Patisserie Mark Bennett in Poole

In pouring rain, we dived into this little gem, more to get to somewhere dry than anything else. How lucky were we! Absolutely beautiful food, excellent service and a cafe atmosphere. What else would you want! We visited this café today for a quick lunch and couldn't believe our luck. Fresh, artisan bread used to make all the different sandwiches, the freshest and tastiest fillings. Lovely cups of Dorset Mint Tea to cap it off.

Wir haben eine Woche um die Ecke Urlaub gemacht und ich habe jeden Morgen ein superleckeres, frisches Baguette gekauft. Einmal haben wir dort auch sehr lecker (guter Kaffee, Riesensandwiches, sehr schmackhaft) gefrühstückt, allerdings ist der Laden wirklich klein... Besonders aufgefallen ist mir die Freundlichkeit der Mitarbeiterinnen, sie waren an allen Tagen sehr zuvorkommend und, auch am frühen Morgen gleich nach Öffnung, prima gelaunt: Ich habe jedenfalls in Deutschland noch keinen Laden gesehen, in dem eine der Mitarbeiterinnen zur Musik (aus dem Radio?) mitsang und dabei tanzte :-) Fand ich Klasse!

I just read a review from Graham who gave 1 star and it just shows how much difference a day makes. We visited this morning at 9 and there were 5 staff and a full stock of fantastic bread, cakes, pastries and savouries on display. We had a couple of coffees and a couple of pastries, both fantastic. The staff were very pleasant, not very chatty but seemed to be getting on with their jobs. Anyway, we’ll be back soon.

Poor guys in shop, totally overrun! Received burnt toasties having waited over 30 minutes! Had enough and couldn’t be bother to complain. For the price very very poor!

Fantastic bacon baguette, seems pricey but twice the size of competition. Good cortado coffee, great thank you.

As a local key worker, this delightful oasis provides the best food and coffee around. All the staff are welcoming, which makes for a lovely happy comfortable atmosphere. Notably, Babs.

Love.that place. Atmosphere is friendly and feel good going on my own. Babs, John and the team always have a smile on their faces and always take time for a chat. Yummy coffee and high end delicious sandwiches...now my coffee local.

all bakery items are fresh and tasty and cosy place for a quick bite, coffee is so acidic and bitter for black coffee drinkers but alternative coffee should be available to order

Went out for a morning walk with my daughter and stopped off here for a cold drink and some lovely cakes. They made me a hot chocolate but over iced which is so delicious to have on a hot day with a rocky road and my daughter had a chocolate brownie.The manager Jon is ever so lovely and Kerry is always happy and smiling. All the team members always work so hard and nothing is too much trouble for their customers. I highly recommend anyone to come here.

Amazing freshly made sandwiches to die for! The cake selection is almost too big, how are we supposed to decide? We always get a few extra to take with us The coffee is the best around! Great tasting and with some nice latte art.Add to this the fact that the team are all so friendly, and seem to be in a perpetual good mood, what's not to love???Get down there now!

We stopped here for lunch while in the area and enjoyed excellent sandwiches with their own bread and freshly made. Coffee was good too.

Second visit. Not disappointed. Good service. Friendly staff. Exceptional food. Had Ems roast beef special And a punchy flat white coffee that really hit the spot. Don't miss out. This is a rare gem

I gladly travel from Charminster (middle Eastern hubbub of cafes) to Bannoffee's for their freshly baked gournet food. Their freddo cappuccinos /Iced Coffees are to die for (last time I had one this good was in Greece!) AND they have THE best/freshest Gigi ice-cream too!! Do yourself a favour, go check it out. We're going weekly, especially for their specials!! ;0)

Think I wrote a review about this place but i have the written about the wrong shop , it’s meant for the Ashley cross restaurant, good food and excellent attentive waiters but the place is just cold , we only stayed for 15 mins and went to another restaurant across the road in Ashley cross, so much better with room temperature, and we came here for special birthday breakfast but it wasn’t special as it’s freezing inside , the entrance door is widely opened on a very cold covid winter day .

I use the Waterloo and Broadstone branch. I started to use the Waterloo Road branch when the first lockdown started as I used this as my exercise and always bought Hot Cross Buns , which are delicious and a loaf of brown seeded bread , which can be sliced. This is also delicious too. The cakes always look delicious and very tempting.

