Salt Cafe in Fareham

17th Nov 12:47. Receipt ID 1731847673646 I had generally given up on visits to Salt Cafe, due to being either denied indoor seating for wife and self or being offered the most unappealing spot when other better positions are empty with no reserved signage. It's as if they want to leave all the best slots for later at the expense of the actual customers who are keeping them in business. The veranda tables were mostly empty with reserved signs but never used during our 30 minutes on site. We both feel the experience was not welcoming and the service was slow and unengaging, I will not give them a 5th opportunity.

Food and views were lovely. One waitress was very sweet and attentive, the other surley and somewhat disinterested. The toilets however were an absolute disgrace and this ruined what could have been a pleasant visit. We certainly won’t be returning anytime soon.

We arrived on Sunday at 4:30pm in need of coffee and cake after a very windy 20 mile hike! On arrival we realised that the cafe closed at 5pm but the staff couldn’t have been more welcoming and friendly. We were finished and out just before 5, feeling much better after the sugar hit. Both the cake and coffee were excellent. We really appreciated the lovely attitude of the staff, as I’m sure that they were keen to go home! I would highly recommend this little gem of a cafe.

A busy little cafe with views of the water. Most tables booked when we walked in and was allocated a table by the window. The service was ok and the food was ok. Fairly expensive but I guess this is what you pay for a waterside view.

When we first arrived, it was busy so no tables available, but we were "Lucky" as while we were there someone walked out with their 2 children without ordering anything saying "we won't be eating here" We sat down and the service was good and friendly. It's is expensive for a Cafe. £9.50 for some chips with pulled pork on and £3.50 for a small 200ml Coke and Tea about £2.33. When we came to pay we has our cash out and we were fed some story about someone paid our bill by mistake and given a price of about £42 but no receipt or bill. I queried price as it seemed like a lot more than we had and estimated it to be about £37. They said there was a service charge which they removed. I'm not sure what the problem was as the knew the correct amount and why they didn't offer a receipt / bill. It's almost like they didn't want to put it through the till as we were paying cash! Update: ======== On googling it appears this is also known as “Sweet Dee Double Drop” This is how it was explained in reddit: “They prepared and served your order without actually ringing it up. When they lie to you about accidentally swapping the bills, and you pay in cash - they pocket the cash. if you pay with a card, they charge card for another bill and then go to that person with the same lie. The chain continues until someone ends up paying with cash. Then rinse and repeat.”

Absolutely disgraceful none existent customer service! Totally ignored by staff and ended up walking out after 10 minutes feeling very disappointed and annoyed. The place appears to be run by children who have no idea about communication with the public. Highly recommended some training put in place.

Lovely little spot for a cafe, we booked as we heard it can be quite busy . We did a dog walk from portchester castle and back . Lovely breakfast . Dog friendly !

Set in a very industrial maritime area (overlooking Wicor Lake), the salt Cafe is a real hidden gem. However, once we were in, we quickly realised why so many others had also made the effort to get there. The menu was impressive and everything we ordered exceeded our expectations. This is definitely one to be revisited in the future.

Don’t start out well as we were seated at a table that was filthy and covered in milk. Quickly sorted out though and after that the service was good. Really nice menu. Delish fresh fish.

I have been here many times and enjoy the food and coffee but the service can be quite up and down - this time it was terrible. We waited ages to be asked what we wanted to drink so we made sure we got our food order in at the same time. Food was fine as usual. Afterwards we were chatting for a long time and no-one bothered to clear the plates from our table. It wasn't busy but I had to call out to a waitress to ask if we could order coffees. My friend paid at the till but she wasn't told about the additional service charge which is always added - which isn't on. Staff came across as couldn't care a less but most likely totally short staffed. Its hit and miss when it comes to service.

Lovely little place. Had heard a lot of good things and had to visit for myself. Great food. Good service and dog friendly 😊 The staff were very helpful, polite and accommodating. Will be back

Service was very good and the atmosphere in the cafe is nice. Scored only average for the avocado, bacon and poached egg on toast as the avocado and toast was very cold. Ate the egg and bacon but couldn’t eat the cold soggy toast! My friend’s breakfast was very nice though.

