John Lewis The Place To Eat in Milton Keynes

One of the perks of being a John Lewis member is the fact that you get little rewards sometimes like this Valentine's Day deal which we got half price on had a little chocolate party and the luxury hot chocolate's were delicious totally not that watery Cadbury stuff but a little grainy towards the end and the brownie was delicious lovely set up on the top floor only problems were there was only 1 place to pay as it was a little busy and finding seating was hard and the desserts were overpriced but hope to come back when there's another deal👍

Went this morning to claim my free breakfast roll on the John Lewis reward card. It was cold, dry and only 2 rashers of bacon, whereas the image shows a juicy stack of bacon (I think I can count 4 in the image). I also ordered a dirty chai, which had to be explained to the staff (chai with a shot of coffee). When I sat down and got to my coffee I realised I received a nasty hot chocolate with coffee in. ☹️ I was far too upset by this point to complain so had to leave the only thing I paid for, and wanting to get on with my shopping rather than queue up again and wait again for my order. Really not the standard I expect from John Lewis.

I have eaten at John Lewis, The Place is Eat many times in the past, but today's experience was very poor. The service was slow, many tablets not cleared or clean and the soup chosen were possibly the worst I've ever eaten. The pepper and lentil chosen by my husband was very earthy, the spicy chicken and coconut had a few shreds of chicken and some fibrous vegetable, which I am uncertain of origins. Disappointing compared to my previous visits.

Always nice food but also always very unorganised and tables always dirty

Expensive , needs cleaning ! Seating , tables and floors dirty

What a dissapointing lunch today at this restaurant. Having been before I was looking forward to the usual experience of lovely food and service in a clean setting. But today was just the opposite. The hot food was limited, dry and unappealing. Service was slow and unorganised The seating area was unclean with used crockery left on tables and food on the floor. This is not what I expected to see at this store. John lewis rates its standards as higher than other stores but there was no evidence of that here. It will be a while before I will be temptedto cone back

Had our afternoon tea at JL’s The Place to Eat. Scones were great!

Hot food always seem to run out. Poor choices for vegans. Nice staff but slow service.

Very poor service today. Ordered two toasties; after 20 I had to chase. They arrived at our table 35 minutes later. Dirty uncleared tables all over the place. Lots of staff hanging around seemingly doing nothing. Perhaps it was new staff training day 🤷🏻‍♀️

I popped into the John Lewis cafe for a coffee this afternoon. I ordered a decaf cappuccino and asked the lady serving if she could make sure the coffee was hot as I am finding now that often coffee is served just warm. She went out of her way to warm the cup with hot water and turned the machine up another 10 degrees to make sure the milk was hot. She produced a very good hot cappuccino. Thank you Carri for your kindness. Much appreciated.

A very busy restaurant found on the top floor of John lewis. Escalator and lift available for access. Toilets are on this floor too. There's plenty of seating. I spotted at least 2 people cleaning the tables, so many were available and clean. There are 3 charging stations at 3 larger tables. There's also free WiFi. The cake was nice, and there was quite alot of selection with the cakes, however they do sell out fast. The hot food is very disappointing, not very appealing and not much choice. No sandwiches on show either. A hot drink and a cake is definitely the best bet for this cafe.

The staff were short with us apart from one member but my God the food is inedible.Really don't bother.For £26 it was appalling.

Sorry but my experience here was ruined when I came upon the sausage roll. What in tarnation justifies a £10.50 price tag for a small sausage roll? Quite frankly there are no words.

Been here a few times now for somewhere to have something to eat and drink and always find it reliable.a little different with a sense of ease when seated. Initial layout is not the best making things somewhat unflowing in any particular direction but the food is good.a little different from the norm these days and the coffee is lovely. Always found the staff friendly/helpful- never had an issue finding somewhere to sit which have always found comfortable with a sense of relaxation.

Really strange place. Disorganised and disjointed. There is no easy way to order and collect food. Queued for a coffee for ages, then had to go over to another counter to order food (basically nothing for vegetarians), then over the other side to order a childs meal which had run out, so I had to buy a ready made pouch of baby food which I then had to heat up myself. Service unbearably slow. Was a stressful experience as a whole especially with a baby. Very confusing place.