Popped in for GI bread, sausage rolls and macaroons as these are the treats for the weekend, staff are great and Mark Bennett should be very proud of all the staff and his wonderful treats

Honestly some of the best pastries & cakes in Dorset!! - my personal favourite being the pecan and cinnamon buns. Each visit to their Lilliput bakery has not disappointed and I will continue to return whenever in need of a cake fix.

Amazing place to come for tasty treats. The almond croissant is so delicious. It has such a variety of things to choose. Can't wait to come back

We were recommended this place and i am glad we were, what a delicious selection of cakes and pastries, it was hard to choose what we wanted. Very friendly staff !

Lots of quality bread and patisserie to be found here. You can also get quality hot beverages. Our favourite treat is to get a couple of pastries and drinks on a Sunday morning from Lilliput and enjoy them from Evening Hill

Nice range of pastries. Coffee is really good. Service is always so bloody slow (be it Covid or not)

Visited and there was a short queue, the staff were very friendly and welcoming and the choice of cakes was excellent. Would recommend and will be visiting again.

As a "local" (live in bournemouth) we decided to get out EARLY to go to Sandbanks to be able to safely enjoy the beach at a social distance before it got busy. Stopped at MBP at 7.30am as advertised as their opening time, not open and (small) queue outside already. At least another 10 minutes (7.40am) before doors opened and then there was a really poor selection to choose from, I enquired about "cronuts" that I had come especially for to be told they "weren't in yet". I would have thought if you were a bakery/patisserie that you should have all your goods "available" at opening time? not just almond croissants and raisin pastries. Also really disappointed not to see either staff members wearing a mask of any kind, especially as they are dealing with unwrapped food items. All in all, not a great experience, late opening, hardly any stock out, staff not wearing masks. Underwhelmed. Thought we were being sensible getting there early (as they warn they can sell out), surely the first customers of the day should be greeted with fresh items in abundance!?.

The patisseries have continued to supply their gorgeous breads & cakes over the lockdown. They have even offered a delivery service! A great local business who looks after their customers

PMB truely is the heart of the community for Ashley Cross, Penn Hill and it's other locations.Their bread really is so lovely - worth the extra cost! It tasted so much better and lasts so much better than the supermarket bread. During this whole time during Covid -19 Mark, Emma and their team right across all the shops have been fantastic.The cronut are amazing! As are the Berliner donuts!And the coffee has been a blessing during these times as a takeaway.Thank you so much x

Popped in for a regular coffee this week but as it was scorching I thought why not try an Iced one... just as delicious! Obviously had to grab a Cherry and Almond tart and one of the legendary Cronuts (Bakewell is my favourite).The staff here are great, always chatty and helpful, somehow always smiling, the sandwiches are delicious and they even deliver!

I solely blame Mark Bennett’s for my weight gain during maternity leave think I might have tried the whole selection and I would recommend it all! Think my favourite is the cinnamon and pecan bun or almond croissant or Rhubarb and Custard Cronut ... actually I cannot commit! The sausage rolls and multigrain loaf are also scrumptious, every tine the in-laws come to stay from Devon they go back with a selection! All the staff are also very welcoming and friendly!

Extremely overrated restaurant in a small town which doesn’t offer it enough competition to put it out of business

It’s cosy with some nice cakes and bread. The coffee is fine but it all seems a little expensive. It’s very conveniently situated however close to nearby shops

Fabulous cakes, read, coffee. The smell of baking makes you want to stay for seconds of everything. Such a nice place

Morning coffee with a warm Almond Croissant absolutely delicious. Plenty of choice with a great atmosphere. Would definitely recommend.

Absolutely ridiculous! I ordered a mozzarella and tomato half baguette which I asked to be toasted. I paid and joined the waiting queue. I wasn’t informed of a wait time but I could see they were busy so was expecting 5 mins or so before it would be done. A lady (a couple of people after me) then ordered a few toasted sandwiches and was advised that there would be a 10 minute wait. I heard the server tell most people after her there would be a 10 minute wait.Cut a long story short as I don’t want to waste any more of my time on this place -It got to 20 mins and the lady after me enquired where her toasties were and was advised “they’ll be ready soon” I then asked about mine and got the same response. 5 more minutes later and the lady received her toasties. I’m now fuming as I’ve been waiting 25 minutes and she was served before myself. It was an uncomfortable wait as there was nowhere to sit and I kept having to move out the way for customers (understandably)I then received my baguette and took it away. No apology for the wait. When I went to eat it, half the bread was so soggy from the tomatoes and the mozzarella was cold! The paper bag it came in ripped open due to the amount of sogginess. I think this is why the server was so insistent for me to take a tree load of napkins. Flavour was disappointing but the bread that wasn’t soggy was alright. Not worth the £4 something I paid and the time it cost me of my precious lunch hour. Cakes and pastries looked nice but the lack of customer service means I won’t ever go back.

