Central Cafe - Natural History Museum in Kensington and Chelsea - Phone Number, Reservations, Reviews

I took my family here for lunch today (March 2024) and can’t believe the disgusting treatment we received from staff here. We bought lunch and all had food from the cafe except my 9 year old autistic son who has to have his own specially prepared food. The staff member (a middle aged woman with dark hair) came over to our table and asked us to leave because my son was eating a sandwich he had not purchased in the cafe. Considering we had spent £40 already on food and another £30 in the gift shop that day I was horrified we wet being asked to leave by this woman because my autistic son needed to eat. I’ve travelled with my family all over the world and never ever had an issue like this so didn’t expect it here. What a disgrace your staff are. We left the food we’d paid for and got up, walked out and will never return.

Coffee OK but muffin tasted stale. Visited early in day so maybe left from yesterday - best advice probably avoid those on top next time

Overcharged. Made a small order- 4 drinks and 2 packets of crisps. We swapped one of the drinks - originally we asked for a hot chocolate but changed that to a coke. £25... I asked to see the receipt which was begrudgingly handed over to me. The sales assistant had added the coke but hadn't removed the hot chocolate. I pointed this out and they just stared at me. When I insisted, I was refunded the cost in cash. I then pointed out that I had Neen charged for 2 orange juices, despite only having one. Again, long silent stare and then more coins were dropped in my hand. Then I asked why my Corona was shown as a 'Pale Ale', to which I was told "Same price. Same price". I gave up, said my thanks and then walked back to my table. Once there, I looked at the coins in my hand and I could see that my refund was £1 short. Life is too short- I didn't bother to go back. To summarise - rude, unhelpful and numerically challenged staff.

We visited the museum today and this cafe. The cafe was not the cleaneast, and we had to wipe over our own table. My children had a pack lunch from here and the roll was quite dry and hard. I originally wondered if this was because it was in the fridge. However, on reflection maybe it was just stale, as the child who ate it has been throwing up since 4am. The other child didnt even want his...(cant say i blame him!). I had a cheese and ham baguette, the ham was a bit hard on the edges, so had been sat a while and also their was mustard in my baguette which wasn't listed upon ordering. So if you have allergies, and you dont want your london trip ruined id avoid this cafe! It was so vile and the worst £30 i've ever spent!

Be very careful when making payments in this café, me and my son bought bottle of water hot sandwich and 2x slices of cake and have been charged £28.50, only realised when we back home and checked my bank account...

22.11.21 purchased a coffee and swiped my card and was informed the payment had not registered, waitress insisted the payment didn't register so I inserted my card and pin number as requested. Charged twice on my bank statement so paid £6.80 for a cup of coffee, be careful when making payments at this cafe.

We have visited the museum today and have stopped at the cafe. I couldn’t appreciate the coffee but the carrot cake and vegan cake were surprisingly tasty.

We stopped for a drink before leaving the museum, it was very busy but fine for a quick rest and reasonably priced with choice of snacks.

We were not the only ones as we were asked by someone else how to queue. No signposted properly, people hanging about so people got served before they were due to. No proper control. A measly small cup of cholate was lukewarm & cost - £3.50, disgusting.

I usually eat outside the museum but because my son was very hungry we decided to stop here.... Food was very expensive and my bacon sandwich was so dry and very small 😩. I would suggest to try the Deli café or next to the south Kensington there are better places.

They aren't very accommodating of dietary requirements and the staff don't really care about their customers. Not the best selection of food either.

Ate here after going to see the excellent Wildlife Photographer of the Year exhibition. I had the best piece of carrot cake I think I've ever eaten, the icing on top was delicious and creamy and not too sweet. The cup of tea was also lovely, I went for a what I think was a green tea, it was floral and sweet. If anyone from the Central Cafe reads this and can tell me what make of tea you serve and the flavours I would be most grateful as I'd love to buy some for home.

Called for a quick drink and a sit down while at the museum. It was ok. Food good, quite expensive but thats expected. Busy and the staff coped well.

Waited forever for someone to come to us and when someone did, he has to be one of the worst service staff we have ever encountered! He was rude and condescending and basically told us we don't want you here!

