Clocktower Cafe in Croydon

Service is rude, gets 3 starts because of the artwork and cleanliness.

The food was okay—I ordered the BBQ chicken panini with chips for brunch. Unfortunately, the experience was spoiled by one staff member (possibly the manager, a middle-aged man) who was incredibly rude. I was there to work on my laptop and planned to stay for a while, intending to order brunch, coffee, and then lunch. Just ten minutes after finishing my panini, while planning to order coffee soon, he approached us and, in a rude manner, essentially told us to leave. It seemed he assumed we were sitting around without ordering, but he didn’t ask—he just assumed. His abrupt approach was quite unpleasant. I ended up ordering just one more coffee, but because of his rudeness, we decided to go elsewhere for lunch. It’s a shame, as other staff members seemed friendly. This experience really left a bad taste and overshadowed an otherwise decent visit.

Tasty, reasonable and friendly service. Try the full veggie breakfast. The veggie sausages are lovely and a generous portion of beans which others skimp on. Keep it up guys. Will return.

Like most of the reviews have already said, it is a welcoming beautiful hidden gem in the hard of Croydon, with tasty healthy food with good vegetarian options, and friendly welcoming staff. I will be back.

Good food options. Friendly staff

Love this cafe. Gorgeous food. Bright and welcoming. Highly recommend.

Fantastic home cooked food for very competitive prices!

It was a real discovery, a bar like this in the heart of Croydon, you can eat well with good products, a welcoming environment full of paintings, and spacious to allow you to eat calmly and relax. One of the waitresses who handled my order was quick, attentive and very friendly. I'll be back

It’s always a pleasure coming to see Mariusz and his team.. always happy to help the not so sure customer.. well done keep it up

The staff are amazing the meals are great value and healthy. It's a nice clean space in Croydon to relax have a fresh juice and I just love the staff.

We recently discovered the cafe and it's great! The food selection is good and prices are decent. Kind staff and nice atmosphere!

This is my go too lunch with my Chai latte daily. The manager Marish & the ladies Tiziana, Clouda, Paulina & Karalina. Look after me all the time. Excellent customer service. 😘🤗

Went to a poetry event here. Lovely little place, bright and airy, easy to find with some interesting art on the walls which I think are for sale.

The lattés are always perfect and hot, the staff are always friendly, and it's the best place to do some quiet studying.

Clocktower cafe, by the clocktower of the town hall. Good selection of food and drink available. Reasonable amount of seating. Pictures and photographs on the wall are a good reason for going in.

Great place for a really good coffee and a choice of pastries snacks. Warm, clean with good friendly service.

nice cafe with good service and flavorful coffee

Very nice cafe in Croydon, was my first time and I enjoyed a lot the food and the coffee was delicious. Also, the men that he served me was very friendly. I will be back soon!

Very varied menu. Good service. Reasonable prices. What's not to like.

I have been going to this cafe for over 23 years. The manager is very friendly and accommodating. There is a variety of food to choose from.

Friendly and welcoming staff, the place has a real community feel with local artists work displayed and regularly updated. I go one or twice a week for lunch with my 2yo and the food is consistently decent, the menu is varied and there are always fresh cakes on display. It's not the place for a romantic date or a huge group, but for all other types of dining it's perfect, and such good value for money.

A very simple but quiet place, excellent food I ate an omelet with chips, good. One of the waitresses is Italian, very kind and experienced in her work. I will be back. Thank you .

Lovely cafe to go for brunch, a very spacious cafe with lots of seats. It was our second visit and the food wasn't as great as our first time but still good. I'm guessing some dishes are yummy so we just need to go more to see which ones are they. Coffees are similar for some odd reason, my mocha during my first visit was amazing but second visit wasn't as good, let's see what happens in my next visit.

Next to the library and not expensive compared the others coffee shop.

Beautiful hidden gem if you hadn’t heard of the cafe, it is one of this that isn’t stood out very well but my aunt brought me here today. I ordered one of the specials and my compliments to the chef as was beautifully balanced on spices and portion was bigger than expected. Enjoyed very much. When I asked if had cream - I thought pouring cream so ordered a coffee with cream, had an americano with squirty cream but did work just as well. Staff were fantastically friendly and I recommend visiting here.

Don't come here to study. The coffee is good, but maybe don't get savoury food as it's a little pricey and the avocado toast I got was honestly worse than I've ever made at home and for double the price of buying all the ingredients that could make you 10 of them. The staff were so friendly though and I would come here to get coffee but not to study as people often bring children here and it's super hard to focus because of how echoey everything is. Great coffee, pretty interior but that's all I would come here for.

