Pencil Cottage in Isle of Wight

What a fantastic little tea shop and very interesting to find out about their charity work. They catered extremely well for allergies and there was even a choice of deserts. This staff were friendly and kind and helpful with making choices.

Paid a visit here for a late lunch/tea. We shared a sandwich and cream tea with two scones. Impressed with it all. Sandwiches were fresh, scones large and enough jam/cream. Nice tea too. Would definitely return to sit in their nice garden are.

I've been coming to Pencil Cottage for years, progressing from going with my parents on family holidays to meeting them there as an adult. A visit here is a staple of any Isle of Wight trip! The location is perfect, with lovely premises and excellent seating options both inside and out (so no need to worry about the weather.) We're always here for a cream tea, in fact it's our number one Island scone destination. It's also excellent in terms of gluten free options for my wife as well. My personal recommendation is a "Red Squirrel" cream tea, with locally made jam, but there's always lots of options to suit all tastes, diets and appetites. Always a friendly and relaxed vibe from the staff too. Also, don't miss their nice adjoining gift shop - and their excellent "Christmas All Year Round" store across the street.

This has to be the best Afternoon Tea that we have had. The children’s menu was also fantastic & there was even a menu & ice-cream for our puppy. Could not rate Pencil Cottage high enough.

Good food and coffee wasn’t bad either. Wait to order was a bit slow (only reason I haven’t marked five stars) but we’re ’on island time’ so…

Absolutely lovely what a little gem of a place we will definitely be back, staff very polite and helpful food was amazing, place was very clean has 5*rating 10/10

We grabbed lunch here as our first stop on our favourite Island. For a wetish day, it was fairly busy with a queue to order food. After joining said queue and waiting until they reached what they thought was the front my Wife and Daughter were reminded by someone queuing the other way that they were actually queuing the wrong way !. After waiting again they were informed of a long wait but managed to negotiate a shorter time for delivery of my Grandsons cheese sandwich. Food was OK, drinks by that time long gone. Toilet facilities are outside which proved interesting to our Grandson as he visited our local museum the previous week where he saw the recreated outdoor toilets from the “olden days” so knew what to expect.

The food ordering was easy had lunch and cake the food was hot and plenty cake was very generous friendly staff not to expensive

Had a lovely afternoon tea at Pencil cottage the scones were cooked to perfection with loads of clotted cream and pots of jam to accompany them. it was fairly crowded as the weather was not too good but we managed to get a table.

Visited Pencil cottage recently for a quick coffee. Sat outside in the lovely garden in the sun which was just beautiful. Was so relaxing sat in the garden listening to birds while enjoying our coffee. Did not eat on this visit but the menu had a lot of choice on it and whatever was being cooked at the time smelt lovely. Toilets were spotless. Will definitely be visiting again when back on the Island. A lovely place to just sit back and relax.

I am so pleased that I took my friends who were visiting the island here. We had delicious scones and cream with a wide choice of jams. Highly recommended.

Wonderful sunny garden spot for a break. Started with delicious ice cream cornets, followed by excellent cups of tea. Very welcoming couple run the tearoom. Sandwiches on the menu included crab.

Had a nice cream tea at the Pencil Cafe in Shanklin. Quick and friendly service. Could have been more jam and cream but otherwise very good.

Pencil Cottage is usually one of our favourite lunches on our holiday however this year it was a bit disappointing. There was a 45 minute wait for our food and when it did arrive one of the orders was wrong. Cheese Jacket Potato instead of Beans. As it took so long we didn’t say anything as we were too hungry by this time. We sat indoors as we could see there were lots of wasps around we ended up having to remove numerous wasps and shut the door to avoid being plagued by them. The food was ok but nothing special this year unfortunately. The cheese used in the dinosaur children’s sandwich is also mature cheddar which most children find too strong. It may be better to change this to mild cheddar or state tat it is mature cheddar. We will come back as it is one of the better places to eat on the island, but maybe for cake next time.

Sadly, not a good experience. It took ages for our order to be taken and a further long wait for the scones to arrive for the tea we had long since drank. Food, when it eventually arrived, was ok but nothing to write home about. We won’t be making a return visit.

