John Lewis Cafe in Chichester

Oh dear. Having the read the previous reviews I see nothing has changed. Only one person serving - at lunch time! - so rather slow. Most of the tables had dirty plates on them and there didn't seem to be anyone around to clear them. All very sad. Poor John Lewis can't get much worse.

Huge JL fan but the cafe is awful. Dreadfully slow service and poor quality food. Nothing more to say as I don’t like running JL down but have to be honest. Let’s hope the bad reviews get some attention…and action!

just popped in to John Lewis for a browse my husband who is diabetic had low blood sugars so went to cafe where he purchased a cheese sandwich ... well it was the worst sandwich ever lacked cheese and mayo no butter at all on cheap white bread ... you expect quailty from John Lewis/ waitrose of course they promote this but seriously next time I will take my own sandwich not only packed full and nutritious and it wont cost me £3.50 waitrose promote food to feel good about ... absolutely nothing feel good about this sandwich

Soulless surroundings, tasteless mint tea, toastie was nice but a bit of garnish would have made it look like we were in a nice store! Cake was old and dry.

We had to wait at least 20 minutes in the queue for coffee and cakes. There were two staff on, then one went off for her own break, so there was only one girl doing everything. And this at the busiest time, with the queue stretching back to the shop floor. They work across each other and not at all efficiently. But then I guess The Place To Eat at Southampton JL isn't any better.

Wasted about 20 mins shopping time in a short queue. I never understand why it takes so very long to serve already prepared drinks and sandwiches/cakes!! Inefficiency is rife and that Impacts badly on the economy. Had I not wasted so much time standing in a queue I could have spent more money in the shop.

Dropped in for a toasted sandwich and disappointed to find our they ran out at 2pm! Apparently the cafe closes at 3pm....doesbt say that on the sign in the street!

Why can't I get a plain scone in your restaurant anymore? My husband and I visit about once a month. My husband likes fruit scones so he fine.

Very poor service. We had to walk out & cancel our order. We went to Marks & Spencer. Had a coffee and some food. A complete contrast. Longer que at Marks & Spencer. It was worth the wait. Better Service by miles.

My partner and I spent sometime in the store making purchases and decided a cuppa was needed.It was about 3pm when we arrived in the cafe and there was one other couple in there.Two young male staff were behind the counter.We ordered two hot drinks and were not pleased to see paper cups being put on the tray and when queried we were informed the dishwasher was broken and had been for a couple of months.Why?Not good enough,surely the better approach would be the replace it,after all they are sold in store. Having read the many poor reviews I wonder whether the manager is ever reads them,if they do it’s time some action was taken.As we were about to leave there were three young male a one young female member of staff skylarking behind the counter,not something paying customers want to see. Come on John Lewis,we long standing customers expect much higher standards.Get a grip on the staff situation,customer service and either replace the dishwasher or provide Marigolds for the staff to wash crockery,it’s not rocket science.

So slow its painful 4 members of staff being the till only one person serving and making drinks at an absolute snails pace.

Visited this restaurant today for the first time since before lockdown and still no decaf coffee! Why do they have a sign saying that they are ‘currently’ unable to supply decaf coffee as this implies that this is a temporary situation? Will take our custom elsewhere rather than be disappointed again.

We visited the cafe today. Dishwasher out of action. Only paper cups and plates. No decaf coffee. (Last 6 months!) No croissants. No cheese scones. Very little choice of food overall. It would seem that this chichester store is running down its cafe to the bare minimum as a lack of choice is now the norm rather than exception.

Impressed with the organisation and the welcome from the staff. Hugely disappointed with the lack of choice of both cakes and savouries (Sunday afternoon)

Met up with friends for a bit of lunch. Had to clear our table when we sat down as it was still full of the previous customers' crockery. I had the brocolli and blue cheese soup which was nice enough, but my friend had a sandwich which consisted of 2 pieces of sliced white bread, one sausage and some ketchup - it cost over £5!!! Ridiculous amount to pay for a very ordinary sandwich. Only go if you don't mind paying over the odds for some very average food.