Set up is great and cosy, food looked delicious, breads and cake slices.

Often heaving with customers buying bread this little cafe is a very relaxing place for a flat white and a read of the newspapers provided. Lots of bakery delicacies from which to choose.

So happy to have found this great coffee shop - wonderful fresh cakes, pastries, breads ... despite being so busy they manage to keep right of top of table clearance etc... cosy and rustic - will return.

I came into patisserie Mark Bennett in Ashley cross today at around 10:30 this morning with a friend and our two toddlers, Both bought some food and drinks, I was served by a guy called Callum he was so lovely, amazing customer service, very happy and smiley just what the front of house on the Tills need. I bought a hot chocolate, a lemon meringue and a rocky road with an apple juice to my son. Very tasty hot chocolate with a good Florette on top made by Angel. I'll definitely be returning again.

Excellent Coffee with a doughnut with blueberry jam and white icing. Absolutely fab! This is a great coffee shop with tasty filled rolls and award winning cakes!

We go to Ashley Cross to sit in, Lilliput when I’m cycling and Penn Hill for bread to take out.

Coffee and cake lovely....not cheap but worth the price for a treat Place not as clean as I’d like ..it felt a bit grubby. I would go back but just as likely to get a take away cake and eat it at home .

Terrible, chocolate mouse cake with no chocolate. Imitation brown jelly instead!!!! I would not recommend this brand. They cheat and cut corners.

Very pleased that this will be my new local bakery/coffee shop, what a great place to have on your doorstep.

Went into to this cafe for a coffee and a bite to eat but found it to be too expensive for what it is. £5.20 for a croissant with cheese and ham. Im sorry but you can get a proper meal for that elsewhere. Charges a fortune for bread too. The food isnt particularly good as how good can a croissant get to warrant that price. £10.40 for 2 croissants for myself and my wife. I dont like places that just want to rip off customers just because the owner once got a snazzy award. Will avoid this place in future as there are better places to go.

Rubbery chicken sandwich, won’t be going back, go to Red roaster for a bagel instead! They’re much nicer!

Went here as a family of 4, for coffee and cake and wasn't disappointed. The atmosphere was cosy and the food and drinks where delicious. Will com again to this, and other Mark Bennet's in the local area.

I had a delicious wrap and a coffee in the Ashley Cross branch, but felt like an irritant to the staff serving me, almost like customers were an inconvenience to their day - despite having queued behind another customer the lady ignored me until I asked to be served and then seemed grumpy and dismissive in the interaction. Very little eye contact or focus on the customers. Food excellent though and decor is nice.

I stood at the counter for several minutes, feeling foolish and being largely ignored until I asked whether I was being served and was told that I had been standing at the wrong place and should have been standing at the till. Strangely, the friend whom I was with said that he had been told the opposite a couple of weeks before. Perhaps they should put up a large sign with arrows directing customers where to stand. Or, better still, have an awareness of their customers' presence!

Mark Bennett is my "go to" if I want a quick and definitely yummy breakfast. Their Ham and Cheese Croissant is my favourite, light option to start the day always served with a smile :)

First time I have stepped back into Mark Bennetts in about a year as the last time I did my sandwich was awful and wrong and i was offered a refund. Today however as I was outside and running late I gave it a chance again. I ordered a bacon sandwich and cappuccino. I got a hot chocolate and a soggy fatty bacon sandwich for £6.80 oh and it was served by miserable staff! I felt this time it warranted a review! I won't make the same mistake again and just stick to family Bennetts bakers from now on as you know what you are getting. I was going to say the place seems like its gone downhill we no one looking after it but I'm not sure it was ever up?? They just do nice bread!

So people say it’s expensive I disagree, I pay one of the big chains £1.70 for almond croissant whilst MB is £1.80. Truly though there is no comparison in terms of taste and freshness MB hands down. There is a similar place in Westbourne independent artisan they charge £1.90 and their croissants are nowhere near as good. MB has 3 places locally and all are similar but a tip inly the one in Lilliput opens on a Sunday also go early like early as they do sell out!