I visited cafe on 07/10/2019 with my kid and what an experience it had been! Not only had I been overcharged 1.10 but also the same girl behind a counter tried to make a sarcastic remark when I tried to play the situation down. Manager saved the day in the end and had it not been for his interference, the family day out would have been ruined.

We stopped there for lunch and were very disappointed. The sandwiches tasted old as if they had been on the shelf for several days. The food was overpriced as well.

We went into the ground floor cafe for a much needed drink and a rest! The cakes all looked delicious but we resisted on this occasion! The area is beautiful, the brickwork is spectacular. I loved the atmosphere.

I can imagine this place gets really, really busy at peak times. Luckily, when we popped in mid afternoon it was relatively quiet. A lovely range of cakes and treats to choose from. Good coffee and tea. Prices what you might expect for London. (And...

Stopped over here during our visit to the Natural History Museum as our youngest son a) needed something to eat and b) needed to sit down. The latter proved difficult as, thanks (I guess) to its central location, this place was amazingly busy. We were...

The coffee and cakes are fantastic. The staff have got the serving down to a slick act. The prices would add up if there were a large family or group of people and it is a busy thoroughfare between popular exhibits.

The food and drinks were reasonably good although a bit over-priced (can of Coke £2). The tables and chairs were OK but it was very hot and stuffy.

A busy and noisy place for a snack but add with their cafe there is a good selection of drinks and good for children, vegetarians and vegans.

Wonderful selection of cakes and pastries, good selection of snacks and juice, very good coffee. Cafe clean and tidy despite being later in the day and very busy, little or no wait for service. Most enjoyable.

We had salad, sandwiches and cake as well as fruit juice, coffee and tea. All were good but a bit expensive. Always found somewhere to sit although a busy Saturday. Tables were cleared promptly. Overall recommended.

Located at the back of the great hall, delicious cakes and scones, fabulous place for afternoon tea, and to rest the legs.

The food was very poor in quality. And the prices are WAY TOO HIGH. I understand this is a museum restaurant, but we paid £5.5 for KIDS BOX, which contained only: 1 HALF OF SANDWICH WITH CHEESE (no ham), 1 SMALL CHOCOLATE BISCUIT, and 1...

Very disappointed at the service at lunchtime today. The cafe was not particularly busy (weekday, midwinter, bad weather affecting travel) and yet the cashier managed to make so many mistakes with my bill. Having paid the amount requested, I checked my itemised receipt before walking...

Snacks, sweets and beverages... all very tasty! Ideal for a short break during your museum tour. Reasonable prices, there is also kid's menu.

Very disappointed. How is it possible to find mold in a kid sandich? I was eating with my family today and I bought two kids menus (with cheese sandwich). One of the sandwich had green mold which means it was quite old. The worst of...

Had our lunch here today. Very busy but enjoyed our sundries tomato and pesto soup and tuna baguette very much. Generous portions. Many cakes on display, all looked amazing. Beautiful seating area. Nice, helpful staff.

its a nice and peacefull cafeshop...offers many kind of coffees also many tastyfull snacks...u can sit and to talk..its a good place to rest for a moment...or many......and after that you can continue your "trip" in the museum...

After a tiring afternoon of traipsing the museum, a stop at he cafe was needed. Sisters and Wife and mother got hot brews which they were all happy with. The prices seem high but pretty much the same as everywhere else. The staff are efficient...

Good place for a break during museum visit. Good quality coffee and cakes, selection of sandwiches, even though little expensive for what you get. Seating area is rather big, but usually very crowded hence it is not easy to find space to sit. It also...

A very welcome stop. Busy as always - but food fair & honest. Fair value. Plenty choice, Helpful staff indeed

Took quite a while coming but food spot on as usual

food is good but the delivery took over an hour

Great place to take a snack, not too expensive, but don't order coffee, it really sucks. Maybe we should've ordered tea instead ;)

Food was late. No communication. After calling up and told it be 5 more minutes (after it already being 15 minutes late) waited an extra 10. Chicken was cold and uneditable. Would like a refund for the chicken please.

