...

Found this coffee shop open when others were closed and delighted with the coffee and the whole atmosphere, which is relaxed and surrounded by books which one is able to glance through whilst having coffee. Very young and bright helpful staff and definitely a good...

Great spot to review the books you’ve bought and get a coffee and cake! Warm and cosy on a wet day. Wonderful book selection and great cakes.

It’s ALWAYS a delight to visit Bookish café! Fantastic variety of cakes, really great tasting coffee and they do the most perfect crispy bacon in their breakfast sandwich! Yum! Lovely, polite & hardworking team, we were so grateful they gave our four year old son...

Super gem on a fabulous high street full of indie shops! Cake and coffee in a BOOKSHOP what is not to like! Thank you for lovely service and gorgeous food!

Always busy in this place and there is a reason for that. Always good wholesome food and spacious surroundings. It never seems hectic which is a tribute to the staff who are always cheerful and helpful. The bookshop is also worth browsing as there is...

Great place for breakfast and coffee! Fast efficient service and quality food.

Loving the new menu at Cafe at Bookish. Great pizza and the best chicken Caesar salad I’ve had in a long time! Friendly and efficient service as usual

As frequent visitors to Book-ish and having left a review previously (see “Book-ish is de-lish”), we popped in for coffee and cake today and have been left wondering, what’s gone wrong, Book-ish? Served the wrong coffee and given a slice of walnut cake that must...

I visit Bookish - both the cafe and the wonderful bookshop - quite often and was aware that a menu change was planned. As I have a few favourite dishes and knew that one or two were disappearing I was prepared to be a bit...

Went to the bookish cafe as a treat for my wife and daughter as it looked interesting. Sat on the sofa with the non-existent spring(left hand side) under the stairs. Clearly quite busy but plenty of staff and were friendly when spoken to although there...

Ordered a milkshake. It looked good but was luke warm on a hot day. Felt like the milk had been out the fridge a long time. For £4 I felt it was overpriced. Didn’t complain, couldn’t be bothered to but I won’t be going there...

I so want to like this place but we have been in a few times and always seem to have problems. Today we waited over an hour for soup and a sandwich to arrive and our afternoon sightseeing with a friend was wrecked as were...

My family and I LOVE the Cafe at Bookish (we’re local btw GoldberryWhatever…). The food is great. The coffee is fantastic. And the staff are supremely helpful, friendly and happy to go the extra mile for my - demanding! - kids. On one occasion they...

I urge anyone thinking of visit, to definitely visit. Having recently read an amazing article and seeing the cafe named one of 'The 39 best independent bookshops in the UK and Ireland', we decided it was only right to come and visit and see. The...

The perfect pit stop after having a browse around Crickhowell’s many independent shops and boutiques and small businesses. Very friendly staff, a varied menu and lovely coffee… and there are books!!! What’s better?!

In need of coffee, we went in through the side door, not through the book shop. Bit draughty downstairs, so upstairs we went and were delighted. Very modern and the end wall is all glass with a lovely view of the mountains, really gorgeous. Ordered...

Lovely cafe with friendly staff and good food.

Ordered arrived late and wrong. I went here with five other adults and a child. One of our orders (chicken noodle soup) turned up at room temperature — they must have just reheated it in a microwave and not left it in long enough. We had asked for extra chilli twice, finally getting it after asking a third time. The pizza was also warm rather than hot, like it had been sat there for a while, even though it came out first, which didn’t bode well. My milkshake was the wrong flavour. One of our meals turned up after we were all almost finished—the waiter said it was because it was very busy day but, looking around, there were a few tables empty and one group just having drinks. If that’s too busy then maybe the cafe needs to reduce the number of tables to ensure good service.

A small coffee shop. Nice and friendly staff and good selection of cakes. The coffee is pretty decent as well.

We stopped here for lunch (mid-week). Really nice environment (recently refurbished by the looooks of it). We ordered a tuna mayo sandwich and a panini with breakfast tea for two. The tea came almost immediately, BUT the food took so long to arrive that the...

Nice little cafe tucked away down a side street. We visited on the way back from a walk along the river. Good coffee cakes

A varied menu that caters for a range of tastes and dietary requirements (vegetarian and gluten-free options available). Staff were welcoming and the waiting time for food was reasonable. Would definitely recommend for a lunch visit.

Refuge on a rainy day! Lovely lunch, Food imaginative, fresh and good value, Excellent coffee (I am fussy). My order did take a bit of time so patience is a virtue. Nice decor, chilled. Service excellent.

Excellent coffee, cakes and lovely staff. Perfect for a cycling stop before climbing the nearby hills