I have visited here many many times and the food is always lovely, today was fairly busy. Today was disappointing in a few ways - Lack of time allowed per visit - this needs to change an hour and a quarter when there is a wait on food is unacceptable. The parking situation recently is unacceptable, half the car park is flooded, by the time you have waited for others to leave, even arriving early you are then late for your table. Then a wait on food. We were advised we would have to leave as the table was booked out, there were at that time many empty tables, we had not long finished our food, we were going to have tea and cake but was hurried to leave. It certainly is not as described in your own opening line as “easy going.” Staff are tentative, helpful and effective at service. Of food and drinks. Today was remembrance day and staff although advised it would be supported we’re not vocal enough to encourage patrons to observe this , a ding of a bell by the main door was not enough to advise it had commenced, it was quite upsetting to see the lack of others respecting the 2 minutes silence and staff not visibly supporting and encouraging it. Lastly the service charge, please do not produce a bill with this on, just ask at the arrival at the till, today we did ask for it to be removed. This can make your patrons feel they have to pay it or just don’t realise it is there., £6.38 on our bill (approximately 13%- greed). The removal request was due to the lack of ongoing service, for the way in which we were hurried to leave when there was clearly many empty tables, people were not stood waiting to sit. To be honest this has totally made me question any future return, a time limit of one and a quarter hours is down to again greed, certainly not pleasurable to be hurried, to not be able to have further drinks and food is just not acceptable. We had to change venue to go and have further food, drinks and conversation. Sadly the food, drinks and service are made basic by the lack of it being an”easy going” place to visit, didn’t even get to show family the charm as to be frank we just wanted to find somewhere else to finish our catch up . Very, very disappointing

Visited for a Sunday morning breakfast and had the best full English in quite a while. Well cooked with clearly good quality ingredients. Recommend a visit.

Don’t go- they were rude and didn’t make an effort to serve us food, their hours are also misleading. They say it closes at 4 but they didn’t serve us food past at 3pm.

Very nice place to chill with the family, great location. However I chose from the menu one of the most ill considers meals ever to appear on a menu anywhere. I chose the Sausage, Bacon and Egg sandwich. I expected a sandwich however what came was a 3.5 inch tall end of a French roll with a runny fried egg inside as expected. You can imagine what happened when you try and eat that! To the merriment of the grandchildren there was runny egg everywhere, sticky fingers uggh! Luckily no photographs were taken. Absolutely impossible to eat, perhaps I should have taken the sausage, bacon and runny egg out and eaten separately? Apart from that we had a good time, nice staff.

Always the fist place my family and I visit when arriving from USA. We love it and always go for our first UK Breakfast. Food is great , staff are very friendly and the Manager Ellie has so much passion in making sure every one is happy with their experience that they will want to come back. If it is sunny it’s real nice getting a table outside. Some people arrive by Canoe which makes it kind of unique ! I wish this restaurant was here years ago. Would highly recommend reserving a table in advance , real easy to do on line. Not tried Pizza Friday Nights , hope to one day.

This was our second time here while visiting from American. The first time was great and we were looking forward to come back this trip with our family. This second time was very disappointing. Loud atmosphere, so loud you could barely hear each other. The food was nothing special at all. A few of us had the egg, bacon, and sausage, and it was just as it sounds. Nothing special at all very plan and boring. Not something you would expect at a little place like this as hipster as it wants to be. Once we all left it turned out all of us were thinking the same thing. Overall it was very disappointing for our whole family.

A nice location. Warm welcome from the staff and good service. However, the coffee is bitter (americano) and the mocha coffee was unbearably sweet and left a very nasty taste in my mouth, so much so, I could not drink it. Sadly, based on that experience will not return.

