Cafe Insomnia in Derbyshire Dales

We stopped by for cakes and coffee. The coffee was excellent, and the cakes were superb! It was hard to choose from the display. They were very different to the usual cafe options. Each looked very appealing, and far beyond the usual options. Whoever makes them has a fundamental understanding of the alchemy needed to make the perfect cake! The service was friendly and unrushed. Despite being near a busy junction the cafe was spacious and calm. Well Done!

Travelling through Peak District to Lincoln from Stockport. Saw the cafe and decided a cup of tea and bacon roll would be in order to set us up for the lengthy drive ahead. Entering the cafe everything looked very cosy and cheerful. £2.50 for a tea!!! Ordered 2 bacon sandwiches at £4.95 each. Service seemed to be very slow,not relaxed, just slow. Total order £14.90. It better be good! Although 2 teas were ordered, only one pot arrived on the table. Sandwich had better be worth it. 35 minutes spent in there so far. Tea was drank. Checked on the progress of our order as other people were now being served hot food. Lady went off into kitchen returning to the till walking straight past us. Excuse me? Oh, so sorry, there will be a short delay. Waitress had 'forgotten' to place the order with the kitchen. Nevermind, we were now 45 minutes added to our journey, haven't got time for this, a refund was requested. Waitress told stoney faced, ignorant woman on the till to refund 2 sandwiches and 2 teas. We were only refunded for the sandwiches which took nearly another 10 minutes. If it wasn't pathetic, it was downright angering. NEVER AGAIN!! We would never recommend this place to anyone. We set off, hangry. 5 miles up the road we stopped at Spire View Cafe. A roadside hut but the lady in there was super friendly and we got 2 massive bacon barms and 2 teas for a tenner. A far nicer experience. Stars for Cafe 19? 0 out of 5. Give it a miss, miserable, rude and incompetent staff!!!

Unrelated to the cafe but the spar shop adjoined on, I had awful customer service went to buy a loaf of bread priced up at 99p on the shelf went to buy it and it was £1.19 so I asked is this the correct price, the lady that served me replied it's whatever price it says ha, so rude so I went to check the label was under the right loaf of bread and I was correct I had paid 20p extra reluctantly she opened the til without saying a word and gave me my 20p it's not about the price it's about the fact she was so rude to me. Also the post office is here is never open even when online it states it's open just not good enough Calver spar

Decided to give Café19 another try, hoping they'd got their act together by now. At least we got a saucer this time and the cups were bigger. They didn't put a spoon in the saucer so we used the wooden ones from a shelf. The wooden taste was revolting so we asked if they had a metal spoon which they did so why not give them out in the first place? We ordered Americanos with hot milk and they were awful - the coffee wasn't nice, bitter but otherwise oddly tasteless and we added a lot of milk including an extra jug each just to make it possible to drink. I'm surprised they no longer do the tasty sandwiches or others similar, just a load of greasy pastry items or paninis. Won't be back.

They serve great coffee and in general the staff are really friendly and overall fantastic. However a recent addition to the team, a dark haired eastern european girl with glasses who served us on Sunday is just about as unfriendly as I have ever encountered in a service industry environment. Wow, she is off the scale hostile! If she's there when we next visit I think we'll wait until she's otherwise occupied before we approach the counter to order!

Tasty cakes and lovely cup of tea. Small but nice atmosphere tastefully decorated with outdoor seating, there is traffic noise as its on a crossroads. The service sadly was slow actually took the cakes away to cut them, I thought they were baking new the time it took, but it was the tastiest lemon cake I've had in a while.

This was Insomnia but has been taken over by Whites shop and is now Café 19 - we've tried it three times since. Loved the flat whites when it was Insomnia but they're even smaller now and the ones we had mid morning yesterday 4th April were nothing like hot enough - a queue so no point wasting time asking for new ones....the member of staff was one we hadn't seen before and we've been regular customers. Pleased that some staff are the same because they'd always been so friendly. Add to that the over-loud local radio and the annoying posters inside the windows so you can't see out.....the delicious vegan sandwiches have gone too. We'll try it again when the weather's good enough to sit outside and hope they've upped their game by then but if not we're unlikely to be back.