Cafe of the year 2021 & 2022. I can see why they got this accolade, lovely place. Visited twice while on holiday. Great food and drinks, delicious Ice cream & friendly staff.

My Mum and I ate at Pencil Cottage several times whilst we were on holiday in Shanklin and had some lovely meals from sandwiches to burgers with onions and jacket potatoes. The jacket potato was a bit disappointing but the rest of the food was lovely. The staff were very friendly and polite all except one who wasn't in uniform and was snappy on one occassion which was uncalled for. It was a shame she wasn't as polite as the rest of the staff who couldn't have been nicer. The food is of a high standard at Pencil Cottage and the salted caramel ice cream was delicious. We went into the Pencil Cottage shop and the shop assistant was lovely and a real asset to the business, a real people person.

Pencil cottage is always a must when we visit the island. The staff are always friendly and helpful and the place is clean and welcoming. We like to sit in the garden and enjoy the peace while we eat. We had the ploughman's lunch....very generous portion and excellent value for money. We have also had cream teas previously and can recommend them too. A definite visit to all our family and friends we have recommend to. Thank you and see you next year!!

On a hot day this is a lovely spot to stop for a cold drink or cup of tea. Light meals are available as are cakes. Cream tea was very tasty. Staff are friendly. The chairs outside are not that comfortable for those of us with amble rear ends, but inside the furniture is ideal. Ideal location if you have just climbed out of the Chime. There is a gift shop attached and a charity section [have to admit did spent on the CDs but the owner was exceedingly grateful, apparently I paid for a teacher for a week in Gambia]

Would recommend this place. Great value, simple food in good quantity. Scrambled egg on toast and sausage roll great value.

Lovely cafe. Excellent food and licenced for alcohol Cream tea was TWO warmed scones, large clotted cream and two mini jams with a pot of tea. Fantastic quality for around £7.00

Perfect place to eat after a long walk. Lovely well kept garden to sit in the sun and very peaceful. Enjoyed it so much we called back a few days later to try their delicious scones

Lovely tea rooms with fabulous scones!! There was a notice up saying the tea rooms were experiencing a staffing shortage and training new staff .. you wouldn’t be able to tell as the staff were excellent ! Friendly , polite and very efficient !! Very good prices for the cream tea and very high quality !! Really enjoyed it, thank you !

Excellent in every way. Lovely sandwiches and cakes, the lady who served our order was lovely and very kindly bought out a bowl of water and a biscuit for our dog. Great experience and would thoroughly recommend.Pencil cottage was a lovely experience

My friend's and I went for a cream tea at pencil cottage. It was fantastic home made scone and jam very tasty. Staff where very good and helpful service was fast and served with a smile very rare these days would highly recommend

Food was excellent, service excellent, could not recommended this enough! My 2 year old loved the pasta I’ve never seen him eat so much! Pizzas were fresh! 10/10 we will 100% visit again when we are back on the island!

Situated in Shanklin Old Town and just near the entrance to Shanklin Chine The Pencil Cottage Tea Room is a must for a sit and CREAM TEA. Glorious sunshine was with us and this was a spur of the moment visit. The gardens were easily...

Great cream teas, excellent staff, including gift shop staff. Highly recommended. We thoroughly enjoyed our visits.

The staff was amazing. Very friendly and helpful. And the cream tea, out of this world. Will definitely go back there again and again.

We decided to treat ourselves to an afternoon tea here and were not disappointed. Giant homemade scones with clotted cream and jam, sandwiches with generous filling. strawberries, and two slabs of cake. Tea was nice too. Nice quaint location and friendly staff. Would definitely recommend.

I love pencil cottage it's such a nice place to sit for a coffee or have lunch the food is lovely and the cakes.the staff are friendly and chatty I don't think there is anywhere else I would like to go but pencil cottage well...

We popped into Pencil Cottage for cream teas and hotdogs. We were made very welcome and although we had to wait awhile for the order to be brought to us (it was busy) it was well worth the wait. The scones were perfectly warned and...

Popped in for tea and cake. Lovely slice of cake with nice flavour of tea. Very clean facilities. Staff very friendly and helpful. Made a fuss of the dog as well. Thoroughly recommend.

