Judges Bakery in Rother

Originally the village hotel we were served by the granddaughter of the original owner. She had great local knowledge and was attentive to her customers. Delightful window seat. Very good coffee, tea and doughnut. After a walk we returned for toasted sandwiches to take away for lunch. They care for their customers, young and old, local and visitors.

Brilliant local bakery and cafe with excellent coffee, pastries and sourdough toasties. The staff were great. Thank you!

Have been coming here regularly for years. Just happened to read the rather mixed reviews below and felt I had to reply, particularly to the suggestions of poor service. I find the staff incredibly efficient and kind. They are making hugely better coffee than a chain, which takes time to prepare, and at the most two staff are on duty to deal with a queue of people in the morning rush. That's simply the economic reality for a small village craft bakery. Inevitably you won't get served as fast as in an urban Costa, but you'll get proper coffee and real organic bread. If you want fast food, go to McDonalds. If you want to be served by someone with time for every customer, come here.

I’ll leave you to make your own mind up on this one. £8.00 for a pot of tea for two with oat milk! Really, we will never return. (It was tasteless as well)

Judges is exactly what a village's local cafe and bakery should be like. Great selection of high quality food, delicious fresh bread choice, interesting selection of biscuits and cakes, and a couple of extra tables and seats outside on the pavement if you fancy al fresco coffee. Love it!

This is the community hub on the high street and has good coffee and selection of sweet treats. They also carry some local products and have fresh bread - but it goes fast if you aren't there in the morning. It's small inside for seating, but the table in the back overlooks a lovely garden.

I would like to make a formal complaint against a member of staff in this cafe today for disability discrimination. Due to my disability I am exempt from wearing a mask. This person started talking to me with a mask on when I came in… I explained that I am Deaf and only able to lipread but he gave me a massive bad attitude… so I started typing on my iPhone asking if they have eggs Aquafaba in stock. He ignored me and continued speaking with his mask on. I reminded him again and asked him to remove his mask. He plainly refused with an attitude and continued talking to me with mask on… I politely asked him to adapt for me and write down what he is saying because I don’t understand with his mask on but he was giving me a really bad attitude and at that point I couldn’t cope and left the cafe. It is so hurtful the way he treated me. This is discrimination and should be taken seriously.

Small place with great coffee and a surprisingly wide range of teas, coffees and baking ingredients - nuts, flours etc - for sale.

Undeserving of local custom. Won't be going back for overpriced mediocre coffee. What a shame for what could be an asset to the village. Felt that customers were seen as a nuisance.

OMG - the fruit scones at Judges Bakery are the best I’ve ever tasted! Very wholesome, lots of fruit and the size of them are huge. I would strongly recommend trying even to take out and have at home warmed - delicious 😋

The bread here is really good, fresh and comes to suit every taste.Friendly helpful staff and a good cup of coffee make a trip to the bakers a good start to the day.

We stopped at Robertbridge on the way back from Battle. We saw a little coffee shop at the corner of the road so we stopped. The almond croissant is the best I’ve ever had, home made of course. The staff are friendly. There is a little garden with some sculptures showing. Love it.

Make sure you get yourself served by the fit ginger woman , you wont regret it! Quality smile, Quality service, Quality products

Was early for a Osteopath appointment, so enjoyed a ham & tomato sandwich with coffee here. Entertaining conversation about Hunter Valley with the barista!

Found this lovely little shop full of goodies by chance whilst visiting the area. Homemade, quality produce with a focus on healthy eating (but with some decadence for those of us who fall through the gaps!!) Sausage rolls with red onion, almond croissants, cookies, sandwiches and more - excellent coffee too. This is a high end shop in a beautiful village, however the experience was spoilt just a little by the lack of friendly staff - we went back, but for the produce, not the service

Stopped for coffee& sandwiches at 3.40 with a closing time of 4. Limited food offer left but the sandwiches were made to order & delicious. Service charming - over & beyond expectation.

I visited last Saturday with my dad. Both the coffee and the sausage roll were delicious. I was really impressed with the customer service. I use sweeteners, they had run out. A lot of places would have shrugged their shoulders and done nothing. The young lady went to the local shop and got me some sweeteners. I was very impressed.

Quirky & quaint with the most delicious coffee & lovely service. Didn't get a chance to sample the food but it looked very good.