The usual JL high standard with nice if small range on offer keeping in mind this is a smaller than average JL store. Very helpful well trained staff,again the usual JL standard.

We had to wait at least 15 minutes to be served with coffee and cake; the staff were working efficiently but with not enough coffee stations they cannot supply the coffee fast enough. It was noticeable that there were empty tables because so many people were in the queue rather than sitting down. The orange-topped cheesecake we had was really good.

We visit the cafe before doing our shopping. Unfortunately this will stop and we will go else where.The menu has changed and the cafe is using rye bread for bacon/sausage sandwiches which is so dry and hard.We can’t understand why they would make this change as they always seemed so popular before.

Went in with friends for a quick coffee before a mooch around the shop. Due to a heart condition I have to have decaffeinated coffee. We got to the counter only to find a sign saying decaffeinated coffee was unavailable. Surely they could have picked up a jar of instant and offered that? I know it's not what ideal but, for all the people with medical conditions who are used to making compromises when out with friends, it would have been something!

We love this John Lewis, it is tiny but seems to have everything you want and you don't get lost.Wonder of wonders, they have changed the supplier of scones. Until recently they were dry and boring, unlike those at West Quay in Southampton.Now they are lovely, larger, really fresh and excellent flavour - we both opted for cheese.The only downside is you often queue for 15 minutes. I blame all those (like us) who have JLP credit cards so have free drink / cake vouchers.Macchiato a little heavy on the steamed milk.The only other minus point is the lack of a view (cf West Quay). Shame they don't have a space at the front of the store.Hayling Seagoon

Went here for coffee mid am a few times. The tea pots get too filled up which the tea is too weak to taste. My son asked for an Americano which was so weak he had to buy a double espresso to top it up. Bacon sandwich was a bit dry but ok with lashings of tomato sauce. My son had a New York deli toastie which was passable. Cake was good. Overall not top notch but friendly staff. The week before both coffee machines were out of order for a few days, this time there was no decaf coffee. Oh dear, not quite good enough

Nice little cafe..not too busy...good choice of cakes and scones etc..situated in the upper level and close to the restroom..

The soup is always nice and the staff are lovely. A nice ambience and a calm place to meet up with friends for coffee and cake, or a light lunch.

Cannot believe I am reviewing a bacon sandwich but need to get it off my chest. Inedible, full of fat and undercooked, that's it.

We visited the cafe for a brief family lunch while doing some shopping. The cafe was clean and tidy, we ate a variety of tasty sandwiches which came with a green salad, all well presented. Service was very good with the waiter being friendly and chatty.

Use this café a lot - spend far too much time in JL!! - and I find the section and service for a store café to be pretty good, everything is always fresh, much is made up to order, always tastes good and pricing is not bad ether. Certainly if you are pekish on that retail park, you can safely go there and get something nice. The only thing to watch is when it gets close to closing time they can shut the ovens / heaters down about 20-30min before the café closes.

Queues can sometimes be lengthy, not helped by all John Lewis card holders being given a few vouchers for free drink and cake!

Food choice a bit limited but main problem is lack of ambiance. In fact really boring as a place to sit alone or even with company.

Lovely shop and nice to sit down and take five ,you cannot go wrong with John Lewis cafe you know what your getting.

With two friends I had half an hour to kill before going out to dinner with them. We were in the John Lewis store at Chichester and their café seemed to as good a place as anywhere to spend this time.

Clean, tidy and convenient in this retail park. Staff very friendly and helpful. Coffee pretty standard prices for regular and large, from the usual machines; but the cakes and muffins were expensive so we reluctantly gave those a miss as tempting as they were. They have a limited range of hot food including bacon baps but we didn't try this.

I have there reward card so get free coffee and cake which is lovely. The cheese scones are good as well. The cafe is upstairs at the back of the store which is a bit of a shame as there’s no windows or view.