Chips soggy and cold Pizza and Calzone lukewarm at best.

Very poor customer service rude staff the food was less than avarage would not recommend

My food was a bit late which was fine it’s a Friday, when it come got the wrong food phoned up at 11:50 got a man on the phone with a bad attitude told me they would deliver my missing items in ten minutes still waiting at 12:53 and they are closed ..... won’t be ordering again disgusting service but paid by card so nothing I can do

The Cafe is located within the Natural History Museum in an old attractive part of the building just behind the main entrance hall. The food was better than we anticipated but was relatively expensive.

Food ok , priced as one would expect for London. My only criticism is poor training of staff . Please and thank you go a long way but unfortunately none of the staff know how to use these two vital words . Management wake up...

Favourite place to order from! Recently had a baby so we’re ordering takeaway pretty much every night and this place has been our saviour! Amazing quality food, fries are always fresh and hot! and the milkshakes are to die for!!!

I am absolutely disgusted in this take away i orderd 2 pizzas and a milkshake at 10.10pm waited over an hour for the pizzas to come cold and the milkshake melted was just like cream no flavour to it my husband then rings them to complain they said they will send out a new order again it would be half an hour I’m still sat here now at 12.15am waiting for the fresh order to come the guy on the phone has awful customer service manners no apology or anything I would definitely not recommend this place

Usually my favourite place but they completely ignored my requests in the notes for no syrup in milkshake and red salt on fries.

Pepsi instead of Coke, we hated. Otherwise, it was ok.

usually love the pizza from here! but this time the sauce didn’t reach the edge of the pizza and the pizza was dry :( ended up throwing it

Great food and good customer service

delivery was on time but absolutely hated the donner. it has a lot of hard bits in it which feel like stone??! makes me think it’s a bunch of bones grinded up in it :/ disappointed

You guys are great, pizza us perfect every time, chicken is perfect, froero roche cheesecake is perfect. Keep it going

great pizzas and excellent delivery time

amazing food amazing value 10/10 again thanks guys

Great food quality and great delivery time but they forgot my drink but after I told them I had it with me within 5 minutes, would definitely recommend and go again.

Every time I’m in Manchester I order from here. It’s my local when I’m up here from Wales. I always order two gravies for myself because it’s so nice

Want a refund lettuce and mayo on all burgers don't like mayo to be honest pal

always 10/10 central never let me down, best take out in Salford! thank you guys!

I ordered a mixed calzone and got onions and Donnor meat, my garlic bread was that greasy I had to put kitchen roll on to dry grease off it, would never order from here again

they have never been on time, always late by atleast 10 minutes, ordered a burger with salad, tiniest burger ever and like 2 pieces of lettuce, ordered a ‘large’ kebab and it was smaller than a regular just a thicker naan bread?! so won’t be ordering from here ever again.

excellent food as always and fast delivery!

Foods always been great from here chips and chicken burgers are really nice. Only problem this time I ordered chicken and lamb tikka kebab and it had no lamb in it little bit annoying when I paid extra for it this has happened before with missing items, also one of the pieces of chicken was slightly under cooked but apart from that it’s an alright place to order from.

the food was warm when it arrived, service was good and quick delivery! great value for money. Will definitely be ordering from here again!

disgusting would never order from here again

order from central often as best for pizza’s but I ordered chicken and it was a little watery other than that the rest off the food was very nice and it got delivered 15 mins early thank you!!

The pizza was great quality, very filling, i'd definitely recommend it 😁

cheap and cheerful was lovely worth every pennie

Honestly The worst takeaway i have ever tasted, got nuggets instead of wings , pizza because there was no milkshakes, a cold not even "fillet" burger and onion rings when i didn't order them , on top of that pepsi over coke when both were on the menu, just glad the chips came in decent... 1/10 unbelievable

absolutely my fave takeaway place!! I love it’s 18inch pizza, pop and apple pie ! got my food very quick and me and my room mate were over the moon as we have just moved back in x so thank you central for the amazing food ! 😊

Food very hot and tasty! Everyone happy! Thanks.