I must admit that expectations were low before I came. It turned out to be quite alright. The beef pie and curry were both delicious. The atmosphere was rather relaxed and it was a decent place to have a cup of tea or simple lunch. The staff were courteous and friendly during our encounters.

Excellent customer service, the coffee tastes great, and the cakes are delicious. The only issue is that the cake portions much smaller than before and more expensive

Yummy breakfast as,always. 11am, no hash browns so had an extra poached egg

A complete disgrace the appalling Service that's encountered here . Its literally become like a United Nations of disinterested Kids more intent on enjoying a social life with their Colleagues than providing any worthwhile service to Customers . The Food meanwhile is average to say the least and worsened by the inevitable wait as some halfwit struggles with placing three Sausages on a Sandwich , honestly how hard is it ? Before I reach the table the food is cold and I still have to get myself a Coffee and queue at the till . Overall its the complete uselessness of the Staff that's the issue with no idea of either Customer service or the very basic nature of the job they are employed to do . I look forward now to the usual utterly pointless reply to my Review . The Points I have made have been made by many previous Reviewers and you have still failed to address them WHY ?

Dogs aren't allowed in the cafe! I'm writing this review mostly to let people know you can't bring dogs in. I went for a nice walk around Campbell park and went into John Lewis for a coffee and Christmas shopping with my dog..I checked on the website and it says they welcome dogs so I assumed all was well. There aren't any signs around saying no dogs and none of the staff told me until I was sat down and a very nice lady politely told me I could finish my drink but please don't bring him back unless he's an assistant dog. I really don't mind not bringing my dog places, I just wish I had known so I didn't embarrass myself. The latte was very nice though 😅

Worst coffee ever, slow service( it was not busy in there) had gluten free lemon pie was expensive tasteless and gooey didn't taste of lemon at all. Won't be returning expected better from john lewis. Only positive there were gluten free pre wrapped cake options.

Surely staff who blatantly did not want to be there. Food delivery that bordered on being thrown. Dirty cups, very dirty floor, sticky tables and food covered chairs made the experience grim. Gents toilets were dirty, smelly and obviously not maintained.

I come here once a year to look around the winter light display and have a cup of tea and cake in the café upstairs. I was very pleased this year that I managed to get a seat near the window so I could look down on the display. The service was slow and not enough staff serving the food but the cake was lovely and the staff were very polite and willing to help and bring more milk to my table. The tea was weak and the floor was rather dirty under my table but all in all I will come back next year and do it all again !

How does a place like this 'run out' of food at lunch time? Why does it take a full 5 minutes per cup of coffee? What little food they had left at 12:45 was 100% style over substance, the bread was tough, the flavours bland. The cake was dry and for some reason you can get three different kinds of wine in a can but can't get fizzy lemonade. The staff as well, truly glacial and seemingly completely oblivious to their jobs in a cafe to you know, serve food. Don't go here if you can avoid it, pret and Costa are just downstairs, even if they're busy you'll have a better experience.

I got the place to eat reward voucher ( that came through the membership)went three times to claim it could not use due to time it’s close. This I confirmed that morning through customer service number and confirmed it close at 8pm. Spoken to customer service in Milton Keynes branch and he agreed to send a new one but since then nothing received. This happened two weeks back Thursday

Decided to visit after looking at reviews. I can assure you that it was disappointing at best. The staff were completely ignorant. Zero manners and courtesy. No thanks or appreciation for spending my money which keeps them in a job. Bought a scone. No clotted cream. I had to ask the lady at the till and go back to the ignorant miserable staff to ask for the clotted cream I should have been offered in the 1st place. £3.85 for a very small piece of cake with the corner missing (pic attached). I am surprised people even come here. Just to be clear I was always pleasant and polite which had no effect on the depressing nature of the staff. People like that don't deserve to be paid or employed. I wish I could say something positive but even the "cleaned tables" had bits and crumbs on tables and seats so had to wipe them down 1st

Awful service. Extremely slow servers and tills, no water at the dispensers despite being told twice they'd be topped up, antagonistic conversation between staff while serving our food. Delicious however, otherwise it'd be 1 star.