Stopped off for a quick coffee whilst on a motorbike run through Sussex and Kent. Staff very welcoming, good choice of coffees. I had the cappuccino, which was perfect. Sat outside in the sun on the pavement tables. Very pleasant 15 minutes.

Visited with the kids after a school day, they loved it! Very friendly staff and lots of various choices. My personal favourite.. Gluten-free chocolate brownie! Absolutely delicious! It is quite small, not much seating area but definitely worth popping in for a cuppa :)

As abit of a coffee snob this gem of a place does the " perfect" flat white! Always a friendly welcome and lovely fresh produce. Chocolate brownies voted the best by my son!Having recently moved to the area im thrilled to have found this super cafe/ shop and will be a regular!

The owner of this establishment is unhinged. I was told to leave by the owner for quietly saying to the nice young lady that works there that my croissant was stale.

Very small and personal with a good range of cakes. We had cookies and a pot of tea so can’t comment more widely. What we had was good in very pleasant circumstances and with enjoyable conversation with the helpful proprietors. Didn’t expect to find this little gem but glad we did.

Some staff are rude and very unhelpful, when ordering multiple items it takes a good 10/15 minutes to get your order. Coffee on various occasions has been near to undrinkable, cold, weak, and ive even wondered if a shot of coffee was even in my Latte! I have bought baked goods that have been very under cooked which i had to return. The whole place has gone down hill it used to be spot on every time, now i dont want to give them my money to receive lower than average food and drink.

I go in here regularly as I am local and its pretty much the only place to get lunch in Robertsbridge. It used to be great, but has slowly and sadly gone down hill.

Nice sandwiches and coffee but don't go in if you are in a hurry , it generally takes 15 mins to get served when they aren't busy , I wasn't in a queue either !

Pasties, sausage rolls, buns, etc everywhere, but no attempt to shield them from very active flies. We spotted sausage rolls in the protected hot cabinet, so asked for two of those - only for another assistant to pop more sausage rolls (sitting to one side, with flies) in, and the first assistant to take them out and place them on our plate....

Sólo estamos en el pueblo, así que no es gente, pero realmente disfrutamos de nuestra visita a esta panadería. Parado para pan en la mañana y estaba bastante lleno, así que nos sentimos un poco agitado por la cantidad de gente en el café, pero cuando volvimos para pasteles por la tarde era mucho más tranquilo y muy relajado y nos hicieron sentir muy bienvenidos. Delicioso pan y pasteles. Sin duda volveremos. Lo recomiendo.

We often pop in for a sociable coffee. A great place to meet fellow villagers. Good selection of bread and cakes too.

Esta panadería fue recomendado por los lugareños, así que metimos en un día antes de la salida. Nos hicieron bocadillos frescos, pan completo de llenado sabroso y realmente sabroso granero. Se pusieron en cajas sandwich así que viajé bien y disfrutamos de algunos pasteles. Recomiendo los bocadillos que sólo podía haber sido mejor (en mi opinión) si había salmón ahumado con la mayonesa de huevo. Gran servicio, excelente comida. Sin duda volveremos: probablemente mañana!

Diese Bäckerei wurde uns von unserer Landlady empfohlen und nun waren wir schon zu einem Imbiss hier : ausgezeichneter Tee, aber auch diverse Kaffee-Angebote, frisch zubereitete Pastries , auch vegetarisch und große Auswahl an Brot, auch glutenfrei. Sehr freundlicher Service.

Solo el trabajo, pero llegar temprano para el mejor, tomar un café y luego comprar un buen bollo o incluso un pan si cualquier izquierda,

Aunque la pequeña cafetería. Gran Una amplia selección de pasteles y sándwiches recién hechos. . . . . Sopa en invierno. El personal era realmente precioso. Silla alta no es mi única queja con esta gran adición a nuestro pueblo.

Went. In. For. Sandwich. And. Tea..average. Overpriced. Food. Tea OK. Also. When. Waited. For. Take away. Coffee. Had. To. Wait. Ages. Ignored. For. Their regular. Customers. Staff. Chatting. To. Them. And. Not. Bothered. That. Had. To. Wait. Ages.

Aquí nos pop cada martes y jueves por la mañana antes de ir a los niños de guardería.