It never gets packed out .Its always clean and the staff are always smiling and helpful and the cakes are yummy

I have often popped in here when shopping but the ambiance is clinical and dull, however coffee and cakes are very good. They also need to have more frequent checks on their restrooms.

Always a cheery welcome from the staff even if it’s late in the day.

Good choice of light bites and drinks, reasonably priced which was always good to see. Jacket potato was cooked nicely and the fillings was of a generous size

We visit this cafe fairly often and it's usually quite busy, and if there's a queue it's always slow to get through!! Apart from that the cakes and coffee are good, worth a wait.

Popped in at the weekend, for a look at the Easter offerings, and decided on coffees and cake.

Go here regularly for coffee and cake. Cake selection is good and always yummy. Working my way through the list. Not been disappointed yet. The cake sizes are very generous..could share ..if you were inclined. Not me sorry my one indulgence I won't share. Looking forward to my next visit already.

Visited as a couple.. had a latte, pot of tea and a scone! All of which was very nice. Can’t complain at all. Friendly staff

The automated coffee machines are ok but you don't get anything "special". The food is ok. I usually have a scone and jam which is ok, but some of the cakes seem rather expensive.It would be better is they had a trolley for customers to return trays,cups etc. as quite a few tables are left uncleared because there are not enough staf to serve, prepare and clear. It is convenient, but probably not worth making a detour to.

A very friendly cafe with good coffee and plenty of choice in cake and scones. Lots of people had ordered the bacon butty.

Popped in here for a quick snack before going to the crematorium nearby. Service was good and the food fresh. Soup was £ 5.50 and the jacket potato was £ 4.50 and coffee £ 2.50 = £ 12.50 for a snack !!

Not a place to get excited about but it is clean tidy and tidy, bright and airy. They serve reasonable snacks. What more do you want from a cafe,

Super cafe for a relaxing drink and snack with friends and family or just to take a time out from retail pressures !

A call in at John Lewis’ cafe to meet up for a link up with a relative proved a very useful venue. The ambience of the place was reasonable and our meal together before an onward journey proved helpful. We also enjoyed a browse around the shop and bought some items of usefulness. Parking was available immediately infront of the premises, making our link up idea.

The cafe was clean enough, but there were dirty, used dishes piled up on the tables. If the staff won't clear them, they could have a trolley for people to put the used trays on (some people actually do this!). In the absence of a cheese scone, I had an onion, chutney and herb one. Bad choice. It was dry and musty. John Lewis trying serve up some "on trend" food. My partner had the cranberry and orange scone (in the absence of a fruit scone). He said it was quite nice, but the original fruit ones were better. The coffee was weak. Will I try it again, not unless they stop trying to be "on trend".

This place is not trendy or romantic but a functional venue with wifi and meals/snacks. Cheese scones very nice. Can have wine if you like.

Its just another in-store café. Tidy and clean, with loos nearby. Not such a good selection of food as in M&S; though.

I visited this cafe twice last week. It is quite small but surprisingly still has waitress service. The toast and scones were really good,and the range of teas and tea itself were all really good. But the thing that stood out for me was the service from a waitress called Ginny. It was 4:30 when I sat down, quite late for one of these cafes, but she breathed us all with enthusiasm and dashed around to serve us and the three other couples who had all arrived at the same time. Great service in a nice cafe!

Oh dear. How I do love to love JL but do give up on the cafe. Every time I come here I bitterly regret it. Cold soup, watery hot chocolate, weird tasting chocolate cake (infused with other food smells I guess).

Very clean. Coffee really nice. I had an American my friends have cappacino. Bit on the expensive side for cakes American one food tbh but I quess that you pay for the name. Lovely to browse round the store too American ones they have some beautiful things in there. Worth American on dundee visit even if you are not buying anything.

Bright and airy, upstairs to ponder whether or not to purchase something for the house. Good for a coffee and cake.

Let me just say if they can not heat up a pre cooked toastie there's not much chance of getting anything else done properly with the staff they had on Saturday 9th Sept 17. Especially with a waitress called Amber, who does a disappearing act when you ask her a question about the food.