Beautiful cafe situated in a thatched cottage garden. Lovely spaced out tables in a pretty setting. Order at the counter with lovely friendly staff. We ordered two build your own burgers and they came with a side salad. Beautiful, freshly made and delicious. Nicest food...

Myself and my wife, little grandson & family visited pencil cottage in June 2020. Visiting the isle again yesterday we looked forward to revisiting. It’s a lovely place, lovely staff. Everything just great. Thank you 👍 ⭐️

Superb place to eat. Food is fresh and fresh tasty, loads of choice, great staff and reasonably priced. Highly recommended

I had to stand in a queue for a considerable amount of time to order in the boiling sunshine during a heatwave, so it would have been nice to have had table service. Food didn’t take too long to come and when it did we...

Visted in August. Staff were very friendly, helpfull and the place was nice and clean (unlike another tearoom nearby). Our party ordered some bagette's for lunch and they were fantastic, came with side salad and a few crisps. Good value for money and felt very...

⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ Absolutely amazing! I came here with my mum, and although they were busy and swept off their feet, they still made us feel so welcome, and gave such amazing service! ❤️ I had one of the stem ginger and honey ice cream milkshakes, which...

We called in at the Pencil Cottage Tea Gardens in Shanklin Old Village on Friday 5th August, 2022, whilst on holiday in Shanklin. It is absolutely delightful and surrounded by lovely gardens. We ordered a snack which was delicious. The staff are very nice and...

Lovely place, I had a toasted cheese sandwich with salad and crisp and my husband had the ham salad which comes with a baguette salad and crisps plus dressing, the portions are big, then we had a scone with cream and jam…amazing, so good we...

Had the Pizza burger which was the burger special of the week and it was lush! Really lovely, and the new 18+ Bailey's spiked milkshakes are great too, you can choose your ice cream flavour to mix with. Thanks all!

My Mum and I visited the Pencil Cottage several times during our two week holiday and can honestly say that the food was delicious. We ate various things off the menu and we weren't disappointed. The staff were very polite and friendly and nothing was...

When we arrived it seemed busy around the tea room, and we thought that we wouldn’t get a table here. But we had no problem getting a table outside. Great service, everyone was polite. The food was really nice.Definitely recommend a visit.

Service with a smile and wonderfully clean. 2 x salad lunches that were great portions. Well recommended

We visited the Isle of Wight and stayed nearby in Shanklin for seven days. once we found the Pencil Cottage, we set there very day at various times and ate several different items from the menu. At all times the staff were courteous and friendly...

Decided to have lunch here with my wife while visiting the old village. Opted for the ploughman's lunch and could not fault it. Good portion size and was delicious. Then opted for dessert, and had a Knickerbocker Glory. Again could not fault it. Staff were...

Visited the tea room on a visit to shanklin while holidaying on the island with my husband for our wedding anniversary. We both opted for the cheese ploughman’s with ham added as an extra. Wow! What a feast! It was beautifully presented and was a...

Visited today whilst in shanklin old town for lunch. The menu was a little limited, would have been nice to be able to order a portion of chips with the burger. The food was average. Our 13m old was accommodated and staff were friendly. Nice...

We visited Pencil Cottage last week after passing by on our way through Shanklin and noticed how charming it looked. Then after checking the reviews we thought it was definitely worth a visit. Lovely location with seating outside and a warm welcome from the team....

From the moment we arrived at “Pencil Cottage”, Shanklin until our departure, we were treated as friends rather than visitors! Our greeting was so welcoming and the lady was so patient (waiting with our seat cushions) whilst my 95 year old Mum, sister and I...

Despite boasting literature and signage, it was disappointing. We only wanted a coffee each and a toasted teacake, but neither was appealing. The coffees, a cappuccino and a latte were not 'barista' style but of the 'push-button' variety and the tea-cake was hard like a...

Decided to go here for a bite to eat and was blown away by the service and quality of food. Amazing menu that explains about the place and a charity they are supporting. I had the bacon brie and cranberry and it was Incredible. Also...

Went for high tea today for 3 people for my mums 90th birthday. Lovely sandwiches, we chose crab, egg mayo and ham. A scone each with jam and clotted cream, finished with a piece of cake of choice per person, all washed down with tea/coffee....

