Real Eating Company in Cambridge

Very overpriced for the poor quality and service. The coffee tasted like instant coffee - very watery and lacking flavour. The service was also very poor as we waited 30 minutes for a toastie to be heated up despite there being 3 employees on shift and hardly any customers. Wouldn’t recommend.

Great coffee, sane price, different from the chain coffee shops, comfortable with friendly staff.

Came in on Sunday - Great full English breakfast - bacon was just how I like it. Great selection of drinks coffee was really nice - couldn’t resist the bread and butter pudding for dessert - would recommend to all and the staff were lovely

for a city centre cafe it needs to do better ... cleanliness needs to be a priority and it doesn't seem to be in here ,and the decor is tatty .. in my opinion dogs shouldn't be allowed in a cafe ,don't get me wrong i love dogs , but NOT in a cafe , where they pee and dribble everywhere ,do people really want that while they are eating , i certainly don't ,.. staff are nice and friendly.

15 minutes wait for a cold coffee, dirty toilet no toilet paper - just awful

My go to coffee and croissant stop! While I work sipping a bold but smooth cortado, enjoying my all too often guilty pleasure, a buttery pastry - the warming staff always chatty and pleased to see you, always engaging with regulars and new bee's alike. Five starts from me for their consistently great food, service and atmosphere!

The name of this should be “The Real Horror”- it was nothing but an absolute disaster and disgrace. My Partner and I went to Cambridge for the day and came across this place, which from the outside looks alright. We entered because a lovely old man was sitting as a customer and starting talking to us through the window, and we went to say hi and decided to order some food and coffee, worst mistake we could have made. The disaster began when we ordered: at the till, an unfriendly young lady, who could clearly not be bothered to be there, did not even have the manners to respond at our “good morning, how are you today?”. We ordered a full English breakfast, and I asked for scrambled eggs, to receive the answer of “we can’t do it, only fried”. She then double checked with the “chef”, and she said a very rude NO, without even acknowledging us. I agreed to have fried eggs as I had no other choices (very weird to me as I never came across a place that cannot scramble an egg), and we ordered 2 cappuccino. They gave us a set of cutlery and a napkin (bare in mind it was two of us), and we took a sit. A lovely old woman started taking to us from the table next to us, and she made our experience nice, word that cannot even get close to the overall service and food. I sipped my coffee as I was chatting to her, and after a while the food arrived- it looked absolutely horrendous, and I could not even look at it- it had 1 egg, 1 sausage (white as a ghost), some beans straight from the can, a slice of bacon, some old bread, half sad tomato and some dead green leaves. I tried the bacon, and it was below average, and could not try anything else but the plain bread, which was super dry. Everything else was so bad that I could not let it touch my mouth- the sausage was white and uncooked, and it smelled like vomit. After I ate the bread, I noticed that the mug they served me the coffee in had stains of someone else’s lipstick on it and stains of dirt all over the mag older- grey dirt, something that has been living there for months if not years. I made the worst mistake: went to the bathroom which was next to the kitchen (with wide open door). I can’t even describe what my eyes saw: cutlery in a bowl on the floor, some source of liquid dripping from the ceiling all over the counter with hundreds of mugs sitting on top of it, some food kept under the black (of dirt) oven, a disgusting floor and much more. Since there was only one person in the kitchen alone and one person at the counter, cleaning wasn’t on their mind. After seeing this, I grabbed my stuff and left, leaving all the coffee there together with the food, wasting completely my money. My partner had half of the sausage and some of the egg, and he ended up being sick the all afternoon. I cannot emphasise enough: DO NOT GO THERE FOR ANY REASONS!! You’ll waist your money, and you’ll get a good poisoning for the poor quality of food and even lower quality of cleaning and hygiene in this place. It’s a shame I did not take pictures, I was trying to escape as quickly as possible from that place to avoid even breathing the contaminate air. Trust me, do not go!

Delicious sandwiches and baked goods! Service is quick and kind

Breakfast Club Meal-Saturday 15 February 2025 The cafe opened at its normal time of 8 am, (I say this as I arrived late) and a very pleasant, young waitress named Emily, took my order of a full English Breakfast with a pot of Breakfast Tea with Whole Milk, and after she took my order, she asked me to take a seat at a table, as she said that she would bring to me, my order when it arrived, so she came over firstly with my Tea, in a Tea Pot, some Milk, and a Mug on a tray, followed shortly by Katherine the chef, bringing my order to me, direct from the kitchen. The Breakfast consisted of the usual ingredients, with one slight difference, two rashers of bacon, two sausages, two eggs sunny side up, a small pot of baked beans, two slices of toast, with a knob of butter, and the difference was a small mound of wilted spinach, now to be honest, I had not had an English Breakfast before with some vegetables, but I did not mind it, in fact it was very good. In fact, the whole experience of having breakfast there was very good, in fact, while I was there I picked up a loyalty card, and I mentioned to both Emily and Katherine that I will be coming back there again soon. If you are in Cambridge City Centre, early in the morning, and you fancy having something to eat in terms of breakfast, I recommend that you go there.