This is a lovely sun filled cafe looking over a lovely garden in a rather lovely village . The coffee is excellent and the marmalade tasted as if homemade - well worth a detour

At least it's not a Starbucks. It's the sort of proper little coffee shop you would hope to find in a pretty village. Stock does seem to be an issue - they should risk having some wastage short term so that customers expectations rise and trade builds up.

It seems a shame that the "Woeful" review has stayed at the top of this page for so long, so I'd like to counter it by saying that we have visited the bakery twice a week or more ever since it opened and have never failed to receive a friendly welcome from the staff. This is not just because we are local regulars; by now we have spent a long time sitting at the tables and watching the flow of customers, and in our experience they are always greeted politely and served promptly. It is inevitable that at busy times a queue builds up but we have seen very few examples of stress on either side of the counter. One of the marvels of this bakery is the wide range of unusual groceries in stock, supplementing the more standard offerings of other village shops. When I cater for guests with various allergies and intolerances I can count on finding something helpful here. According to my daughter, the gluten free bread is absolutely delicious; and I have been able to buy vegetarian and vegan food when needed.

Fabulous bread and produce but the behaviour of the young woman serving was so disgraceful that I bought nothing, returned to my car and wept. I shall never, ever give them my custom again.

Always seem to sell out early of things I like real sausage rolls and pasties always have loads of red onion marmalade yuck. Used to sell the best doughnuts then they changed. Sausage rolls and pasties are the best when you can get them. If people are eating in take out service can be very slow. Staff are polite and friendly. I think supply and demand could be a lot better.

Great selection of breads, pastries and cakes. Also an excellent range of ingredients and deli type items. Excellent fresh coffee.

Always pop in here with a local friend for tea and a pastry or piece of cake. Good selection of vegan/veggie options and they're dog friendly! Water bowls supplied! Will continue to visit often.

Popped in for the first time today while out on my bike. The cafe is nicely situated and sitting outside you have a great view of the main street. Inside it is all nicely done but is small. The odd thing about this cafe is the service. Both ladies will take orders and make them up, so both handle food and money from the customers. Didn't spot any hand cleaning. Not sure handling cash and food go together, must be a hygiene issue there. Apart from that everything else was fine. The toast I had was made with fresh granary bread and the strawberry jam had real strawberries in. The coffee was good too.

Just left Judges after popping in for a snack (2pm). My sister and I were the only customers and the cupboards were very bare but I understand that can happen in places like this where everything is fresh. However, I cannot understand or abide staff that act as if you are personally putting them out. The girl behind the counter could not be less interested in helping us, answering our questions with one word responses and mumbling 'I don't know' when my sister asked for a recommendation. Perhaps she was shy but you have to get over that if you're going to work in hospitality - it just comes across as rudeness. The bread is wonderful but I can't imagine we'll bother going back.

Lovely little café in the middle of Robertsbridge, do great coffee, cakes and savoury hot and cold snacks. Nice comfortable atmosphere. Not huge, so best for couples, small groups.

We entered what I considered a very nice establishment I am a contractor.Well dressed clean shoes etc etc.sat down and from the off we were frown on.The coffee was excellent just wished the welcome was the same.We finished said Thank you and good bye but no response at all from the 2 staff.I look forward to encouraging smaller businesses but this one not.

Saw this bakery in the morning and promised myself afternoon tea. However when we got back at 4.00 it had practically sole out of everything. Still managed a yummy oat, orange and ginger cookie and had already visited the Hastings branch for a cinnamon roll.

What a lovely small cafe with very friendly staff and very nice produce all at a very reasonable price. We had the soup which was very tasty indeed and a lovely mug of tea. We would thoroughly recommend and we have been back on several occasions.

Friendly, local, fresh - this is a little haven in Robertsbridge. They are even open on Sunday mornings early!

Quite small, very pretty and exceptionally friendly. The cakes and coffee are excellent too. A great place to meet friends and family.

Judges has been around for three years now and is a fantastic addition to the village. Great coffee (so they tell me as I do not drink it) and all kinds of teas. Plus wonderful cakes from Judges of Hastings. Savoury snacks and sandwiches too all incredible value to eat in or take away. It gets very busy sometimes but that is hardly surprising. Staff are so helpful too.