Park Life Café At The Swiss Tea Rooms in Amber Valley

This is a great setting for a cafe . What a shame it is being run as a ' greasy spoon ' establishment . The overall impression when entering was of expensive drinks ( £5.40 for two teas ) , grubby menus and a display of unappetising stale cake . But the worst thing was the overwhelming smell of old frying , even though all the doors were open . We bought takeaway teas from the kiosk in the car park ( £3.00 ) , and sat by the river instead . Great . And I didn't have to wash all our clothes when we arrived home to get rid of the smell ! It is a shame for the young staff being employed here . They need better management and training .

Coffees were awful! We were given a dirty tray too. No excuse. This cafe needs to get its act together. The people of Belper waited so long for this cafe.

Lovely location and staff were friendly though. Nice place to be but the staff were dordling and it was over 3 quid for a 1 shot coffee that was pretty poor.

Been before was okay. Today, shockingly poor. 15 minute wait for two hot drinks and cakes. Orders been taken far exceeded the output from the two staff producing drinks. Loads of people waiting for orders once placed and paid. Names shouted out once they appeared. My cake was left on the counter awaiting drink’s, being breathed on and lent over by all staff and customers at the counter. Asked for it to be put back in the fridge until my drinks came so it was under cover and thought I had asked the lady to donate a kidney! Asked for a pot of tea and was given a takeaway paper cup. Had lost the will to live by this point so didn’t argue the point. Don’t bother . Give your business to the lovely tea and coffee houses in the town . Won’t be going back.

What a beautiful location. The sun was shining, which helped. We sat outside with our tea enjoying the ambiance, watching the ducks and the geese on the river. Our waitress (Millie) was attentive and chatty. Definitely service with a smile. It makes a refreshing change to come somewhere independent from the normal coffee shop chains. Much more authentic! Thank you. I will definitely be coming back.

Wish I had read the reviews about hygiene before I visited with my family the day before my birthday. Purchased two cakes, a pot of tea and a baby chino. Both my son and I who ate here have been horrendously ill since visiting the establishment. There’s quite clearly a hygiene problem here. If the toilets are disgusting like one reviewer commented, it’s no wonder customers are leaving with upset tummy’s. Birthday ruined, and the remainder of the week (and no, it didn’t come from anywhere else - the cake did seem stale but I ate it anyway; my fault). By the way, the service wasn’t great either. Either the cashier was inexperienced or just not bothered about his job. A smile would go a long way. Lots of people waiting to be served too. Won’t be back - shame as the river gardens are absolutely beautiful with a great playground.

Lovely cafe, staff, and setting in the River Gardens but so expensive! £6 for a bacon sandwich and £2:95 for a French pastry.

The ST Rooms have so much potential in a lovely setting and could be a Belper must visit cafe, but our first experience this morning left doubts of a successful future unless they get their act together. Nobody seemed to be in overall charge and the hygiene and cleanliness suffered. Our coffee was ok, but was served in cups a bit grubby on a very dirty tray. The floor needs a good sweep and the hand/finger marks on the windows need urgent attention.

Absolutely atrocious waiting times, Food and service. It's so sad as it was lovely when it first opened but it's deteriorated rapidly and now atrocious. Left hand doesn't know what the right is doing.

Paid £10 for a very average breakfast cob! Nearly £4 for a simple beans on toast. It’s too expensive for a park cafe. The food took an age, we had drank our drinks before any sign of food being ready. Poor service really, was hoping for much better for the money.

Very nice place to have a simple lunch to relaz and look out over the River Derwent, and nice gardens round about. Just a shame no museum at the amazing, groundbreaking mill!

No decaffeinated coffee for the third time in less than three weeks. Is it so difficult to order some thing in. This is a lovely spot to sit but so disappointing when you can’t buy what you want.

Beautiful afternoon tea that I booked for my mother's bday, the food was just lovely all fresh and very tasty the pudding were just as nice and they even make different sandwiches for my dad, the whole experience was really nice the staff were very helpful friendly and made us feel very welcome, they even boxed up what was left to take home with us thankyou so much xxxx

Customer service received today was unacceptable, waitress was rude and aggressive when asked if we could have our table wiped down, when our coffee arrived it was put on the table in an unfriendly manner. There was also no acknowledgement of my husband waiting to be served, waitress continued to busy herself as if my husband was invisible. I understand that there was staff shortages today but there is no excuse for staff rudeness to customers. We will not be returning, plenty more cafes in Belper with friendly service.

Call regularly on a Wednesday with my grandson I always have a coffee and he usually an ice-cream.. today he wanted a biscuit or chocolate their is no kit kats snickers etc for a child to buy only expensive cakes and scones .this cafe needs a re think to cater for little kids and have some small snacks for sale . I appreciate you need to make a living but a cafe is a cafe and most sell packets of biscuits and chocolate but sadly not this one.