Good food, nice coffee and staff are lovely!!!

All the people who work here are so lovely! Also great toasties!!

Really lovely and friendly staff and a very cosy space to sit and work in. Great atmosphere and the best coffee in Cambridge!

Such a lovely atmosphere, all the staff are so kind and accommodating - my favourite study spot in Cambridge! The selection of cakes is always fab, and the bacon baps are very yummy. Will continue to be a regular here throughout my degree!

Great place to go for breakfast and a bloody good coffee. Cozy and comfortable and the staff were so friendly. Quieter than some of the more touristy coffee spots but was definitely still lively haha!

Nice little cafe in a great location. Friendly service and food was excellent. Had the full breakfast, which was a generous portion and very tasty.

Lovely drinks, fast service and tasty food:) Hard working staff and always a lovely atmosphere to hang around. The biscoff rolls are to die for and even the toasted sandwiches are amazing too! Always smiles and great hospitality. Pet friendly as well, any dog around will be treated like royalty! Definitely my go-to spot for food, coffee, or to do work and hang out.

Always treated with the utmost respect and dignity. It's such a pleasure.

Great flavour well cooked English breakfast Generous portion fresh mint T V tasty Cake No need to wait at counter everything brought to table Service quick and efficient Liked it was dog friendly Highly recommend

Had a Cappuccino and a slice of the Jam pudding both were great its a small place but still nice

Lovely coffee. Terrible food. Had small breakfast and couldn’t even cut my overdone sausage. Hard fried egg and everything else lukewarm.

The cleaning was very poor and the cakes were stale.

I had a nice sausage butty while there and cuppa tea as well , they give you a large teapot which was nice

It's a very busy place, This is why it takes time to serve your beverage, My drinks tasted normal,

Good food and reasonable prices. My friend and I stopped and had warmed mince pie croissants and a hot chocolate each. The croissants were nice but the hot chocolate was a bit uninspiring. I paid extra for the sundae version that basically just included some squirty cream, sauce and a few chunks of toffee.. Not really worth the extra. Service was prompt.

What a lovely coffee shop, I had a toasted tuna sandwich and a coffee, service was great staff were friendly and it was priced very reasonable and to top it off the sandwich had lots of filling. Buzzing little place in the middle of Cambridge. Recommended to anyone

Friendly, helpful employees. Delicious hot strong coffee and delicacy. Nice and cozy place too!. Please only use the toilet as far as your hygiene is concerned. Just super disgusting! There is dirt and urine everywhere, it smells really bad. Remove the lock on the door (a person was stuck in the toilet and the door handle is half loose + not exactly customer friendly).

Really poor quality of food and drinks. Coffee okay but hot chocolate was disgusting.

Very slow, and the veggie breakfast dismal and expensive for what it is. And it looks like it’s short staffed to serve the customers.

17.11.2024 I went there with my family to have coffee, hot chocolate, and cake. Cakes were stale, which was why they warmed my cinnamon bun. My daughter's hot chocolate tasted horrible; she couldn't drink it. So, really bad quality and definitely not worth the money. Frustrating, so I will never go there again.

Not interested in going back to a place that doesn't care about the environment and after a certain time (I went at 3.30 of a Saturday afternoon) uses disposable cups because they can't be bothered with the washing up. The tables also were pretty dirty with cups and crumbs left around.

I was so surprised, went for a walk with my dogs and saw the great atmosphere in this place. The staff were so friendly to me and my dogs (they are dog friendly) and also serve really good toasties. Would definitely recommend.

A cracking cuppa and fantastic service.

Popped in for a breakfast and and iced coffee this weekend! Food was amazing, lovely and fresh ingredients. Coffee was also great. Nice cozy atmosphere and the staff were super friendly!! Highly recommend

Location is the only thing this cafe has to offer. Very basic and limited food option. And only 2 guys were serving and making coffees. Never had to wait for like 15 mins just to get a cup of latte and a cup of Americano. I mean that's now how a cafe works. Croissants were cold and seemed not fresh. Of course it's in the middle of the market and it was crowded. And all had to wait for food. Annoying.

