Pen ponds cafe in Richmondshire

This place used to be good a few years ago, I went recently and never again. Over priced and nothing special. My bacon sandwich was tiny and with old bread, then they ran out of bread and it was only 10am. I asked for a tap water - they said their water is not drinkable and suggested I walk 15mins to a drinking fountain. Really, in a food establishment?

Love this place. Been coming here for years. Over that time the service in the cafe has just kept getting worse. The staff get here late and leave early. The opening times are an aspiration not a commitment. If they have had training on food hygiene - it doesn’t show. On a busy day their ability to manage lots of very simple orders leaves lots to be desired. Many delays and confusion. Royal Parks should give the franchise to someone else.

There is no order how they serve you. Ignorant stuff …. Very dry bacon bap. I will not be coming here again.

Not been here for a while, brand new kiosk and it looks amazing, displays full of great looking food, had bacon baps and cakes, all really good, bit of a queue but moved fast, service much improved

Services was very bad, on Google said that closes at 6pm, we went around 5:10 pm and all has been taking out of the counter and the reason was that they needed to clean before closing. In not any place you start cleaning 50 minutes before! Stick to your work hours

The customer service at this cafe has been consistently very poor with slow unfriendly staff. They appear to have no food hygiene awareness, one barista managed to blow his nose, poke a finger in his mouth and check his mobile while preparing my coffee. Absolutely appalling. I won’t be going there again.

We are regular visitors to this cafe. Today our meat sausage roll was hot and tasty, but the new paper cups you are using are too flimsy, and bend as you hold them, spilling the hot drink. Dangerous!

I'm a huge fan of this little cafe - located in the middle of Richmond Park, serves wonderfully tasty vegan coffee and delicious cakes. The quality always amazes me, considering that this is a tiny place with very basic amenities.

Brought my parents here for a coffee after a walk and waited 20 minutes for our drinks. The staff were rude when taking our order, uttering the price of our coffees with no please or thank you and absolutely no people skills. When we enquired as to where the drinks were after a long wait, they shouted at us that we were “just going to have to wait!” Utterly shocking service and shall not be revisiting.

I went for a rather long cycle trip and was caught off guard by the surprisingly cool weather - decided to stop in the park for a quick bite. Had some coffee and cake, which was surprisingly delicious - fresh and moist, may have been one of the best carrot cakes I've had in my life. A nice surprise as I wasn't expecting much! The staff was clearly overwhelmed but managed to deal with terribly long queue.

It's an amazing location in the middle of Richmond Park. Yes it's under new management and yes the seating is closed during Covid restrictions but the new staff are friendly and the coffee and bacon rolls are still great.

Used to love coming here. Now service is rude and coffee quality is poor. Will make a point of avoiding. It’s as if the people behind the counter would rather be elsewhere. I was surprised no queue but soon realised why.

I love the coffee here and the bacon baps. It makes the run up worth while. Just thinking of the crispy bacon - yum. They also did oat, soya and almonds milk plus a few limited Still not allowed seating (covid regs since Nov/dec) but just walk across the lovely park land and eat while you walk. I thought I should review as this has become my secret vice "I'm just off for a run, dear..."

I visit Richmond Park every day, and, until the new Colicci management took over, I would have a coffee there every weekend. I wanted to give the new team a chance to prove themselves and, to be fair, Covid lockdown has not been easy for anyone. However, my visit yesterday reached a new low in terms of the coffee quality – I highly suspect that the team there reuse the same coffee grounds several times over as the flat white and latte that I ordered yesterday certainly did not taste anything like what I ordered - it leant more towards lukewarm milk. It’s a real shame as they could have a goldmine there – lots of people (walkers, cyclists, etc) a beautiful part of the park but it is let down by the sub-standard coffee.

My husband, son and I have been going to Pen Ponds Cafe for quite a few years now. It has always been, to us, a quaint little place where to rest after a long walk. We went there recently (Nov. 2020) and were shocked to see that the pic-nic tables had been surrounded by fences. Everyone, therefore, had to drink their coffee/tea while standing up. We engaged in conversations with the people around us and they appeared to feel the same as we did: that they had been simply SHORTCHANGED, or even SPAT IN THE FACE, by the management, or maybe the person who had decided that WE THE PEOPLE needed to be punished for not obeying (enough) the social distancing. Thanks for nothing. Diane

Since the new management took over the coffee is good but everything else is miserable. Staff don't feel the need to say a word to customers, other than mumbling the price, but are happy to swear, roll their eyes and generally give the impression that they would rather be anywhere else. Cleanliness is patchy and the condiments station always looks messy and sticky. The previous management so clearly cared about their product and their customers, the new management obviously doesn't. A email to Head Office about the swearing remains unacknowledged two months later.