Stopped by for a coffee and croissant on a Saturday morning. It was very lively with a constant stream of customers both for the bakers and cafe. The croissant was excellent served heated (a little crispy) and with a decent portion of jam and butter. Coffee was good and strong though I’m a fan of slightly bigger cups. Great “artisan bakery” decor - which is what it is!

If you're in the market for a fantastic pastry then I can't recommend Patisserie Mark Bennett enough! All the pastries I've ever had from this Mark Bennett have always been to the highest level of quality. I've sat in a few times and taken away several times more. the staff are always friendly and helpful and the general atmosphere is always great. it can get busy but it's certainly worth the wait. If you want a great coffee and croissant with a great park view then this is a great venue.

This was a lovely visit to this well known patisserie with a great reputation due to Mark Bennett. As a family we had high expectations for Jenkins restaurant next door as they were the famous brunch restaurant. However as we enquired for a table that morning we learnt it had changed hands and has turned into an evening pizza restaurant with no brunch. We were very disappointed and saddened by this change as we had hopes and looked forward to Jenkins before we came on holiday to Bournemouth. Therefore we went round the corner feeling disheartened to MB. The food here didn’t disappoint and was delicious. Lovely hot drinks and a wide impressive range of sweet products. Would highly recommend this charming patisserie.

Have observed how busy this branch in Broadstone gets and managed to find a vacant table for a coffee today. Service was fairly prompt but thought it was only mediocre and VERY expensive, compared to similar coffee shops nearby. The main gripe was how incredibly dirty the seating area is! It looked as though the whole area hadn’t had a sweep/clean for a very long time. Admittedly, it’s pretty close to the traffic but, really...??? Surely someone could clean up each evening after closing time?! It’s filthy. Won’t be returning - no excuse for having such a grubby area. Overpriced and overrated.

We had a lovely lunch here , the sandwiches were delicious , the coffee was perfect & the service was excellent, the staff were friendly & are a real credit to the patisserie, lovely relaxed lunch

I’ve visited the new broadstone branch twice in the last week! Ahh I can’t help it, the food is so lush! I’ve eaten in and taken away, can’t recommend it enough!

The food here is great! Amazing selection of sandwiches, pastries and drinks. Delicious and healthy sandwiches! I am a massive lover of chai lattes, and this was one of the best I’ve ever had. Chai latte with coconut milk is a must try ! Great place for any time of the day, lovely staff and great ambience. Will definitely be coming back!!

Really nice little coffee shop, great for lunch too. The sandwiches were as delicious as they looked. Had one with mozzarella, tomato, Parma ham etc. Will definitely be back.

Possibly THE best pastries I've ever had... And delicious coffee too... And I stocked up on some delicious award winning bread... Well worth a visit if you're in the area

We visited Mark Bennett Patisserie in Lower Parkstone as they have a new branch opening in Broadstone. We were delighted. The tea was excellent and the lemon cake the best I have ever had, light moist and full of flavour. Can’t wait for Broadstone to open!

Brilliant place to stop for a breakfast - great coffee and pastries to die for. Get here early to get your first choice!

I do love visiting this patisserie and the sandwiches and pastries are delicious. I've always found the staff to be helpful and knowledgeable. There are a couple of points that I think need addressing.

Called in for refreshments on Monday afternoon.

You can’t fault any of the PMBs in Dorset. Great coffee, amazing cakes and lunch! All are busy so be prepared to wait!

Great food and amazing service always a pleasure thanks girls, the sandwich selection is very original

We moved to this area a couple of months ago and we love this place.

I often meet friends in here for coffee as it is has quite a nice atmosphere and it's mutually conveniently liocated. The staff are friendly but a bit slow making coffees which aren't made from the nicest coffee beans either. However, the pastries are delicious and there is a great variety of breads to buy.

What more can I say... look at he photo. And I can tell you that they all taste as good as they look.

Mark Bennett is one of the greatest bread makers alive. He is a multi award winner.

Great coffee, great food, and all served by friendly, enthusiastic staff! Flavio is fantastic, friendly and professional. The decor is amazing, really hitting that trendy, chic vibe and fitting perfectly into the Ashley Cross atmosphere. We will definitely be returning.

Very disappointing experience. Ordered and paid for 3 sandwiches, 2 packets of crisps and drinks.

Fabulous bakery and coffee shop. Sandwiches and baguettes made to order with a range of home made breads. And an array of fabulous fillings. Amazing cakes.too.