Disappointing - dry stale scones, dirty tables, rude staff, no home made cakes, expensive, no menus on tables, unwelcoming, staff have customer service training

I went to the river gardens cafe with family visiting from London and we all had the most wonderful time!! The food was lovely and the staff there were so warm and friendly. Alex and his team made our experience an amazing one and we can’t wait to go back and visit as soon as possible.

Time for change Been visiting the new tearooms weekly since opening with our young children who love to play on the park. The River gardens is a beautiful place to visit and credit to the caretakers , but sadly the on site catering has been outsourced to a commercial “multi site” operator. Called “Cafe life “ Basically the highest bidder won the contract. The new tea rooms was long awaited by locals and we were led to believe it would supply homemade delicious meals , cakes and use amazing local suppliers. The cafe has now been open long enough to iron out any teething problems with staff , menus and the actual management of the operation. In reality the food offer is bought in by a national frozen food supplier, no homemade cakes or lunches ,just poor quality produce ,sold at over inflated prices. The staff are pleasant enough but no means trained enough to cope with the volume of visitors. Coffee takes so long to arrive. Today was probably the worst I’ve seen it operate . No food available , staff said they were unable to cope as only three of them working , no decaf coffee , no milk alternatives , all at the busiest months of the year during school holidays. It’s time for change. Belper has some amazing independent caterers that far exceed what’s being offered here. This place could and should be amazing.

We thought we’d have a nice little run on a sunny day out for a simple coffee and a tostie! Oh, how I wish we wouldn’t have bothered. I ordered at the counter, and was instantly told in would be a twenty minute wait for two Lattes. I said “That’s OK, cos I want to order some snacks too” nly to be told they were not serving hot food due to being “Manic” I think was the word. Almost a tenner for two bags of crisps and two ‘playing card’ size bars of chocolate. So … I got my money out to pay, only to be told “We have no change – can you pay on card” By now our experience was ruined before we even sat down. The girl that served us had the zest and joyfulness of an old sock that had been soaked in the nearby river, and the coffee was lukewarm and mediocre at best. The worst twenty quid I’ve spent all year – Avoid this place at all costs. I’d be surprised if it was still going in two more years!

Avoid at all costs! Long waits poor communication and a very rude manager!!!!! We decided to take our family who are visiting from London to experience the river gardens they took a lovely swan boat out and we then decided to enjoy a cup of tea and coffee on such a lovely day overlooking the river. Well when served was given the cakes told to take a seat with a. Buzzer and wait for it beep them come get the drinks!!! We only order one pot of tea an americano and a latte. Seriously still waiting 30 mins later for drinks…. Looking around seems everyone was getting food before the drinks even came out? Yes it was busy but seriously get more staff on drinks distribution and making or communicate when customers are ordering there is a delay! Went to get the drinks finally having already eaten the cake !!!! As cake was getting dry sat in the sun! Gave some feedback just explaining would be nice to be given the information that there was a wait on drinks!!! This young lady then said very Rudely thanks for your feedback I did tell the staff to explain the delay I said well they didn’t pass it on but gladly took the money! She then turned her back and walked off !!!! Rude rude rude I couldn’t believe it!!!! She then came out as I had made a complaint to the lady who served us a originally who confirmed she wasn’t told of telling customers of any delays and apologised profusely on behalf of her ‘ Manager Anna’ yes the manager was the rude woman!! As I said she then came out and firstly offered us free cake ? Erm no we had that already. Then basically called me a liar after I said she was rude she said oh I said wait a sec no she didn’t she said ok thanks for feedback have a good day and turned her back on me !! She obviously needs skills in customer service! Absolutely disgusted and very disappointed will not be going back and will not be recommending !!!

Fantastic service from staff, went at the perfect time as it wasn’t so busy that drinks took much time. My daughter who is 3 was interacted with by staff and was a very friendly atmosphere. Catered for all customers and food was brilliant. I’m a repeat customer and will be back again!

food was great, service was amazing and the staff were very kind and welcoming. menu was fantastic and me and my friends loved the food and the people

Dreadful . Dirty toilets, poor food selection and disinterested staff. This was my second visit - a friend had suggested we meet here despite my reservations and it’s got worse. So many other lovely cafes in Belper. Who is responsible for giving them the contract to run this cafe in this wonderful location ?