Fantastic place gor meeting like minded friends and pictures and art work display around the cafe 👍🏻👍🏻👍🏻👍🏻

We came on a Saturday morning/noon. Very nice staff, amazing fresh juice with ingredients of your choice and tasty fresh food with generous portion. A pleasant experience!

Excelente lugar donde tomar un aperitivo solo, en pareja o con la familia. La comida es excelente y la atención inmejorable. Muy recomendable.

Great little spot, which was surprising as I wasn't expecting much. The food was delicious, and we particularly liked the bright lighting.

Excellent coffee and carrot cake portion was generous and tasted divine!

I came here with a friend for the 1st time today and pleasantly surprised. Got a coffee and cake. Really like the light in the space and there's nothing quite like it close by. It was nice they had sofas so not all hard seating. They close the first part of the cafe earlier than the other at a bit of an unusual time but otherwise really nice.

This is a beautiful heart warming cafe. The food is excellent and the staff are so caring and welcoming. It is also family friendly and has a vast variety menu to cater for all.

Went here today for an iced chai latte which was a lifesaver in this heat. The cafe looks soooo pretty when it's sunny. The staff were also super kind, with the barista attempting to make an iced version of their chai latte for us even though they do not have it formally on the menu. It turned out really good, by the way.

Quietness appreciated but hostile passing trade

Un loc foarte bun și frumos unde poți relaxa la o cafea!!

Great place to meet and greet friends or colleugues , for a cuppa or food .

Excellent coffee and tasty food! Would definitely recommend 👌

Well spaced, peaceful space with tasty, interesting menu. Vegan meze delicious.

Lovely ambience and delicious breakfast.

CLOCKTOWER CAFÉ - Croydon Divine Dine in, Terrific Take out, Delightful Delivery !!! 🚚 C harming café ! L ight meals & snacks O ne of a kind ! Fresh fruit juice naturelle ! A C hosen establishment in the borough ! K indhearted Klaudia, Karolina, Xeber - T remendous employees ! And O UTSTANDING owner Marius & W ONDEROUS wife Encarna ! E xceptional establishment ! R AVISHING MIRACULOUS MEALS & SERVICES SUPREME !!! F antabulous Eatery in this Day & Age ! Full Christian that I ALWAYS have been ! Bountiful blessings for Sensational Staff ! AND Fab fellow Customers !

Buenos bocadillos a un precio muy interesante. Un ambiente ideal para ir con niños pequeños o bebés.

Amazing artwork and lovely helpful curator

Beautiful space, welcoming staff and large portions of good food:)

Had a group lunch. Food was very good.

Very nice fresh food in a gallery setting

Coffee good,cake dry( lemon cake with poppy seeds)

Food ok. But very slow. Needs to be better organised.

Unspoilt part of the ever changing part of Croydon

I love this place. The ambience is very warm and friendly, the place is light and welcoming, staff always very polite and helpful. Great coffee!!

Delicious lunch and really nice surroundings. Very polite service.

Perfect customer service, delicious well cook food and scrumptious cake.

Són molt amables, la comida esta molt bona i es respira un ambient càlid. Una bona mostra de pintures D artistes locals i estrangers

Super cafe, basic surroundings but nice and quiet with lots of seating. Great selection of cakes..red velvet was gorgeous. Lots of savoury options too. Good value.

Breakfast was very good and so was capacanio better than Costa. Got to use the table to sort out my stuff was one or the first people in there on a Saturday morning . Was very good nice and quiet just what I need . Felt very safe hear and did not need wooden spoon for table number they decided it was not needed as cafe was very quiet and ementy there was a nice slection of Breakfasts. I went for the omelette chips and beans .

Nice venue, suitable for quick stop with friends or work meeting.

Too expensive, to keeps out the commoners I guess.

Quite a relaxing place to have a cuppa, and at a reasonable price too. Lovely and clean with really friendly staff. If I visit Croydon again, I would not hesitate to go there and next time I might just try a piece of cake!

The food is always delicious. Thank you

Nice range of good quality, and reasonably priced food.

Really nice place for good food and coffee. I like the fact they cater for gluten free, vegan etc

Great choice of food and drink. Only drawback is sometimes you have to wait for food.

First time having lunch here for absolutely ages, really enjoyed it. Def worth a visit for a tasty lunch.