the service was great and I really like the fact that they delivered the food as soon as possible and the food was really great even the cake were delicious in perfect condition that definitely won’t be my last time ordering from there thanks

The food has arrived late. but overall was tasty. I order a tub of gravy and has not arrived with my order. don’t know if will order again.

food was well worth waiting for. Kebab and pizza were very nice . First time ordered from this place.

recommended good food and very good staff thanks for add delivery Kris 😊

ordered burgers and chips with chicken, very good, one of the best takeaways we've had in Salford👍

chicken strips and popcorn chicken PERFECT crunchy but also juicy. chips were very nice also, bit of salt would of been nice but no biggy. food got delivered on time all food nice and hot. will order again soon x

unfortunately there was an incident with the delivery driver so the food was really late and not warm when it got to me but as it was early morning I couldn’t get a fresh delivery which is understandable

Food never arrived! Paid on card aswell

never recieved food! but said delivered

execellent food, arrived quickly and on time.

Phoned up regarding the late delivery multiple times to no answer. Upon arrival the food wasn't cold but wasn't hot.

nice tasting food but late delivery very late

Food was late and turned up cold, normally really good but just not this time

The. worst. food. ever. Items missing or replaced, with letting us know. Gravy was like 14 granule cubes doused in chicken fat. Way too rich. Food was cold. Chips were dry. Took over an hour and a half to come. I’ve had bad takeaway food before, but there was normally something about it that was tolerable. This was downright disgusting. All went in the bin! DO NOT EAT HERE

food was okay, not as good as usual and they was late!

Gravy was poor and looked like tar!

didn't give me. chips or gravy that I ordered ???

Apart from a lack of trays this was just what I needed before a timed entrance to an exhibition. Decent coffee & cake with server prepared to assist as I use a crutch. Good value for London.

I have been ordering from central for about 8 months now, the food is always 5* my best takeaway in Manchester always on time and number 1 for pizzas and burgers

Cold fries, lots of grease and there was meant to be a bottle of Diet Coke when 3 cans of Pepsi were delivered..... NOT what was meant to arrive.... very poor food and not enough drink. Beware.

to start with, when I usually order there’s isn’t an issue, but today, the food was late, when I rang to ask where it was they interrupted me half way through my sentence, when it did arrive it was 15 minutes late I can’t honestly say it was warm, only time I’ve had something bad to say about Central which disappoints me

Well I know if you visit any museum in London during the summer holidays that it is not going to be quiet. As the museums are free it felt like the whole of England had come for a visit. Exhibitions were difficult to get close...

Food was 20 minutes late but when it arrived it was spot on, the mega chicken fillet burger meal was great also the chicken wrap and pop corn chicken. Never had a problem with this place before. Would recommend

I ordered 2 Peri peri chicken kebab but they delivered me 2 doner kebab instead!

First of all, there is nothing wrong with the food, but not all of the food arrived. I have ordered from here many times, but this time we got a delivery guy that was unpleasant to say the least. We told him there was a burger missing from the mini mega meal, and then proceeded to mutter to himself and rang up the take a way place. He said we were refusing to pay because there was an item missing, which was not true! We offered to pay for what was there. We don't know how this happened, especially seeing as the food arrived late. Either way, not something we want to have to deal with again.

food was a little late. wasn't the nicest food I've had from here. in the past the gods been delicious so a little disappointed

Great service and was early but the food was horrible, the chicken is definitely not chicken, cheesecake was barely even set and the fries were chewy! Would never recommend

Ordered at quarter to midnight on a Thursday night and only just getting it at 2am. The food came almost an hour late seeing as they gave themselves an hour on the delivery time anyway, the garlic bread wasn't the best, the popcorn chicken was alright and the chips had gone soggy. We called the restaurant multiple times and every time it was just left to call out and ironically said 'user busy' even though every other time we could get through the call was just left.

Food was late being delivered and when it arrived it was dry and cold, will not be ordering from here again

Just wrong order with the pizza an drink pizza was suppose to be a deep pizza got a thin and asked for water got a 7up

the delivery was late and the food was cold , I've ordered 4 large kebabs only 2 of them were large