Lovely place to sit and enjoy your surroundings. Pleasant staff, quick service and great food. Went twice during our stay for toasties, bacon sarnies and cream teas. Delightful!

We have eaten here several times and the friendly welcome and really excellent food will keep us coming back. All the staff are friendly and helpful. There is plenty of seating outside and inside. The menu has lots of choice. Would not hesitate to recommend...

Lovely, good value cream tea & with extremely friendly service. Dog friendly, with a pretty outside area. Recommend.

.....where an exceptionally warm welcome awaits you. Delicious food served so well. Make it a stop before or after your visit to pretty Shanklin. We'll certainly visit again. What a well deserved accolade to be awarded 'Island Café of the Year 2021'. Can obvious choice!

Lovely cafe with friendly staff and it's dog and child friendly. We visited 3 times during our holiday as it was great for a quick bite. The cream tea was amazing (the scones were huge) the kids loved the pizza, sausage rolls and ice cream...

It's a beautiful location to sit enjoy a cup of tea/ coffee and the food is fantastic 😋 The have a brilliant range of food and drink and a little gift shop to.

Went to Pencil Cottage to a pre-booked high tea for a group of 12. We were given the entire inside area to use for our event, arrange tables how we wanted (assisted by staff), bring decorations, and looked after by an appointed member of staff...

Only ordered soup and a sandwich which took 45minutes to arrive at our table. We had to chase our order due to other people being served that had put an order in much later than we had. We don’t mind waiting our turn, but it...

Really nice tea room, with amazing and well presented food. really nice friendly staff. i recommend!

We had some nice cakes between us and also some scones for takeaway (which was nicely packaged including the jam, cream and a disposable knife). The rest of the menu also looked very appealing. It just had something about it.

Lovely lenticular lunch. Offers various lunches ranging from hot potatoes, baguettes and burgers. Lovely scones too!

Having waited at the roped off enterance an elderly man allowed my wife and myself to enter and told us to wait to be seated having stood with the menu we ha noticed many people where let in roamed free to various tables We then...

Have just enjoyed a delicious gluten free cream tea. Very reasonable price. Sat in the garden area in the October sunshine. Staff very polite and service prompt. Good cleaning witnessed of tables and menus etc. I would recommend this for anyone not just coeliacs like...

Sweet and savoury cream teas - warm scones and strong tea - outside in the sunshine - delicious : ) Friendly staff.

So we ended up coming here as our normal tea room was only taking cash payments and all I can say is I'm so pleased I did!! All of it was fresh and clearly home made,im pleased to say this will be our normal tea...

Came here for lunch on wednesday.my husband enjoyed the coronation chicken jacket potato and I tried the lady namett with a nice glass of local adgestone wine. Good quick service from the friendly staff Nice to be able to give something to the African charity...

Refused entry by a very rude worker. Due to not having a face mask as i am medically exempt I was refused entry. This is now not a legal requirement to wear a mask!! Was made to feel that I wasn't welcome if I wasn't...

Popped in at lunch time food was very nice and the cream tea yummy. Also not expensive excellent value for money. Very nice staff also.

Lovely setting in the old village. The food was plentiful, well presented and very good. The crab baguette was full of meat with nice crusty bread and the scones that came with the cream tea were delicious.

Visited today, they were really busy, had brilliant crab baguette, 2 cream scones, tea, coffee etc. Staff were really working, it was very busy, but cleanliness, service & food quality were all top notch-not easy, well done!

This place should definitely be on your list when in Shanklin. The food is fresh and delish. Coronation chicken baguettes. Yum. The prawn and crab salad was huge. Good kids choices and the scones…..warm and just so good!! The only thing that should be improved...

Lovely place to visit, Great food with lots of choices, good service. Lovely staff. Would highly recommend

Lovely welcome and quick service.The setting is really homely and relaxing. We had a cream tea each. There was plenty of cream but not enough jam. Only given one pot of jam for two scones which means only a very thin layer on each,compared to...

This is a really lovely little place. We only dropped in for a cream tea after looking around Shanklin old town. Very friendly and extremely COVID safe (they took this very seriously but not to the detriment of the service). Thoroughly recommend!