It used to be the best cafe in London, certainly in Richmond Park, but alas no longer. Bacon rolls with a lack of bacon, sub-standard coffee and burly humourless staff.

We visited today. The cafe late was poor. We could tell by the taste that the cafe was under new management. We shan't be returning.

This is my first visit since the new management took over and, based on today's experience, it will be my last. Pen Ponds Cafe was an incredibly well run business with friendly, committed and experienced staff. Their bacon butties were cooked to order with high quality ingredients by people who cared about the customer. There were 4 staff members were working today, there was a long queue as the staff don't seem to know how to work together as a team and they certainly didn't appear to care about the customer. The place was filthy with bins both inside by the food prep area and outside (see photo) overflowing. The condiments were in a disgusting state - hard to believe the comparison to how things used to be when it was run by Peter, Oscar and Lisa when things were clean and orderly.We ordered 2 bacon rolls, 1 sausage bun and 1 vegetarian cheese sandwich (which they had to charge £4 for as it was a bespoke sandwich)! and 1 coffee and 2 waters - our bill was £22. I'm not vegetarian but respect those who are - sadly I can't say the same for the 'chef' who used the same tongs for the bacon, sausage, buns and vegetarian cheese sandwich. When I asked him not to he was offended and got a cleanish pair of tongs and moved the cheese sandwich to another place. He didn't even consider making a new one and based on his expression towards me I couldn't be bothered to challenge him further so we ended up throwing the sandwich away. The bacon rolls were substandard with a lot of uncooked fat on the bacon (the previous owners would either cut it off or cook it so it was delicious and crispy so either was fine). The buns whilst they look the same are poor by comparison. The sausage bun was okay. I hope you read the numerous reviews and try to replicate how things were done before you drive what used to be a thriving business into the ground. People would travel for miles to visit Pen Ponds but I cannot see this trend continuing based on today's experience.

Sadly the cafe is now under new management as the glorious Italian family has returned to Italy because of family commitments. Now the "best bacon rolls in the world" have turned into average ones with poorer quality rolls and bacon; and you can be handed one that is already cooked (they used to be cooked for you and the wait, hot and slightly crisped rolls, bacon cooked as you like it and conversation was well worth the wait). The queues are now crazily long (took one look on New Year's Day and drove home!) .... Yes, there is more choice, but the bacon roll deterioration is sad, sad, sad. the one thing that doesn't change of course is the marvellous view!

Peter, Oscar and Lisa simply do the BEST bacon rolls anywhere. They are not to be missed. The bacon is excellent and the cooking of it done to your requirements. They are lovely people and I cannot believe they are leaving soon. If you read this in the next couple of weeks I urge you to go quickly and try the bacon rolls before they are gone. My weekends will not be the same. I’ve even been escaping during the week lately to head over there and make the most of them before they leave. I’m really going to struggle if the park tries to replace them because it can’t be as good.

Absolutely delicious freshly cooked bacon rolls, the rolls/baps are lightly cooked on the griddle too, great friendly service, good coffee and fantastic views. A regular stopping place on a beautiful day for many years.

I organised a day out in Richmond Park yesterday and took 38 people with me, I knew many of the people would forget to bring food with them so planned the day so that we'd have a picnic in the park and went out of my way to make sure the picnic was located close to Pens Ponds Cafe so if people didn't have any food with them they could purchase food from the Cafe and bring it over to the group. To my shock out of 20+ people that walked over to the Cafe from at least 15 different countries, not one single person could find anything to eat that they wanted. They purchased some drinks, but not one single person found any food item they sold appealing enough to buy. I'd love to plan another day out in Richmond Park with a big group of people but there's no point taking them to Ponds Cafe if they have nothing to eat anyone wants to buy and there's also no toilets near the cafe. I would suggest to the cafe's owner to take a good look at the food you are offering because I brought 20+ people to your front door and not one of them was interested in what you had to offer. Also the cafe has a Cash Only policy, as someone that's organised over hundreds of social events in London I watch the way people pay for things these days ... either they pay by card or they simply don't buy anything, I suspect that is also another major reason why few of the people I brought to their front door didn't buy anything. No one wants to go for a run in the park with a pocket full of coins.I'm sure you get feedback on what you sell either good or bad, but here is feedback on a major missed opportunity.