On the upper floor of the John Lewis store at the Portfield Retail Park, on the East side of Chichester. Stairs up or a lift.Service can be slow as there always seems to be a queue and rarely more than two staff serving.Once the food order is placed though, the dish does come out from the kitchen very quickly.Lots of tables and benches. Tables cleared promptly.The bacon sandwich is my favourite - tasty bacon and the best white bread.Cakes always good and lots of choice.Drinks good too.A limited menu but ok for a snack or light lunch.Staff always helpful.No view as no windows, just an interior view of the shop.Nice cafe, works for me.

I have visited the tea room in John Lewis, Chichester, on many occasions and have always been impressed. Today a friend and I decided to have a quick lunch whilst Rug hunting. The whole store was busy as there is a sale on, so the cafe was very busy.We decided on a Jacket potato with chilli, with extra cheese and a pot of tea for two.The potato was the smallest I had ever seen. The chilli was cold with lumps of very chewy meat. The side salad was watery and tastless! The waitress was very understanding, stating that there had been other complaints about the chilli ("we are using a different supplier now") and that our potato was the last of them, so couldn't offer us a replacement. We were offered a bacon sandwich with freshly cooked and crispy bacon.The bread was fresh but soggy, the bacon was fatty and definitely NOT crispy!!We had our money returned for the jacket potato, but it hardly made up for our 'lost' lunch time!!Very let down by John Lewis. Not sure we will come back again.

self service, brisk, helpful staff. lovely selection of cakes and snacks, variety of teas and coffees.

We often visit the cafe but always take a look at the queue first. It can take 2 minutes for each customer to be served and if there are ten people waiting it is 20 minutes before you get your turn. And if you consume your coffee and cake in 10 minutes it does make you wonder if it has been worth it. If there are three serving it can be quicker, but we have been there when only one person is on duty behind the counter. Clean, nice surroundings, good toilet facilities for all including disabled and people with young ones who may need attention. Cafe is on the first floor so wheelchair users gain access via the lift but may need to ask for help to find it the first time. Seating in cafe is a bit cramped for wheelchair access but staff are helpful.

Just popped in to do a little shopping! Had coffee and sandwich - both absolutely delicious but £16 for two coffees and sandwiches! Quite expensive but very clean cafe and polite staff!

We popped in for a quick lunch while shopping.I had a turkey, bacon and cranberry sandwich, with a mince pie and a pot of tea. My girlfriend had a jacket potato with tuna mayo.The sandwich and mince pie were very nice. My girlfriend enjoyed the potato but it didn't come with much salad. The service was good and fast despite it being busy.

Clean and friendly but we called at lunchtime so it was rather busy. Very useful if you are shopping in the store.

Went to JL for tea/coffee and cake with a friend. Unfortunately when I poured the tea it was hardly warm and the extra hot water I asked for was the same; I took it back and they apologised and said they would replace. Sadly, the replacement was exactly the same and the response was well that's what has come out of the boiler. JL needs to sort this out as I was not the only one complaining; after all it's not rocket science.

A massive fan of John Lewis, however their cafe never fails to disappoint. The nature of the building means the acoustics are awful, noisy. Service is slow and sloppy i.e. Cake slapped on a plate. A poor selection of often dry cake and other foods looking less than appealing. I had a dry cheese scone as have tried many of the cakes and been disappointed, may be improved by warming but not offered, though nor did I ask.Tables not promptly cleared.

Tasty selection of hot and cold food, licensed for beer and wine. Cheese scones very nice. Wifi signal strong. Pleasant staff, fresh colourscheme

We have visited this cafe on many occassions as well as other John Lewis and Waitrose cafes. This one has the quickest service and the staff are always friendly. Cakes and drinks are good but not spectacular.

Our coffee and cake stop yesterday left us feeling sad at the poor service offered. There was no attempt to clean the tables, only one person serving at the counter who was half-hearted in tidying up. The large coffees we ordered were bitter as the 2 shots of coffee didn't have enough water added and the cups were not full with a teeny weeny bit of chocolate sprinkles on top of our cappuccinos. The cake selection was delicious and varied but quite expensive at £3.50 per slice. The management of the cafe seemed wanting and we were definitely disappointed at the lack of care shown.