Looks a little like the usual tourist trap from the outside but it was far from it. Even with restrictions reducing they took great care to ensure spaced out tables and a safe environment, even monitoring the weather and restricting covers to ensure they could...

Incredible speed of service. Enjoyed a cream tea in pleasent clean and tidy surroundings. Has lots of room inside and out and toilets which are clean and we'll kept. Perfect stop off.

Well what can I say.... excellent food, very friendly and attentive staff. Also the place is just spotless. It is just a perfect place for a lunch or an afternoon tea. My son loved the gluten free scones (they really made his day). We visited...

My wife and I on a day trip to the island and came across Pencil Cottage. We both had a salad which was very well presented and excellent value. Friendly staff. Would highly recommend

My family and I stopped off at this lovely little place for a bite to eat. My young children had the dinosaur sandwich each for lunch which was lovely and packed full of cheese. My husband and I had delux cream teas and oh my...

We called for an afternoon cuppa with a cake as a treat, and we couldn’t have picked a better place. We both chose tea to drink & because I love cream tea’s I chose the deluxe cream tea comprising two scones, strawberries, jam & clotted...

Super afternoon tea - really friendly , bought the dog some cookies and water - the scones were the best I have had. Beautiful surroundings. Highly recommended.

Excellent service and food, we were a family of 7 so tried a variety of choices on the menu, all were fabulous although I thought the children’s option of the dinosaur sandwich was overpriced for what it was and comparable children’s choices on the menu....

Friendly service and plenty of outdoor seating. The scones were delicious and very reasonably priced. Very interesting about the charity work they do. Would highly recommend.

Nice place and seating are. Good scone teas and bigger than next door and £2 cheaoer per head than the supposedly best

Had morning coffee here with an old friend. What a lovely, quaint little place this is. Would recommend and certainly visit again.

I am very astonished on how this business is still running as very poor hygiene with the staff as one lent over to serve my child an egg mayoneise sandwich, armpit pretty much in his face and made him gag, this spoilt his appetite for...

Enjoyed our afternoon tea in a lovely garden setting. Staff lovely and very helpful and friendly. Highly recommended.

We turned up late in a Sunday and the kitchen was closed. We obviously looked sad so they still made dinner happen for us and bent over backwards to help us and our kids! Lovely people amazing friendly place 🥰

I run a small Tour Company, Vision Getaways, and I had two groups staying in Cowes for 2 four night breaks. on each of the breaks we stopped at Pencil Cottage for a cream tea. magical location great service and even better cream tea. Lisa...

Great place for a light lunch, friendly staff, great food, great service, Lovely cream teas and delicious ice cream milk shakes

What a lovely place to visit, the food was amazing, especially recommend the burgers and milkshakes! Wonderful friendly service, couldn't do enough to make our visit enjoyable. Will definitely be back!

Call for a light lunch, covid secure and great food served by friendly staff. Will be visiting again whilst in Old Shanklin.

Called in without booking and received a lovely friendly welcome. Ordered cream teas which were lovely (scones freshly baked) and sat outside in their beautiful garden. As a bonus, discovered that 50p from every cream tea goes to support a village project in The Gambia!...

My friends and I are local and wanted a light lunch whilst out walking. We were very impressed with the Covid safe practices and the cleanliness of everything including the garden and toilets here. The menu choice was good, we all had the Savoury Tea....

What can I say! Had a ganders around the Old Village in Shanklin, to find some lunch, and found this little gem. First off, it was comfortably bustling, whilst other establishments were comparatively quiet. Sat in a lovely, open, sun-soaked patio garden. Menu was broad and perfect for lunch, with finger sandwiches and afternoon tea, to burgers and pizzas. Myself and my company ordered a burger each, which was plump and tasty, and good quality, arrived quickly, and at an excellent price of £7.00. Absolute bargain. I'd thoroughly recommend it to any tourist, rambler or local.

Visited here for lunch as a family...grand parents, parents, 3 year old and baby of 6 months. We ordered a variety of food including ploughman’s, baguettes, pasta and salad. All of the food without exception was delicious...empty plates all round! Staff very pleasant and friendly. Service excellent. Would definitely recommend.