I’m not sure where the most recent reviewer normally goes for his sustenance but £6 for a decent coffee and the best Bacon Bap in london seems perfectly reasonable for me ( doubt its any more at Caffè Nero for coffee and microwaved bacon roll) and without the beautiful view and deer

We hadn't eaten so thought it might be a good idea to stop for mid-morning breakfast during our walk around the park. We paid £26 for 4 small coffees, a bacon roll, a burger, and two hot dogs. Had we not already paid, I would have told them what to do with their food. The burger and bacon roll were very basic, no embellishments, but the hot dogs were pitiful, consisting of just a plain roll and a cheap, tasteless 'sausage'. No onions in sight. For one of these, we paid £4. Disgusting and unjustifiable. I know Richmond folk have probably got deeper pockets than ourselves, but that doesn't provide an excuse to rip people off. Would strongly advise people not to encourage this sort of extortion by not using their kiosk. Should be closed down. Yes, they have a board with prices on, but you expect a decent product for those prices.

Bought 3 burgers and one bacon roll, 2 teas and 2 cokes.. price was £33!!!! They have nearly doubled thier prices this year and it is such a shame. A can of coke is £2. I mean why is this allowed?

This Cafe is located in the middle of Richmond Park and is a good place to stop if you are in the park. We only stopped the drinks the coffee was ok but not exceptional.

Отличное небольшое кафе в Ричмонд-парке. Рядом есть добротные деревянные столы и лавочки. Готовят вкусно и самое главное быстро. Прекрасные хот-доги и рулетики из ломтиков бекона. Вкуснятина. Всё на свежем воздухе, рядом гуляют олени. Прекрасное настроение (и аппетит!) гарантировано. Рекомендую!

We stopped for coffee in the middle of a very stressful day and having walked out of another cafe for poor service. The service here was excellent, really friendly and helpful. The coffee was amazing - really tasty and authentic. We also had delicious flapjacks which were very good value and had a proper homemade taste. Nice seating area (great for people with dogs) lots of parking nearby and great views across the park. We plan to make this our go to place in the park.

In the middle of Richmond Park just up a gentle stop from the famous Pen Ponds and within sight of the Royal Ballet School is the wonderful Pen Ponds Café.

Este es un único punto de parada para refrescarse y un servicio amable para senderistas, ciclistas, caminantes y familias en perro Richmond Park. Los rollos de café y bacon son las mejores en Londres SW si no del mundo!

This little place is a real credit to Richmond Park, Open 364 days a year come rain or shine, There is always a friendly warm welcome with a smile, Not to mention the best coffee around for miles, Peter, Oscar, Lisa and family are always on hand to help with local information, For me it is a must to visit every day for a breath of fresh air and to excersise my little dog whilst enjoying the best coffee.

Peter and the gang are there 364 days of the year with a hot drink and a absolutely great bacon buttie. We can't recommend it enough they are there from 9-5 every day of the week great before a walk or after.

Esta comida pequeña camión permanentemente atrapados en el medio de Richmond Park es una parada para hamburguesas, sándwiches y café.

We were recommended the bacon rolls from friends and were really pleased we made the effort to plan our walk to include a stop here. The rolls lived up to their reputation and the friendly service was great.

Ciclo de ida Parque Richmond me todo el tiempo y estanques pen café hace el mejor café y tocino en rollos

Por desgracia todo lo que pudimos encontrar fue tibia, preparado chocolate caliente y conos de helado de precio en un ajetreado domingo por la tarde. Todo parecía acabado.

Lovely outdoor coffee shop. Very clean and fresh looking with friendly, chatty owners. The best bacon rolls anywhere although The Venus Cafe in Bigbury-On-Sea is a very close second! The rolls are lightly toasted so it stays warmer for longer. All made freshly to order so you will have to wait for a minute or so but it'll definitely be worth it!

Food freshly prepared to order. Bacon rolls the best in west London. Been eating here for years just a shame it is not open 24 hours. This place is cleaner than Buckingham palace. Peter and Lisa are great very hospitable and I can't decide which is the best cook. Oscar the owner has been in the business for years and will not let you leave through his conversation. Especially if you get him talking about his collection of Ferrari's and Rolex watches.

Smashing bacon butties and cooked just as you like them but Oh Lordy are they expensive!Don't forget to take cash as the kiosk doesn't accept card payment.

Required stop when hiking or cycling through stunning Richmond park. Awesome location and nothing else aroundBurgers are meh, but everything else is perfectly fine. Beware, cash only and I always forget!

Excellent Cafe. Run by Lisa-mostly! Super hot cappuccinos, excellent bacon rolls and hamburgers, lots of dog walkers meet up casually mid to late morning. Walk up to the Royal Ballet School+finish off here. Lovely half day out!