A friend and I were Curtain hunting. We went into John Lewis at Home and saw they had a Cafe. The staff were especially friendly and helpful.The choice of food was varied and prices very competitive.We opted for tea and a scone with jam and cream.The scone was excellent and the tea hot. served in a china pot.Excellent service.I happily recommend this cafe to everyone.

Have to say, I was disappointed. My expectation from John Lewis is always high but this recent experience was far from it.Decided to order a bite to eat for lunch - opted for a jacket potato with tuna. My thought was that I could share this with my 20 month old daughter - a light snack for me and a lunch for her.I would guess we queued for just under 10 mins to get served, but table service was very quick - had barely sat ourselves down and got sorted when the potato arrived. My first thought was how small the portion was - it may have only been £5.50 but I've had decent sized potatoes for less elsewhere.The potato was about the size of my fist and had approx 2 heaped dessert spoonfuls of tuna mayo topping. The side salad was more than generous with fresh mixed leaves and small plum tomatoes.The potato was a perfect temperature for a toddler, but for an adult it was tepid at best. My toddler proceeded to eat the entire portion - (excluding the potato skin and salad), which gives an indication of portion size.Perhaps my expectations were too high, but I would think twice before eating here again.

On the way to Goodwood we were desperate for the loo as we had been in slow moving traffic for hours. We saw this John Lewis at Home, abandoned the car in their car park and ran upstairs. That was a relief so we decided to refuel and ordered two coffees.There was a bit of a queue but another member of staff to support the lady who was serving came along and we got our coffee.The cafe was clean and tidy and there was plenty of choice of cake if you wanted it but they are top dollar, £3.50 for a cream eclair! I wasn't that hungry.

Using my free John Lewis/Waitrose voucher to redeem against a nice slice of chocolate cake and a lovely cup of tea, I was in my element! Nice and quiet first thing in the morning of a Sunday, clean tables and pleasant, professional staff. Only negative I can think of is the tray I had was a bit dirty, but that's being picky!

This was our first visit to aJohn Lewis cafe and we were disappointed.My wife and I arrived just before 12 noon.The cafe was well lit and clean and just over half full.We thought most things were very pricey but decided to order a tea,a regular coffee,a fruit scone and a cheese scone and our bill was approx.£9.Unfortunately the scones were very dry and my wife only ate a couple of mouthfuls and said her scone was inedible so she left it.We should have complained but didn't.We expect the best from John Lewis but won't be eating here in future.

I came to this store to make a purchase, and luckily the Mrs had a voucher to use in the cafe, otherwise we would have gone over the road and used the Sainsbury's cafe. It is a nice enviroment to be in, don't get me wrong. Clean tables, good presentation, friendly staff etc, but it can be expensive if you're not careful about what you order.Value for money is not up there as far as the restaurant is concerned. However, being Chichester, it will always be a popular place for people to meet and chat over a coffee/brunch/lunch etc.A voucher did this for us, and it is likely that we won't go back until we get another one.

Went there with my wife, for a cuppa and a piece of cake, really just to kill time, the restaurant was clean as you would expect from John lewis, not one of the cheapest of places to get what you want, very overpriced for what you get, the only good thing about it was the 1 shot latte coffee, cakes was overpriced by far.For example a Bacon sandwich in Bloomer was £4.95, a lemon Tart was £3.95, and a double chocolate muffin was £2.50, thats how expensive it is, and they have the cheek to charge you extra for cream and marshmallows if you want them, it soon tally's up when you add those on.

