Sainsbury's Cafe in Fareham

Having completed our food shopping in store, we opted for a quick drink in the cafe before meeting friends. There was only one person behind the counter, taking orders and making the drinks and taking payment. Service was very slow. One customer in front of us complained and another asked if they were busy and were told they were very quiet which was difficult to believe based on the slow service. Drinks were fine, but only had a tea and coffee, although food on display did not look overly appetizing.

Not up the the standard of most Sainsbury cafes. Tiny piece of fish, peas that were clearly not fresh, and chips that were somehow burnt on the outside and undercooked in the middle. Come on Sainsbury!

We chose the halloumi breakfast having eaten & enjoyed it there before. On entering we didn’t notice the dirty tables with piled crockery on them. The food when it arrived, was cold & we didn’t get the hash browns as advertised. Incredibly, at a table immediately behind us, two managers were sat, clearly ignoring the state of the place. Never again, what a rip off.

Having stopped off at this store as we were staying in this area for some shopping decided to try their cafe, ordered Sausages and Mash and Hunters Chicken. When it came out to our table on initial looked good but when we started to eat it the meals were lukewarm the mash in my dinner was tastless and my husband's hunters chicken was all dried up even the chips were cold. Best thing was the hot tea. If you are going to serve hot meals then you should make sure they are hot and not dried out by reheating in a microwave. Afraid it is something across the board with most of Sainsburys restaurants we and others have found.SO COME ON SAINSBURYS GET YOUR ACT TOGETHER

Went for lunch with my mum and small daughter on a Friday. Trays were all wet and dripping, having just been washed (I hope). The only fruit available in the children’s section was a mouldy apple. It took 10 minutes to get served even though there was only 1 person in front of us in the queue. He did order 2 hot drinks (and only that) but why they took so long for the elderly lady behind the counter to prepare, I have no idea. We ordered our food and waited... and waited.... when we spoke to a staff member they said ‘well that’s because there is a half an hour wait on food’. We hadn’t been told about that to begin with and, bearing in mind there were about 4 other groups of people in the cafe at the time, there was no earthly reason why 2 x fish and chips and 1 x fish fingers would take so long. They still managed to bring the wrong children’s meal and argued the toss when we informed them of such. To add insult to injury, the tea was cold and they had no milk jugs so gave us the milk in a cup .... cue spillage!! Never again!

Visited today after a long break as we had a very poor previous experience. Braved it again today with my husband and 2 toddlers and it is now under new management. The new furniture layout is cramped. Slow service. Fizzy drink dispenser faulty again. Overcharged again. 40 minute wait again. Order wrong when meal arrived again. We were not given a number when we ordered. When we realised I went back to the till area to query this. Rather than receive an apology, the young girl stated that ‘you should have picked it up’. She was rude and blunt. The other member of staff close by was clearly embarrassed. There was also a man behind us who we remembered from previous experiences and who visits every weekend. He always buys drinks and reads his paper - he is clearly lonely and this is his routine. Today he was told that he wasn’t consuming any products (even though he had bought a coffee and had finished it), was taking up a 6 table and was asked to move on. Utterly disgusting. I would also argue that he wasn’t on a six table as these have now been split into 4 and 2 tables (cramped and uncomfortable) so was technically on a 2 table anyway!!! The manager is rude and clearly very short sighted when it comes to retaining loyal customers. We will not return.

Last time we were there, 40 min wait for a basic sausage sandwich, served cold. Wife ordered porridge which was cold and so runny, you could drink it. Toast was burnt, yet cold by the time we got it. Sent it all back as unacceptable. After the fifth visit and , decided we have had enough. Easier to buy a Costa sandwich in car park and eat it. They spend money on electronic menus, furniture and décor, presumably in effort to attract custom, but fail completely on poor service, inedible food and expected to pay a higher price for it. Why not concentrate on basic things service and quality? Whilst at it, why not provide basic honest foods, instead of that pretentious list you offer. "Taste the difference?" The difference in this case is what is served in a Russian gulag.

Fareham & Gosport Environmental Health inspectors have given the cafe a food hygiene rating of 1 out of 5. There is no zero rating, just like I can't rate this cafe zero on Tripadvisor, so the hygiene here is as bad as it can get.

We have been using this cafe for many years and have always found it friendly and fairly efficient. Today’s visit was pretty near atrocious - slow service taking over 15 minutes to get served - dirty tables - trolleys for customers to stack trays overflowing - staff who didn’t appear trained to do their jobs. Really hope that this isn’t a sign of things to come and that the cafe rapidly returns to how it has been until recently.

Often use this for a quick and convenient meeting place. Easy to get to, ample free parking for an hour or so. Always get a nice coffee and cake. Nothing special but is always nice and clean and the service is good when ever we have been there, though have never been there at lunch time or when really busy.

Sat for an hour waiting for food. Was cold and you could tell it had been sat under a warm lamp for a while. My fish was hot but the rest had gone soggy whilst waiting for the fish to cook I guess. Cutlery was dirty and tables were gross! Lots of staff stood around doing nothing they could have been wiping tables down at least. Very unimpressed will NOT be going again and 100% wouldn't recommend.

Brilliant place - like all of sainsburys cafes, great English food at great prices all cooked freshly and served by lovely attentive and courteous people

Popped in here with my son today for a cup of tea and a quick snack. Ordered a panini to be heated up. It took 20 minutes to come out and that was only because we chased it up! Asked to speak to the manager who came out and blamed it on the staff as he had been “shouting for them to take the food out” and “they were very busy” if he was the manager then he should be sent in a management course to learn that if a complaint is made, then take ownership of it and make sure it doesn’t happen again! Won’t go back there again!

We often pop in for a cup of tea and can thoroughly recommend the toasted tea cakes. Always clean, and friendly service

Placed order after young girl finished talking about her to week to her collegue.ordered 4 fish and chips tuttered when we asked for mushy peas.tuttered when we asked about the pepsi not working..honestly shouldnt be there if everything to much trouble. Dissapointed

Sat here trying to eat breakfast my son ask for bagel and eggs come out egg on toast the toast only cooked one side sausages skin so hard you can't eat them bacon dried out bring back the proper breakfast and staff shouldn't argue this breakfast hasn't been going for over a year I was here 3 months ago never will return very rude staff

Really not sure about the menu that changes this year. Pretty sure there are more choices, and more healthy. Mixture of staff. Some okay, some excellent, one or two not great.

This cafe is very popular because of its excellent value but when it is busy the service can be very slow and because of this I can only award 4 stars. The quality and value of the meals is excellent

Always slow service here. Never seem to have enough people on and they are easily distracted by the needs of others right in the middle of serving you but that’s a lack of staff thing. Otherwise the staff are friendly enough.