One of our favourite coffee stops when it was Insomnia. Rebranded and redecorated, the cafe has a great feel to it and a great selection of snacks. Unfortunately we found the new coffee blend to be really bitter compared with before so not sure whether we’ll go again.

I was passing through and decided to stop at this cafe having visited several times before. It was full of customers patiently waiting for drinks and enjoying the delicious treats on offer. I found one free table and decided to help the staff out by clearing the table. When I asked where I could leave the dirty dishes, I got a rather loud and terse reply from a barista to take them back to the table and wait. Several people around me raised their eyebrows at this. I was only trying to help them. The same person then announced, which was heard by all, that she 'wasn't enjoying this'. At no point were any of the customers giving her grief or being impatient. I would have thought that this cafe would be thrilled that they were busy at a very challenging time for small businesses.

From walking into the place we were glared at...very unwelcoming atmosphere..no smiles..nothing..coffee was nice...we felt very awkward how one of the assistants spoke to some customers...you need some naturally pleasant staff with outstanding customer service.

Welcoming cafe. Emmentaler and cheese toasty excellent. So was apple pie 🥧. Excellent covid arrangements. Staff excellent on visual impairment assistance. Very clean.

We had seen this coffee shop before on our trips. It has a prominent place on a crossroads. We had time so we called in. Excellent coffee, so good we called again and sat on the veranda.

We arrived on the 19th July at 10am and asked for 2 coffees to drink literally 2 ft from the inside seating as it was a beautiful day .( On outdoor seating provided by the cafe)The rude lady on duty said we had to have paper cups! When I asked if we could have at least one in a pot cup she rudely said' No -you are not having pot outside!If you come in I will pot into a pot but you aren't having them outside! Not a good start to a day out and not a place we will come back to.I really think the member of staff needs customer care training and to understand that customers are the purpose of her Jun and not be to so rude! I wonder if meals eaten on the outdoor seating is out on paper plates???....

Despite what is stated on the Insomnia website, this cafe does not serve a ‘wide range of hot and cold options, for breakfast. I went there with a group of walkers, expecting the available menu to be as the website. No hot food was available, nor were there any suitable cold sandwiches. The attitude of the staff was poor to say the least.

Sat outside in the sun watching the traffic go by. Coffee and tea were worth the Covid experience and a great stop for coffee. Poshest Spar shop I’ve ever seen next door!

We stop here regularly before heading home up Froggat Edge. Coffee and cake always welcome when you’re on a bike ! Staff usually cheerful and putting up with all the Covid problems.

Went here for a lunch stop driving to Hayfield on 22/08/20. I looked at the ham and cheese toastie and paid £3.75. In inspection when it was ready I noticed paper thin and I mean paper thin PROCESSED ham and the bread was thick cheque and over crusty which hurt the roof of my mouth. VERY Very poor for a company with all these accolades and they cannot sell proper ham with decent bread and all they are interested in is profit over Quality. Staff were pleasant is the only positive I can give!!

Popped back with the boys after a muddy run around Chatsworth. Had a large choc mocha (fantastic especially if you need something sweet). The boys had a fantastic hot choc with marshmallows and cream. They are hot choc aficionados and rated them 5 star, so always a good sign. The lemon muffin, millionaire shortbread and pecan / maple slice were excellent and really filling at circa £2 each.However, the real selling point here was the absolutely fantastic service. Will definitely be back again.

Not been here before and needed a coffee stop before setting off on a serious walk on a chilly but windy day. Insomnia fitted the bill perfectly - modern, stylish but comfortable, good quality cappuccinos, and a fine selection of cakes and the like. We checked out the vegan coffee and chocolate brownie and can confirm it's every bit as tasty as it looks. Several cyclists in here too, who said they'd been here before - that's usually a really good sign. This was a great find: we'd driven past it a number of times and never had a good enough excuse to stop before. We'll definitely be back, now!