The JL cafe in my opinion has gone slightly downhill, and it's a shame given the overall good quality feel that the rest of the store has.There was one very long queue, probably around 20 minutes in wait time to be served. In fairness, a manager came and apologised, offering some small cake samples. The choice of cakes have changed, in that I could not see any coffee/walnut or carrot cake anymore, replaced by a range of tarts, which wasn't really for me. I saw 1 traditional cake, being the Victoria sponge type. There are a range of smaller cakes as well including flapjacks and shortbreads for example.The coffee is average, nothing wrong, but nothing special given it's a JL.Prices are still an issue, in particular some cakes being over £3 to £3.50. Drink prices are average to upper compared to a drinks chain cafe/restaurant.People, and lots of them, still enjoy this place, but I wonder whether it's just because "it's the place to be sociable" rather than coming for some good value good quality food and drink. Maybe I'm in the wrong place, and perhaps out of place. It will suit some, but not others.I think for the price you pay, you should expect something a bit better in terms of wait time and quality.

Very limited menu .coffee machine not working --jacket potatoes unavailable--so ordered toasted cheese and ham sandwich which arrived almost untoasted and little cheese so returned it to kitchen .but staff were very pleasant .JOHN LEWIS great store and all the staff are very helpful ----what a shame the cafe not up to same standard .

Very disappointed with John Lewis cafe. The cakes are either dry or mushy and that's if they have many left! Some of the slightly better cakes have been discontinued. Seeing pre ordered food, I can see why people tend to leave half of it and once or twice I have seen food sent back to the kitchen. It seems that the staff can even manage to burn a toasted bun! Coffee is poor and the only safe thing is tea which is Twinings. More often than not, there are no tea spoons, so one has to stir with a desert spoon or suchlike. The decor and lighting is garish and tables and trays are often not very clean. Everything is overpriced and I only use the cafe when I have a voucher, otherwise I wouldn't go there. You'd expect better than this from John Lewis.

Couldn't believe how popular this café was when we decided to break our shopping for a coffee...Staff were working their socks off to keep things moving and still managed smiley faces and efficient service - well done!We had a cappucinno and very glad that we both choose the Bakewell tart - it comes highly recommended, quite a special slice.

Stopped for a coffee and bite to eat while shopping and wished I had not . Took an age to get served which I can forgive if the food is good but it was not . The cappuccino had chocolate on top which I like but it was smothered to the point of over kill the carrot cake was stodgy .The table were cluttered with the previous occupants meal , just not good enough .

We were lucky enough to have some John Lewis vouchers for coffee and cake today, having used our card in-store a lot this summer, but noticed there was barely one clean table to be had in the cafe. Though tables were cleared slowly, no-one wiped the tables and they weren't pleasant to sit at. Come on John Lewis you can do better than that.

Ok decent coffee and I get free cake as being a cardholder so happy days I thought. No. So wrong was I, the cake was dry and nearly at its use by date the coffee is a bitter blend and needs a syrup to calm it unless you ask for a latte or cappuccino the queues are long it's clean and the staff are polite. I clearly wouldn't pay the 3.50 price tag per slice of cake for sure I would rather go to bills or brassierie Blanche if I was to hand over my hard earned cash

Usually come every month after popping into the other stores in the area. Used to have gluten free cake available and a few behind the counter, today however, we queued for over 15 mins( due to only having 1 lady behind the counter). I had a water and my husband wanted a hazelnut latte. We were disappointed to see there was only flapjack or brownie at nearly £3.00 a small slice for gluten free people. We sat down after just buying drinks to learn that he had paid for a hazelnut latte but they had forgotten to put the syrup in. Not very impressed and probably won't come back.

We have been to the cafe a few times. It is nice, in terms of enviroment and surroundings (though being the holidays, a few screaming children). The quality of food/drink and service is good but we have a John Lewis card which can give us some discounts now and again.This is a real godsend as I do find it hard to justify paying up to £3.50 for a slice of cake with a muffin being £2.50.For the affluent, that's probably not a concern, but over £16 for 3 hot drinks and 3 cakes I do find hard to take.The quality is there however, and with a discount, we will probably come here again.

Tucked away upstairs on first floor very convenient café.All the baked potatoes were very good, with the bacon sandwich being very good too.Reasonable prices.Very family orientated.