We booked this a couple of hours ahead online which was easy. I’m glad we did as even though the weather wasn’t up to much it was quite busy. We were warmly greeted and shown to our table. Our waitress was very attentive and gave us enough time to study the menu before taking our order. The menu was great and instead of offering separate vegetarian dishes, a lot of what they offer can be given the vegetarian twist. Food arrived promptly and was delicious.

Sadly was a disappointing visit, we picked wrong day to go for a breakfast, very busy and noisy, I know this can't be helped , long wait for our brunch sarnie , sausage and egg , long wait and food was cold when it got to us, personally didn't like the sausage but that's just personal choice, sadly probably wouldn't come back again. Positive nice view on a sunny day .

Great Cafe, very professional staff who care, the food is prepared with care (you can just tell), coffee good, and the ploughman's lunch and avocado on toast were both excellently prepared and served. Delightful. Unique setting on the beachside, and a hidden gem for us locals. Plus you can walk along the beach to Porchester Castle too if the tide is out, and do it all again on the way back! Thank you Salt Cafe team.

Main courses and coffee. 2 x ploughman's, 1 disco fries and 1 avocado, feta, poached egg etc. All good, the avocado etc especially so. Right on the water's edge. Parking limited so go early or later. All in all, good company and food.

Hadn't been here for a while and glad to see that they have expanded in our absence. It's a little gem of a place, we sat inside with the grandchildren and the dog and the staff were particularly helpful especially when hubby manged to knock his iced Latte over himself and pretty much everywhere. The cakes were very good and we thoroughly enjoyed our visit. Definitely won't leave it so long next time.

Wonderful evening with friends. Good food & drink, fabulous staff. Pecan pie simply the best ever! Latte delicious. Dog friendly and relaxed environment by the water’s edge. Highly recommended.

Upon arrival it took a while to be seated. Once seated the waitress was lovely and couldn’t do enough for us. The food was lovely and so was my ice tea on a very warm day! It’s a beautiful location just gets very busy! My...

I had a high expectation but sadly the food was poor ! Setting is lovely . I had a sausage egg and bacon sandwich which was dry , overcooked . Sausage was dry ,egg not runny bacon reheated . The sandwich had margarine in instead...

Very disappointed by the Salt Cafe, after hearing so many glowing reviews the reality fell far shorter than I expected. Upon arriving we could see that the outside tables were full, but inside they had only two small groups of people seated. We stood in...

Often grab takeaway drinks from the Salt Cafe on Wicor shore but on this occasion added a chocolate brownie and a vegan flapjack for good measure. Swift service from the takeaway hatch and friendly staff. But wow that brownie was huge and very yummy!!

Had a wonderful breakfast. Perfect in every way. Great choice for all of us but I would certainly recommend the Salt Cafe full English.

Found this place on the internet, as you do. Reviews were good so gave it a go. Bit hard to find if you didn’t have sat nav, but otherwise quite easy. So we didn’t book a table, but it would be wise to do with...

Withtwo teenages & their parents , us grand-parents had a very interesting Brunch for a Birthday treet for one of the boys. Staff were friendly, attentive & offered advice . Meals arrived in good time, were hot & tasty. The Menu was something differen. Thank...

First time here. Not very signed posted. Just wanted cake and tea. Cakes weren't marked as to what they were. Waitress had a bit of paper and read what they had. Didn't say price and just stood whilst decided. In the end, only had tea....

We are staying in the nearby Salt Cabin and it is great to have the Salt Cafe right next door. Greta for lunch after a 10pms walk along the beaches/headland. Good service and food.

Spot is beautiful little bit pricey but worth it for the location Staff helpful and friendly and a great cup of coffee

Such a lovely place down by the water. Easy to book online and ample parking just along the shore at Wicor Rec. We were given a table outside on the jetty and being there before 12, were able to choose breakfast or brunch. Both (full...

Good pizza but prepare for 12.5% service charge added by restaurant . Left bad taste in my mouth having them add over £12 to our bill and too embarrassing asking to remove it in front of friends. Won't return.