It could be a fantastic place , sadly no one seems to have a clue on how to run a cafe . Not a single table was cleaned ready for the next customer. We cleaned our own !! We waited 10 mins for 2 teas !! The toilets are utterly disgusting . Here's the best not a single member of staff wants to work there not a single smile from any one of them!!! Avoid

Honestly not great. It seems to be a pleasant place but it is overpriced, ridiculously. Waiting half an hour for two burgers (which were actually nice), however we ordered our burgers with cheese on, did not arrive with cheese which we paid 3 pound more...

I want so much to give this 5 stars for the lovely food, service and staff. BUT I am only too pleased I didn’t visit the toilet before I ordered or I would have walked straight out. The facilities appear to be jointly used by...

This spot is ideal after a walk through the river gardens or after shopping in Belper. Good views of the river and room to relax and chat or meet up with friends. Spotlessly clean with approachable friendly staff who served the best coffee we'd had...

Sunday afternoon 1.30pm Two coffees and two bits of cake, we paid and were given the cakes at the till, we wanted to eat the cake with the coffee but it was taking so long the cakes were long gone and still no coffeee. 20...

Visited recently with our daughter and grandson. Enjoyed delicious coffees, scone and jam and cream, vegan pasty, and ice cream for the youngster. Service was prompt and friendly, and we enjoyed the experience overall. Have been back since, and had a good experience again.

Lovely morning in the sunshine by the river. Kids loved their egg soldiers and the veggie cooked breakfast was really tasty. Super friendly staff. Will definitely be back!

We visited for coffee and whilst not the cheapest it was good, service was pleasant and we enjoyed the delightful surroundings.

The River Gardens are a lovely place to walk around, catch up with friends and family and take some Xmas photos. This visit felt a bit nostalgic for me as it's the first time I've been back in years. We met my brother at the...

The Tea Rooms are situated in the beautiful Rover Gardens, and it's a great place to pop into for a cuppa and maybe a spot of cake if the weather allows sitting outside. Disappointingly, the selection isn't what I would expect from a "Tea Room"...

Having read the reviews (and had word of mouth feedback on the early days of the café), we decided to leave ourselves enough time to go elsewhere but I am glad we did check the tea room at the River Gardens first. It wasn't particularly...

2 small sausage rolls and a bottle of beer £13.65, sausage rolls were nice but a lot of pastry and at £3.65 each very small, nothing was priced up either. queried the price of beer and it was £5.95, waitress said well it’s £5.50 a...

I should have realised when the cafe was less than half full on a sunny Saturday summer holiday lunchtime that there was a reason for that. Staff seemed a bit inexperienced/lazy/rude, couldn't quite work out which! They only had throw away single use cups for...

Must admit I'm very surprised by some of the comments on here, I have visited half a dozen times, the last being last Sunday.i have called in on my own and with family, for coffee, cake and last Sun for lunch. Couldnt fault the service...

£27.40 for two jacket potatoes and 2 milkshakes. The milkshakes took that long to come out that we had to remind them twice, I wouldn’t have minded but it wasn’t busy, they were just lounging around pouring themselves Pepsi’s. We asked during ordering if we...

Lovely sunny day so looking forward to coffee and snack during late morning walk. Should have realised on arrival something was wrong as only a few people there when it should have been really busy. Ordered 2 coffees and scones. This took 25 minutes to...

Went specially to try the new cafe. Have to say we were rather disappointed. Firstly only doing takeaway cups, also no plates. Two scones and butter and two teas (all served in cardboard) came to over £12. When he brought our order outside(took two trips...

Great addition to the River Gardens it is just what the needed. Plenty of seating inside and out, cafe was spotlessly clean with service at the counter which was quick, decent menu choice and cakes to choose from and it does not get much better...

My elderly mum was so looking forward to lunch here but what a disappointment ! Many items not available and what was left was just chips ( standard frozen) with nuggets, sausage roll and coleslaw(!) and a few other odd sounding items .. I had...

Having visited the cafe when it was in the little shed, we were quite looking forward to visiting the new cafe. It was very clean, pleasant friendly staff and a lovely cup of tea. However the thing that spoilt it for me was the price...

Went for lunch today having been for coffee recently.there were four of us. Personally I had the fish cake and salad. It was lovely. Very tasty. We really enjoyed it there. Very nice staff Now things have settled down it’s well worth a visit.

The cafe had only recently opened and it was apparant that everyone was trying to get used to the workings of the cafe. There were long queues all the time , and it took a long time to get served. Drinks were good and cakes...

Lovely tearoom, food and drink choices and location BUT I was disappointed and annoyed to find, after making my choices, that they do not accept cash payments, cards only. And that wasn’t negotiable. They are “not set up to handle cash” I was told. So...

We visited a week after it had opened and during the Easter holidays. It was very busy with constant queues outside the door and service was therefore a little slow as they struggled with 1 drinks machine, to serve the flow. Many of the food...