Love the coffee so much I now look out for other Insomnias across the country. Nice staff and tasty food too

I discovered Insomnia purely by chance, I had gone to Calver to visit the little sweet shop but as it wasn’t open for over an hour I decided to go for a coffee because the cafe name amused me.The place is very comfortably set out and relaxing, but choosing what to have was more difficult because there were several intriguingly tempting items, both more usual beverages and a few different ones.I eventually decided on a turmeric latte. I asked what it contained, as I don’t drink tea, and was told in a polite and pleasant manner and was also asked if I would mind saying what I thought of it after I had tried it.I found it refreshingly tasty and a welcome change from coffee, although that’s what I originally fancied!My opinion as to the turmeric latte was gratefully received as was my one of an attractive piece of Patisserie.I saw the very prettily coloured and eye-catching rainbow cake so decided to try a piece.I’m not sure whether each of the five different coloured layers is a different flavour but at least three tasted so? The orange and yellow layers having a delicious citrus tang. On a return visit with a friend (yesterday) we couldn’t see any rainbow cake on display so asked about it. Sadly we were politely told that it was a “summer line” and had just been discontinued, although various displays still showed it? I would have thought this would have been a perpetually popular pastry? Perhaps it’s too addictive? Still there are other cake options.The place is well sited at Calver crossroads an ideal spot for a short refreshment break.

Must count as one of the best americano I have had. Carrot cake was good as well. Friendly service as well.

We had heard so much about this whilst on holiday locally. The coffee was average but the cake offering was impressive. Staff were lovely but overall not much different to a local chain coffee shop.

Stopped off for a coffee which we all agreed on was 1 of the best we've had along with a sarnie, definitely worth stopping for 👍

This place has the best coffee anywhere. Great friendly staff always cheerful and helpful. Free internet with good signal. And good parking.

Conveniently situated cafe with indoor and outdoor seating very nice coffee. Sandwiches fine and cakes looked nice.

Popped across the road from the Eyre Arms where we'd had lunch. Coffee was excellent and they had a great range of really good cakes. Friendly service. A good pitstop at a busy crossroads.

Called in for coffee and made very welcome, nice relaxed atmosphere and good quality mug of coffee. Plenty of parking space and well cleaned toilets

As a keen road cyclist, I get to visit many cafes in the Peaks and drink gallons of coffee. This is consistently the best coffee I've tasted and served in proper big cups at great prices. The staff are always friendly and you get free wi-fi...what's not to like?!

Bad service we both ordered soups we are waiting for 20 minutes and it was very cold, we both return it and wait another 25 minutes still cold never come back again...

Good strong coffee in a relaxed environment. The cafe is attached to the excellent village grocery store.There are comfy sofas and armchairs or conventional tables .There is free parking for 90 minutes , free WiFi and newspapers and a variety of snacks .A great Independent coffee shop. They also sell beans by the kg.

Great coffee, great cakes. A Sunday mornng trip out into Derbyshire with friends. Clean comfortable and good service. What more can you ask? Ps The attached shop does great sandwiches

Went in there with the family for a quick coffee and though the coffee wasn't cheap it was very good quality and the service was excellent.

Stopped off here after a walk around the river Calver. Nice coffee, cappuccino, and cake served quickly by pleasant staff.The seating area was pleasant with lots of comfy seating.

Cake and sandwiches pricey. Coffee excellent. Service good, often get a take out before or after they official open. As long as the barrista is warm.

Called in with my mum and dad after we had had a lovely carvery up the road. I had a hot chocolate with cream and marshmallows which to be honest, was nice but not hot enough. Maybe how the machine processes it. My mum asked for tea for one, expecting a small tea pot only to have a huge mug with a tiny teabag inside, not many tea leaves so really a poor mug of tea. Not the cheapest place either.

This was a pit stop on our way to Matlock Bath. We wanted morning coffee and saw the place at the crossroads and stopped. The coffee choice was many and even did coconut milk. Plenty of cakes and snack food.