Business breakfast for six, great menu and lovely freshly cooked tasty food. Will be back again soon . Great location and excellent service, even down to the blankets for a sunny but chilly morning out in the sunshine .

Food was piping hot and quickly delivered, tasted good too!! The views when sitting outside are amazing

I've ordered the Feta, bacon and Avocado meal for the past 18 months or so and the portions are reducing in size. So much so that it's probably half the portion it used to be for the same or possibly more cost. Disappointing, as its...

If you’re lucky enough to visit this special place you’ll see why it gets super busy. Tasty food, attentive service in a picture perfect location. The top tip is to prebook your table in advance of your visit and when you get there enjoy!!

WATCH OUT at his cafe adds 10% service charge to your bill and doesn’t tell you! Visited several times now for a light lunch & always seemed quite expensive. Never been given a paper bill as all done on IPads. Sat outside, went into the...

Six of us visited today for breakfast and the staff were good enough to decorate the table with some banners and a ballon for my friends birthday that I’d dropped off the day before. All staff were friendly and helpful and the breakfast was delicious....

Busy and too long to wait for a table so best to visit mid-week. Car parking very limited. Weather not great so preferred sitting inside. Managed to find a comfortable sofa as someone just left, but I do not think I will have my latte...

Walking from Fareham to Portchester on the England Coastal Path, and we fancied a coffee (and the wife, a bit of cake). The Salt Cafe was well situated for this. Seated outside, the views were great, and a nice touch was the pair of binoculars...

We arrived here by boat Sunday lunch. Our of us all starving hungry. We walked in and waitress said you can only have coffee and cake . This was not good news, you’re a bit limited when you arrive by sea We felt really deflated...

We have been before and loved the environment, friendly staff and food but today was not up to standard at all. We had booked and paid £10 per person deposit and ordered food. So this should not have been hard to get good food. We...

I suppose that when one has an established business in a dream setting with fantastic views than one cannot be bothered to smile or be friendly to customers

Had quite a wait for food, maybe 20 minutes but when it turnt up it was cold. A cold egg and toast. Considering the price I was very let down. I don’t like cold poach eggs.

Lovely hide away. Great cake. Best when the tide is on the way in. So peaceful once you’re there. Don’t be put off my the walk up. It’s well worth it once you are there.

Been here few times- on my first 2-3 visists only had drinks and sausage rolls(each time asked to be hot- alawys cold!) but today had a salt breakfast. Not sure it is a one off but- beans were ice cold, tomatoes not cooked at all(thrown...

Excellent location with tasty food and good service. It’s not the cheapest for what you’re getting but a lovely place to stop for cake or for a meal in my experience.

I attended the Salt Cafe for a brunch, it was my first time visiting here. The food was tasty and so were their drinks! However, they operate from a iPad and forgot to add all of our food. 2 of us received our food and...

Excellent breakfast/brunch or cakes, very good quality ingredients and well cooked. Good service and friendly staff. Lovely location, perfect for a dog walk afterwards.

My wife bought the coffees but when we took the lids off there was only half a cup. My wife wouldnt let me complain as she didnt want a scene. Its a great place we have been going for years but please dont get complacent

We go here for breakfast once or twice per month. Not the most extensive of menu options but the quality of food and service is high and professional respectively. Good location and pleasant contemporary atmosphere. Generally good choice of background music

Lovely view, good food . Snooty staff. I’m sorry if I missed the rather obvious signs re seating but …

This is my favourite place for me time . Love to come here with my dog have a walk and then stop for breakfast and soak in the perfect location . Coffee and breakfast is always fabulous so thought we would try the pizza night...

Been here many times but decided to try the Pizza night on a Friday …. Wow great food and service as always … nothing was to much trouble for us and our 9 year old …. The ice cream for Henry was to die for...

After visiting The Salt Cafe several times we decided to treat our daughter to breakfast but sadly we waited an hour for our food to arrive with no updates or forewarning that there would be such a long delay when we ordered. When the food...