Very poor, expensive, no service and lacking food on the menu, run by kids for.... no idea

What a disappointment, we went there for a normal family breakfast, the staff were rude , disorganised, they barely had any food , not knowing what they were doing. Food was very limited , barely any options for vegetarians. Service was atrocious. This is not an exaggeration.

Service ok but cutlery really dirty, menu options limited by unavailability, cake soggy and tasteless. Not helped by John Lewis staff member having an appraisal at a table behind us, where we heard everything. Very disappointing.

A friend and I had lunch at The Place to Eat. I had the vegan Sri Lankan curry and rice, my friend had the Turkey pie with peas and optional chips. We were both happy with our portion sizes. My curry had a lovely mild, creamy flavour. The restaurant had plenty of places to sit and looked clean and well maintained. I noticed that the place was busy (on a Tuesday) but it never felt too crowded.

A stop for coffee and cake always puts you in the right mood to face TheCentreMK - perfectly baked cakes in a variety of flavours, and coffee made by someone who cares. Always try to stop here.

Very surprised how bad this was. 1pm on a mid Jan Saturday. Not v busy. But no sandwiches, no soup, very little hot food (one pie and some chips). Cold drinks, but all fridges switched off, so not actually cold (are JL cost cutting?). One person on the till, so large queues despite not being very busy. Tables not being cleared. Very poor JL experience indeed.

Nice place to have a cup of coffee and a scone, fast service and friendly, however, please clean the table.

Ah, the last hope for a relatively peaceful ambiance.

Aisha always serves with a smile and goes above and beyond to help each customer. Lovely cafe in John Lewis within Centre MK. The coffee is great.

Excellent service with a smile from Olivia so warm and friendly ...the Artisan cheese sandwich was delicious and the Victoria cake the best..Will definitely come back

Good shopping centre cafe. A bit different from the usual chain coffee shops and definitely calmer.

Food good, service excellent but queuing confused several people including ourselves.

Very busy, extremely disorganised and the majority of staff that engaged with us were miserable and didn't seem to have a clue what they were doing.

Friendly, spacious and clean, but service skills are lacking; for example no matter which coffee you order it will be milk poured into coffee, so don't expect a Costa quality cappuccino or flat white. Quality of food is good as you would expect, however the cakes are very, very sweet but food's all about personal taste.

I’m a regular shopper at this branch of John Lewis but this was my first time at The Place To Eat (situated on the top floor). I had gone on a weekday and it had plenty of seating. The prices were decent and the cheesecake I had was delicious, topped off with a regular mocha which was more than enough (the price for the two was around £6.50). It was clean and the staff/partners were friendly and helpful. All in all well worth trying. I’ll be going back 😋

As you would expect from John Lewis everything is well displayed and spotlesly clean, I only had a latte which for my taste was not strong enough and also a pastry which was nice.

The restaurant was absolutely terrible, not enough staff, large and very very slow queuing has put me off ever going to Milton Keynes again, this is the 2nd time this has happened at Milton Keynes John Lewis restaurant, terrible

First time I have been to this place to eat. The food was really lovely. A bit pricey but that's everywhere. Will definitely make another visit.

We shared a ham/cheese & pickle baguette which was delicious. Including 2 latte. Followed by one piece of Pear gateau which my husband said was lovely & I had a piece of pinapple & coconut upside down cake which was gorgeous, like eating a pina colada😋 Thoroughly enjoyed

Nice ambience and good customer support in the place to eat

Great little cafe and I've succumbed to the lure of their cakes a few times. If there other food is as good you'll be happy eating there

Lovely place for lunch with friends

Just popped in for coffee and cakes, the lady who served us was not a happy person

Drinks and food was ok, the service was not great 2 younger girls chatting away and not really paying any attention on serving me. I did feel welcome at all. On the other side the 2 young boys was fantastic at cleaning the tables and even taking away a tray that I wasn't using. Over all I probably wouldn't come again.

It was not bad at all. Nice servers but lacking a bit of choice on food

Visited today and used the cafe where I ordered a slice of the lemon and orange cake and a pot of tea. Whilst the tea was lovely, the cake was stodgy - it tasted quite doughy and was very, very sweet - so much so it made me feel a little bit sick. My husband had a slice of the Victoria sandwich which was slightly better but still very sweet. I wouldn’t purchase another cake from here as this experience has put me off. Having said that, the cafe itself is great: it’s large with plenty of space to sit and the seating is comfortable and perfect for a short break between shopping trips.