Attached to a shop and the local post office the cafe provides high quality coffee tea hot chocolate etc. A good selection of cakes biscuits and sandwiches. A variety of seating both inside and out is available. Parking at the shop.

My 3 friends and I stopped at the cafe for coffee and cake on our sunny, Sunday bike ride in the peaks. What s lovely surprise and what friendly staff! So impressed with the service with a smile and they even filled our water bottles for us with added ice on a hot day. Highly recommend!

a Great little café with really nice tea's and coffee, friendly staff.

We stopped here on a bike ride for coffee and a bite to eat and were really impressed. It's called small cafe with a small cafe feel in a really good way. Absolutely loved it and would recommend it as a great little stop on any journey

Small coffee bar with a nice selection of cakes. Seating in and out. Plenty of parking. Accessible toilet. All on one level.

Travelling across from Manchester into Yorkshire, we stopped here for coffee and a break. Really friendly welcome and good coffee too. Newspapers and wifi available, and we stopped for longer than we intended! Will definitely become a regular stop now for that journey. Handy Spar shop next door too.

We called here to grab a coffee4/5 (very good latte) and a large tea5/5 and had a couple of slices of cake. The Orange cake is to die for. The place is spotless and the staff are really friendly. Also if you like pork pie i very much recommend one of the j hancock pies from the adjoining shop

An offshoot of Spar this small cafe provides free wifi, a selection of sandwiches, toasties, soup, cakes etc. We had a nice soup and white bread (not offered any alternative). Good quality coffee. Papers on hand. Friendly staff. Disabled loo. Good disabled access.

We had a chilly ride around the Peak District on our motorcycle and decided to warm up with a latte at the Insomnia Cafe.

Popped in for a coffee and a warm whilst out in the peaks and sales on the motorcycle. Lovely place. Cosy. Warm. Staff are nice. Coffee and cake also nice. Would return.

Once again faultless service and lovely coffee. An added bonus is the Spar shop next door. These two places are a real treat.

Good location, decent coffee. Such a shame that the manageress here is such a bad influence on the young staff.

The coffee was good. However, that's where it ends.. My main complaint is that the Barista looked as though she really didn't wish to be there let alone serve a coffee and peppermint tea to us. No smile, no eye contact, barely a begrudging word did we receive before being billed nearly £5 for our drinks. Furthermore, the tables were unclean outside and on looking back as we left, most had ages old crockery still left up on them.

It's a lovely place to drink coffee (all coffee is served with a double shot😎/tea before/after walking. You can eat cakes, muffins or sandwiches.

Great place to get a decent coffee on the way through the Peaks. The cakes are great too. Nice atmosphere and handy with the Spar next door.

Nice surroundings but a bit underwhelmed, tea is a bag in a mug and Panninis etc., are from fridge then (over) cooked like but not as good as costa, all a bit bought food motorway services for out in the country, prices were reasonable tho.

Arrived on Bank Holiday Monday at 4pm -even though it was advertised as open until 5pm we thought it was shut. The outside tables had been put away even though it was still sunny and warm. Part of the cafe had been closed off - so it could be cleaned. Even though more customers arrived with nowhere to sit outside or in they left.

Love this place for a quick coffee, breakfast time is great, comfy sofas and newspapers. Nothing made on the premises but everything fresh and lovely friendly staff. Love it

This is a nice coffee shop conveniently located in the Peak District. Very nice coffee and good selection of baked goods

Stopped whilst travelling to Cheshire. Ordered toasted tea cakes that and with margarine which we can't stand. When we asked r butter were abruptly told this is all that was sent. There was a shop next door so not really acceptable.

Visit with my mother. Homemade soup with bread was delicious and more than one choice of soup which was excellent. Service friendly and polite . Comfy seats and cosy atmosphere . Coffee also very good . Would highly recommend.

Nice place this, been many times, easy access, free parking, plenty of seating inside and out, next to Whites Spar shop.