Encontré este lugar en el día en cambridge. chocolate caliente blanco y pastel de café encantador pero mesas llenas de platos y tazas sucios que tuvimos que limpiar antes de sentarnos. parecía corto de personal y el servicio lento. sentí pena por el personal

Delicious Mac and cheese! Autumn drinks and very cosy atmosphere!

Rude serving staff . Waiting ages for a toaster - no apology- would never come back .

I do like this place it's clean and comfortable, and coffee is A1. The carmal short cake was yummy

Necesitábamos un lugar para descansar debido a que mi marido tiene discapacidades pedimos un café y un té descafeinado, con un queso y jamón croissant. Nos preguntaron si nos gustaría que se calentara, lo que hicimos. El servicio de la chica en la caja fue muy bueno, ya que estoy profundamente sordo. Ella no me hizo sentir estúpido cuando no la entendí. Luego nos sentamos afuera, un señor trajo nuestras bebidas y comida y nos preguntó si queríamos azúcar, leche o limón, que era tan agradable tener una opción. El croissant estaba delicioso y me pareció muy buena relación calidad-precio. La tetera fue increíble gracias a todos. Volveremos de nuevo seguro

Coffee - ok, and counter service decent at the till however the food was absolutely terrible and took forever to arrive even though it wasn’t busy. Would genuinely rate it the worst breakfast I’ve ever had. It also wasn’t cheap coming in at £40 for two of us with drinks. Eggs on both breakfasts were hard and over cooked, on the veggie breakfast only got one slice of toast which had a thin spread of avocado on only half of it?! Beans were cold and tomatoes and spinach completely tasteless. The plate looked empty when it came out, would not return.

The team here are amazing, Axelle and Natasha always have friendly and welcome smiles Their full english breakfast is to die for!

There was eggshell on eggs. No indoor ac, I was sweating while sitting there.

Best English breakfast I’ve had and amazing coffee! Would definitely recommend if looking for a tasty breakfast in Cambridge… staff very friendly too

A cafe with potential Cosy environment. Service was okay so far. I know that the food was not well rated, but it deserves a chance. Look at the menu. I think the one who designed the menu it is a person who is trying to promote healthy lifestyle to the customers. Its veggie English breakfast does not provide vegan bacon and vegan sausages. No vegan croissant or pastries either. It is a very rare menu in the UK these days. It's not a commercial business for sure. Personally I am not sure margarine, vegan sausages or vegan bacon are healthy choice. It's because they are highly processed with a lot of trans fat and sodium. To conduct a proper vegan lifestyle, having highly processed food is not a way out. People should have enough knowledge about health and nutrition before conducting vegan lifestyle is the point. There's options to choose a darker hot chocolate in this cafe. While the hot chocolate available in most of the cafe are far too sweet. One more thing I am impressed is you can ask the stuff to heat the croissants and buns. Again, most of the cafe do not have this service. The truth is not everyone is used to have room temperature bread or scones. Therefore I have kinda forgiven up ordering any bread or pastries in cafe, as most of them would refuse to heat the food for customers. Seems like heating bread or pastries is a very unusual request for them. Too bad there's no scones in this cafe. It would be nice to have a hot scone with a hot drink. Some like it hot. I think the business has a lot of potential. Good luck.

Terrible customer service. Won’t come here again. No alternative options for those who have lactose intolerance. Also finding out they don’t server hot food go to staffing issues while ordering. This could have been communicated with a sign/note. Toasties at £6.95 and no side salad or crisps. No value to customers.

Visited this restaurant with a friend for lunch what a disappointment. The restaurant was filthy and the staff were so unfriendly. The food was average and way to expensive for what you get. Wouldn’t even recommended the coffee. Would not recommend to anybody

Popped in for the tradition full English breakfast. Not disappointed. Very well cooked quality ingredients.

Tourist trap. Bad coffee, expensive 4£ cookie (just sugar nothing fancy), noisy, poor service.

Currently having a toasted sandwich, lovely cuppa Tea and a warmed up Apple pie! The icing on the cake.. thank-you very much

Chain cafe located at Sidney Street of Cambridge. Served warm cinnamon bun, good combination with iced latte. Perfect for my studying.

Great location but poor service, average snacks (toasties), only one gluten free cake option, coffee fine but nothing special. Very expensive (I know its Cambridge) £27 for 3 coffees, 2 toasties & a cake.