Nice little cafe its shared with the college, clean and bright with artwork from college students on the walls (I think its available to buy) its not cheap, the cheapest panini is £5.50 but the food is fresh and made on the premises too

Bright, airy, nice decor and delicious cakes. Plenty of other options for breakfast, lunch etc. Very friendly and helpful staff

Pleasant experience to meet up with friends

Really good service, food was prompt and delivered with care and attention. Price is compatible with other cafes but in a nice airy setting.

Clean,warm inside in winter and helping staff

Friendly staff and baby friendly

A chill cafe, with non-intrusive music and nice food and drink

Staff we met were pleasant and chap serving was friendly. Fair price for a cooked breakfast at lunch time. Would have liked more chips & tomato for price. Coffee was good. Place was clean and bright. Tables were spaced nicely.

First time here. Cosy and a nice feel. Nice too see the exposition in the back too. Had the Full Monty, was a bigger portion than I expected! Was tasty and I would like to come back. The freshly squeezed juice from the fruit and veg I picked and it was delicious.

Amazing atmosphere. I love the gallery. It's a fantastic spot for a coffee and a cake.

Amazing art gallery and brilliant atmosphere. I didn't know there was so much going on in this part of town. Definitely worth a regular visit.

Been here a few times and have had something to eat as well. The food is okay, but expensive for the portion sizes. Today I had the "Full Monty" breakfast, and having a single egg was pathetic. Bacon and sausage was quite tasty, and bread nice. Portion of beans was stingy, as were the mushrooms. We were there early, and some of the food was already dry, so perhaps had been prepared earlier. The coffee was okay. All in all, it's a pleasant environment with friendly staff, and the meals and snacks are fine, just a bit expensive.

Nice menu. Enjoyed the salad with falafel.

Very nice atmosphere, had a fresh juice and lemon drizzle! Both were very tasty!

Pleasant place, to sit down & talk with a friend - over a coffee.

Nice quiet place - to sit with a friend & talk, over coffee. Coffee, could have been in a bigger cup? Nice experience. Library not open certain days, so we coulsn't walk into library?? Thanks.

Lovely friendly staff and fab food.

Lovely to see the Clocktower cafe open again! Felt very safe (tables distanced apart) and clean. Going again next week!!

Nice clean welcoming. Very good acoustics, nicely spaced tables.

It's a nice and spacious place. Good service. Good coffee.

Pleasant man serving. Coffee ok

The service is always excellent. I sometimes pop in for a coffee and cake. The food is good and a wide selection available. As a small add-on to the library, it used to get busy sometimes, but relatively quiet these days. The walls are covered in art, which is always changing and makes it interesting to look at.

A great cafe is great food and art on the walls. Light and airy, with a buzzy lunch vibe. I'm never disappointed when I come here.

Good is so good and reasonably priced. A rare hidden gem!

Excellent place to eat in central Croydon. Good food reasonably priced.

Its a great location and they do good coffee but my sandwich took so long Id gone off the idea by the time it came

Popular place to eat with 30+ age group, can be busy some days. Paintings on walls by local artists and jazz players on one day a week which can make it a bit noisy. Food lovely and friendly service.

Very good place for fresh American breakfast

Food and drinks are delicious, staff always friendly and helpful. Only reasons not giving 5 stars is because most food is a little pricey. Highly recommend though!

Good price and delicious food. Good for brunch

Nice breakfast served by friendly people also open early so very handy if like me you're an early riser

Cocktails were delicious and the wine list was extensive. I got a cocktail that was like a Moscow mule but with a little more fruit flavor that was perfect for a warm night. Our waiter was good with drink recommendations based on our taste so that was great!

Great place for a cup of tea and a cake or a delicious lunch. Very good food and a pleasant atmosphere. There is always a really interesting selection of art on the walls.

A friendly place. Food is fresh, salad bar is great and prices are good too.

Good quality reasonably priced.

Very nice cafe staff are friendly and attentive menu are very good

Had lunch here today midday, bacon sarnie £3 was good, as was chips £2 and large latte £2.80. In the adjoining room was a number of tables plus a jazz trio, Christian Miller gtr, Nat Steele vibes, who were very good. Unexpectedly though a guy came round with a hat halfway asking for £7 for the music ... this was a supposedly free gig in the cafe with it being advertised as free in the Jazzinlondon.live website. He said the jazz was not supported by the council or cafe, hence he did a collection. I've absolutely no issues paying for music - but don't like surprises sprung on me unexpectedly! Can there be a proper sign put up clearly saying that the music was £7 please? And can they not advertise it as 'free' when they go round asking for contributions? At least be open and honest and say there will be a 'voluntary' whip-round for the band ..... See my pic below of the cafe room. An elderly congregation today.