Having read the reviews we decided to walk the coastal path from Portchester castle to Salt, anticipating a good quality, tasty snack before the return. What a total waste of energy. The walk was a delight....both snacks exactly the opposite. Stale Focaccia with visible blue...

We just popped in for lunch on the off chance they could fit us in. Very welcoming and did warn us there would be a little bit of a wait for food. Food came out quicker than expected. Staff were really friendly and polite. Food...

My husband and I were staying at the salt cabin (air bnb - definitely a must) which was literally a one minute walk from where we were staying. I’d read reviews so booked ahead. The place had a great vibe and we were allowed our...

After a pleasant walk round Cams Bay we arrived at the Salt Cafe at 6.30pm on a Friday evening to find that the Cafe we had been expecting was now a restaurant. We were then advised that they were fully booked despite it being less...

First time I’ve been here. Absolutely amazing!! Beautiful inside, amazing food, top location and great staff! Will definitely be coming back!!

The cafe was clean and smart The food and service average and expensive. Bacon Sausage and egg roll tepid and tasteless Avocado poached egg and sourdough toast arrived 10 minutes after my lunch arrived. You needed an angle grinder to cut through the toast. Mentioned...

Really really poor service from the takeaway hatch for the second week running … waited over 10 minutes for just two drinks and a cold sausage roll ?!?! (And that doesn’t include the 10 minutes waiting time for the one person in front of me...

On a coastal walk from Porchester, the weather turned and we needed to find shelter. I had checked on online only to see that the Salt Cafe was fully booked for lunch. However, we went on spec, only to find that it was half full...

I was recommended Salt Cafe by a friend so we decided to come for breakfast today … we were very disappointed with the long wait for breakfast and when it arrived it was cold, all 3 grilled breakfasts were cold to eat the Vegetarian option...

Grew up in Portchester but now live in USA. When ever my wife and I return to UK this is our first stop for breakfast. We really love this place and Ellie and the team do a great job. Have also tried for coffee and...

Called in to the Salt Cafe this lunchtime. Didn’t book but managed to get a table which was great as it was busy. What a surprise as I was expecting a big standard caff!! Far from it. Dog friendly - great as we had 2...

They appear to think its the Ritz not a waterfront Café, staff can be unfriendly and uncaring. Cutlery etc can be grubby, slow service. Café management don't appear to value the on site Marina folk, hence few use the Café, despite being owned by the...

Spur of the moment visit on Easter Monday. Lots of bookings but space was found for us and we had a wonderful brunch with great coffee served by friendly and efficient staff. Highly recommended.

Well you really are spoilt for choice. I opted for the chilli bean, and thought it would be passable, given my wife does the best chilli (in my opinion) that said this was very close, lovely kick with heat and corn bread. Anyway 3 of...

This is a consistently good cafe with a lovely setting by the sea at all times of day, and hearty brunches and very decent coffee. Dog friendly as well, for those walking along the coast. Never fails to disappoint.

With a shopping trip to Portsmouth planned and a Sunday 'Birthday Brunch' for me, a bit of research online soon revealed the Salt Cafe and after reading some reviews, I made an online booking for 4. The restaurant itself is located within the grounds of...

It is always so lovely to visit salt! As it the beautiful setting isn’t enough, the service is always a treat and the food, particularly the sausage sandwiches, is incredible! Always a great start to the day- would recommend!

Been here before and has been better than excellent, went today as really wanted a cooked breakfast, we arrived nearly at the end of breakfast service without a booking, but the friendly happy staff fitted us in no problem at all and we were still...

Popped in for a tea and hot choc after a walk along the shore. Seemed very popular spot for lunch with plenty of people eating. Looked like some nice cakes too although didn’t partake. Probably a place that not too many people known existed as...

Beautiful setting but the food was poor and there was a general lack of attention to detail. Some of the cutlery provided had been used, crockery not too clean either. In the current Covid climate you would expect hygiene to be given the highest priority

There was dirty cutlery in the pot on the table and when a cup came for tea it was also dirty. I then ordered a fish sandwich as we were next to the sea so had high hopes however it came in very cheap bread,...