It hurts me to write this negative review but I feel it's the only way to get the management attention. This is a really lovely venue and it can really be made into something great. However when I went here a couple weeks ago the place is absolutely infested with fruit flies. I cannot exaggerate this but there were probably a hundred flies in there only from what I saw, they were all over the walls and the ceiling and it made my skin crawl and I had to leave. I feel so sorry for the staff that have to work in this condition, and additionally there was only one staff member doing everything (it was a Sunday but I would think this is the busier time). I know fruit flies are really pesky and hard to get rid of but I would urge the management to focus on this issue and invest in some quality pest control. If it was not for this really major issue I would probably make this my regular coffee place. Maybe it has been resolved since but it really stuck with me and I have not been in there after that. Please maybe look into hiring more staff on weekends also as being understaffed is not a good look

Dropped in for a drink only. Ordered 2 hot chocolates and cream. Rather expensive but it’s Cambridge and is expected. However. Drink was extremely watery hardly any taste of chocolate. I drank it as I was thirsty but was totally unimpressed. 2 young waitresses run off their feet more interested. Serving take outs than seated customers.

Every morning I come here and it is a lovely place. The staff is very friendly and they serve you very well, the breakfast is very delicious and the coffee is great. I definitely recommend it!

OK sandwiches. Main issue - your cafe was FULL of flies when we were eating. Put us off our food unfortunately. Flies were flying round and all on the walls near us too.

This coffee shop is amazing, super good quality coffee & cute vibes. Great service too !

Expensive toasted sandwiches and coffee (£20). We sat at the back and were pestered by fruit flies. Other customers were remarking on them as well. There were about a hundred flies waiting in the walls and ceiling and halfway through our meal they started descending on us. To say that we were put off our lunch would be an understatement.

Lovely place and the staff are exceptionally kind and accommodating!

Started off badly when I was standing at the counter waiting for 10 minutes. No one was in front of me which made it even worse. There was one lady behind the counter and another showed up after the queue increased to 5. Coffee was alright but I've had better around Cambridge. Toasted ham and cheese sandwich was pretty average and cost £6.25 which seemed pretty extortionate.

Popped in for a coffee and a breakfast bap. Lovely friendly people, decent prices and great sausage and bacon! Well done!

Coffee was cold. There were lots of flies around on cakes & wall etc so went for wrapped toastie instead which was very nice

Painfully slow service (at 12.30 on a Wednesday) - only 1 member of staff for the whole place and they seemed very slow. Lots of flies on the ceiling and around the food on the counter - they need some kind of fly trap. Was so put off by the wait and the flies that I gave up and didn't get anything, so can't comment on the food, but I would recommend a toastie (as they are wrapped and in the fridge) and nothing left out on the counter.

Nice cafe. Very nice dark hot chocolate and the location is very central. I had a nice time there and the service was nice. I'd recommend to keep the tables a bit more tidy, but maybe I went at the wrong time. Thank you!!

Horrible experience. We went in, took a table that was full of leftover plates and cups that we had to clean up ourselves. Service was non existent. Atmosphere was the opposite of cozy. The worst part was going over to check the available cakes. The cake displays were full of flies. Needless to say we got up and left …

I recently visited the Real Eating Company - Coffee and Kitchen. The coffee was average, nothing particularly special, but it did the job. The cakes, however, are worth noting – they were fresh, moist, and hit the sweet spot perfectly. On the other hand, the breakfast items didn't quite meet the mark. The smashed avocado was a letdown as it was more akin to a spread than the hearty, chunky avocado I had anticipated. This was a bit of a disappointment, especially given the quality of their other offerings. In summary, for a quick coffee and a cake, this place is a reasonable choice. But for those seeking a fulfilling breakfast, particularly if you're fond of avocado, it might be best to manage your expectations.

Very cozy and tasty for little money.

Good Cappuccinos, a pain au raisin was very good if a little small. A cheese and ham croissant was also good. The prices are at the top end of acceptable. I guess you have to remember where you are.

The tea was great! The veggie breakfast was a bit underwhelming but still of quality (still a bit pricy for what I got). Would recommend going here for getting a cup of tea with a cake!

Had a beautiful visit in this coffee shop, service was good, breakfast was great and arrived just on time. Definitely going to come back!

Nice products and service , but sadly terrible toilets which let the experience down.

This should be called "fake eating company" defo not real

Nice cosy cafe, love the atmosphere. Service was good.

Weirdest sausages I've ever eaten Was like chewing on a farmers boot. Cold beans. Not good. Egg shell in eggs.

Just popped in for a takeaway coffee and croissant. Staff was delightful and coffee was just what I needed. I'll definitely go again when in Cambridge!

friendly staff, great breakfast and great coffee

Such a nice cafe - the staff are lovely and the coffee and food is great, especially the new pancakes!