Love the place to eat! 🖤 I went there today and brought 2 bottles of diet coke as I had a bit of free time spare!! I went there and my sister served me who has just started there!! And is doing really well!!👏🏻💯 The food and the drinks look good!! I have been here a few years ago for lunch and for some drinks and I absolutely love the seating area!! I will be back 👌🏼👏🏻

Airline food springs to mind. Cold and tasteless chicken sandwich. Inexperienced staff.Very mediocre coffee. Our first visit. Love the store, same the refreshments here so similar to motorway services!

Always a good place to stop for lunch before resuming shopping.

Good value and good prices + very tasty had the steak pie

Mirka you always go an extra mile thank you. Lovely service excellent food

Popped in for coffee and cake with my sister, we ordered an Americano with cold milk on the side plus a white milky coffee. It was served as two Americano coffee’s that I queried and I was told you just add your own milk anyway?!….. I then asked if the Lemon Meringue Pie was suitable for vegetarian’s and I was told they didn’t know and if I needed to know they would have to check the packaging in the freezer as everything comes from the freezer …. I said don’t worry as that is rather ‘off putting’ …. she then replied everywhere uses frozen items even specialist cake shops. Come on JL you can provide better training / service and quality of produce than that. 2 stars given as the coffee was good although not as ordered

Great place for a coffee, cake, toastie or something more substantial. Tables not on top of each other. Usually plenty of seating available.

Lovely place to stop and get a peppermint tea. They do nice biscuits too.

Not much left to eat at 2.30 ,but the quiche was good with small salad

A goid selection of food and beverages in a clean and efficient environment.

Clean restaurant , lovely cakes !Warm friendly staff .Always a little disappointed with their flat white which is never strong and tastes more like a cold latte

Should be called The Place NOT To Eat! £15 FOR THIS!! Whilst we all understand that things are not yet back to normal because of the restrictions etc, and that prices have increased, there is a line! These measly breakfasts with a tea cost £15 This included 2 dried up sausages, 1 slice of bacon, one egg and one toast. This is far from value for money, it is a joke and what is more, the quality of the food was awful. I would have thought John Lewis with their slogan 'Never Knowingly Undersold' would be ashamed of their current resturant offerings.

I had a job finding this place!! And no John Lewis staff on the shop floor to ask! So I went to 'pay' & asked(only 1 guy)! He was very helpful, listened & answered concisely. I took the lift up -Im disabled. Went to the disabled toilet - which was clean. Then onto the cafe. Not much choice but it was after 3pm! I had a pot of tea (3 cups!!!) & a slice of carrot cake. The lady carried my tray without asking!😊 I paid & the cashier then carried my tray to the booth of my choice!😊 The carrot cake was nice & it had pistacchio nuts on top but it didn't really taste 'flavoursome' although it was pleasant. Then my family turned up & more tea 👍(only 2 cups this time) & a coke & a beer. All in all,very pleased.

Disorganised chaos is the only way to describe this place, there's a counter for everything and a queue at each, I'm sure this could be simplified and the whole customer experience made less stressful.

I wasn’t sure where to go for lunch in the shopping centre that I knew I’d be able to get something vegan from, so I googled John Lewis’s menu and saw they had a vegan ploughman’s on the menu. I asked the woman behind the till whether they still had vegan options and she went to check to no avail. However, I asked her myself if the soup was vegan and she said she didn’t know. I asked another person and they said yes. So, upon lining up for the soup and realising there were in fact vegan options – namely some kind of beetroot wrap and a raspberry & chocolate cake – I asked for a slice of cake and the soup. There wasn’t any soup left, until they found a barrel of it that had a tiny bit left at the bottom. I had that, and then there weren’t any rolls left so I was given a gluten free one. The soup was lovely, albeit it being an incredibly stressful situation that the staff were clearly not prepared for. It’s 2021 and I’m not asking you to skin an animal alive for me — is it really that hard to provide us with more options than veg soup from the bottom of the barrel or a revolting wrap? Disappointing as I enjoy doing my work in the John Lewis cafe and would love to return if they brought out a selection of vegan options.

Not good not much choice of food