Well what can I say!! WOW!!! Lovely hideout, fantastic food and respectful staff all was amazing!! The decor was really fitting to the surroundings, We was made very welcome, a really great friendly atmosphere, Little tea lights on the tables along with soft piano music...

Ordered a cappuccino and a cheese plait. Coffee was Luke warm and tiny. Cheese plait was cold and raw in the middle and no sign of any cheese. Basically £3.25 for an undercooked strip of puff pastry. Dog enjoyed it though.

Visited the salt cafe at 5pm. There were three other tables in the cafe including us. The cafe seemed to be being run by four younger girls all huddled around the coffee machine. We waited for ten minutes and no one came to our table...

Arrived after a walk expecting the cafe to be closed. Delighted to discover that they were happy to serve us tea and delicious cake, even though they were busy preparing for Friday Pizza Night. What a find! Lovely decor and atmosphere, very friendly and helpful...

Visited for pizza night on Friday,pizzas were delicious,crispy base and tasty toppings. Lovely waitress and ambiance,also treated to a young chap playing the piano/ keyboard such a shame though he was tucked away facing the wall,would be lovely to see your audience and we would...

Had brunch today 4 of us. Very busy but staff very organised. Would recommend the Crab open sandwich and Fish fillet brioche. So tasty and plenty of it. Would recommend booking as gets very busy. Will definitely be back!

Been going to Salt over 4 years - taken LOTS of friends & family from near & far. It was our favorite cafe until the last visit. The food was awful - cold, stale tasting bread, brownish avocardo, 3 bits of stone cold leathery bacon...

We had lunch here on a lovely warm September day, it was a perfect setting. The staff aren't very friendly, you have to wait for quite a long time until they get round to seating you and the waitress wasn't very helpful (when she didn't...

We came here for brunch. We were greeted and seated after quite a wait! The food took at least 40 minutes to arrive and at different times. The grilled breakfast looked good and my friend enjoyed his. I had the crab sandwich - it was...

I love Salt Cafe, however now it seems they have got greedy and want you to book and then vacate the table after an hour. Hardly time to meet up with friends and have a chat Once a nice place to drop in for a...

When the sign says ‘wait to be seated’ one expects to be greeted, not to have to stand around while THREE staff behind the counter avoid looking up. Food uninspiring. At £12.50 for a sandwich I would expect a bit of garnish at the very...

Love to visit Salt Cafe when coming back to my Home Town from USA. Elle and the team make you so welcome and the food is superb. It is also great to see a business do so well during COVID simply by focusing on good...

I have visited this place several times and it’s always been wonderful but today I was very disappointed the table we sat at was dirty I think it had been cleared away after the last people but not wipe down as there were lots of...

This was our first visit after recommendations from family members. The location is lovely,the food top notch and the young staff very friendly and great at their job. We thoroughly enjoyed our visit and will definitely go again. We were glad we had booked as...

We have been going to the Salt Cafe for the last 4 years. We haven't been for a while during Covid. Today we sat on the jetty in the sun enjoying great coffee with the best Chocolate brownies! What a treat this place is. We...

Visited the Salt Cafe for lunch............limited menu and paid £30 for two fish sandwiches with a few fries and two pots of tea and one cold drink! I do think our lunch was somewhat overpriced. Have visited the Salt Cafe many times as we are...

There is something not quite right about the Salt Cafe . The lunch menu meals appears to include lots of bread and is limited and not generous . It is also quite pricey for what you get . For some odd , outdated reason the...

Over priced, unfriendly staff. Used to be such a lovely place to visit but I feel it has lost its uniqueness.

Lots of seating inside and outside, glad we booked as still really busy at 2pm. Smallish menu but food was excellent. Not really any young child friendly drinks but glasses and water tap available to do yourself. Only 1 toilet in use just a short...