Nice Latte and the design of the coffee cup is so cute!

Great service, as a customer with cerebral palsy I have a number of additional needs

Had an amazing hot chocolate and brownie. The girl on the till was brilliant and very vibrant! Would definitely be returning here!

I have coeliac disease and therefore can only eat gluten free food. I tried to have lunch today and was very disappointed that there were absolutely no GF options. I feel this is discriminatory and it needs to be addressed.

Sadly the lemon drizzle cake was very dry, and the cappuccino was mostly foam.... however the staff were lovely and the coffee beneath the foam was great

Great food and coffee, but poor customer service

I am a huge fan of this place. No-frills, and coffee is consistently good (nice and strong). Sandwiches too are excellent value, and tasty.

Très bon service, attentionné. La limonade était vraiment très bonne ! C'est un beau café. Les cookies y sont très bon !

Nice coffee and superb cinnamon roll, top3 here at Cambridge.

Tables facing the bar ought to be spaced out a bit, not ideal to be touching knees with strangers while you eat 🥴

Flat white tiny for the price and somewhat cold. Tasted ok. No reason to come here again.

Lovely place and lovely food! I had the english breakfast today with my daugther and it was delightful! Definitely coming back!Also very friendly staff, young and respectful!

I wish I can give 0 stars for the food. I make a mistake to bring my kids here to eat but they refuse to finish anything. We went next door to Sainsburys to buy sandwiches and sat outside Kings College to eat. I wish I did in the first place since it was a much better food quality and more comfortable to sit.

I wanted to love this cafe, I already loved the coziness and ambiance, but wow, the food is so bad. I love pesto, however, their chicken and pesto was diabolical. Immediately, the sandwich was a no. I had to see if cake would turn my visit around, it wasn’t bad but it was definitely giving store bought madeira. I wouldn’t hurry back to do any “real eating” there anytime soon. But not bad for drinks

OK for a cup of tea here but not to get anything to eat be better of at pret.

Lovely cake and coffee today! Great and helpful staff as well 👍👍

My Wife and I wanted a Full English Breakfast and came across Real Eating Company which looked beautiful and inviting, but that's where the nice experience stopped. We ordered 2 Full English breakfasts and 2 hot drinks, for £32 I said to my Wife this has got to be good!!!. We where given a table number and we found a place to sit. Our drinks came to us in a good time by a young girl, but I then noticed our table number went missing. I informed staff at the counter but they knew we where we were sitting. Our breakfast followed shortly after. My Wife had no butter for her toast, my toast was burnt. Informed staff regarding the butter and was told they would bring some..never turned up. The plates where cold and so were my beans. I took my breakfast back where my Wife was then eating on her own. When my breakfast was ready they took it to the wrong table. Beans were nice and hot, but the rest of my breakfast was then cold. Being in need of food as I am a Diabetic, I didn't want to wait any longer.

Good service (was early morning & quiet), nice atmosphere. But the coffee just wasn't nice. On the cold side, and didn't taste smooth, more like a McDonald's cup. Maybe consider using different beans?

Really nice cafe, good sandwiches and generously sized coffee cups, which is nice. The coffee bean machines are really loud though, which is unavoidable I guess. Great location. Nice staff, professional, a bit disinterested though. I come from the country where people are warmer than in cities.

Disgusting!!!! Untrained staff! Can't make hot choclate or tea! Manager's attitude - could'nt careless!! Filthy toilets! Stay out!!!

Absolutely disgraceful!! Did not know how to make a hot chocolate. Disgusting tea. Dirty filthy toilets Worse still a couldn’t careless attitude. EHO needs to inspect!

I went in there for some coffee and little bite to eat with my wife there was 2 young people on bar a girl with glasses (alex) and lad with tattoos (brandon) they both were very polite and friendly the young girl was helpful and welcoming the young lad was full of energy seemed to know about coffee making and we overheard their happy laughing conversation. Cofee was lovely and place was lovely too we will be back to this cafe thank you for a lovely visit.

Afternoon tea from the pot, great cinnamon bun (warm) & lemon polenta cake. Recommended.

Not great. Sunday lunch with my brother. Cafe not particularly busy, paid for sandwiches and told drinks would be delivered. After 10 minutes, no drinks despite people who arrived after us receiving their drinks. Brother went to counter and 5 minutes later, drinks arrived. Coffee was excellent and sandwich very tasty but shoddy service lets this place down. Tables were not cleared either and no napkins visible. Sorry, won’t return.