Southsea Beach Cafe in Portsmouth

Great location overlooking the beach/sea

Got coffee from the hatch on a Sunday morning and whilst the coffee was delicious there was a 20 minute wait. This is ridiculous! We placed our order and sat on the beach to wait.

Incredible seafront location, delicious food, lovely atmosphere, and friendly service. They were busy so best to allow time for initial service.

We had been told by friends to give this place a try! We popped in for breakfast last Friday and was not disappointed! The service was great and we both had the brunch burrito It was great, best breakfast around in Southsea Will definitely be back!

Visited Southsea today & the first place we came across for a coffee was this beach cafe. Using the take away kiosk on the outside, we ordered coffee's & a tea. Obviously, they were short staffed as it took so long to get served, even though there was only a couple of people in front of us. During this time, 4 people walked off due to the long waiting time. When we did finally get our drinks, after waiting for 20 minutes, the americano I ordered was very weak if had any coffee in it at all & it just tasted like hot water with milk on the top, & the tea wasn't much better either. I hope sitting in the cafe has a better service than the kiosk.

My former 5 star review downgraded to 2. Dreadful take-away coffee experience. Firstly, if there is going to be a 10+ minute wait you need to warn people. Secondly, coffee near undrinkably bitter. Coffees both very hot and tasting of cooked milk. Milk too hot makes the coffee bitter. All of one and half the other tipped away undrunk. I suspect both problems a lack of supervision of junior staff.

Nice new quirky places on the beach! The place itself is lovely, but the service was horrendous. I went to the bar and was told it's table service only, but they don't come around and check on you! I eventually got someone's attention and asked for two more drinks—nothing fancy—but it took about half an hour. Bored of waiting, we asked where our drinks were, and they came out straight after that. It seemed they stood around at the end chatting and not actually doing anything else. I wouldn't mind, but it wasn't even busy; if you did what you was there for in the 1st place then you'd have time for that but instead the just took the piss! Our food was served with no cutlery, and we had to ask for salt and pepper, as it's not at the table, which is fair enough, but you would think at that point they would ask if you wanted any sauces. Nobody checked in to see if everything was okay with the food, which is another standard thing to do. At the end of it, I got asked if I wanted to tip them 🤣 for what? It was barely a service—that's why I went to the bar myself. If it's table service only, you need to check on people surely. And as for asking for tips first, you should earn it, don't expect it. If people want to leave a tip, they will; you don't have to act like a scavenger and ask for it. It's kind of rude, and maybe you do get more tips that way by making some feel uncomfortable, but it's that same attitude that will stop people from coming again. As I said, nice place, but it's relatively new; I think you need to get your act together, guys.

Probably the best English breakfast I’ve ever had ! The wife had a mushroom thing she loved as well

Visited 30th April, having booked for lunch for 3 people. We all ordered fish and chips. When the food arrived, the size of the fish was very small compared to the last time we went. To make up for the tiny haddock, the batter was over cooked to make it appear larger. Fully appreciate the increased costs for business, but at £18 each it seemed over priced. Wine was expensive at £26ish, rose not chilled enough despite in a cooler with ice. With tip about £90 for one course each and Wine. Also the chairs are plastic and quite uncomfortable. So really sadly, after many visits we were disappointed.

Great spot for lunch. Good food with incredible views. Thanks Tom for the great service.

It's okay nice a cool sit inside while hot day , but I had mango lemonade was nice but im small glass for £6 should of been big glass 2 slips and it gone. Disappointed

Came in yesterday for family lunch as a party of 7. We were served by Zac who was very friendly and a delight to be served by. Will be back again soon for more amazing fish and chips!

Great beach cafe food is very good. However the service and lack of clearing after customers was quite uncomfortable. Lots of mums & babies so a bit of an obstacle course with prams bikes etc.

Came here today for some lunch, our server ellie was so wonderful and friendly, made us feel so welcome - would definitely recommend!

Amazing food in an amazing setting. Ellie our Waitress was lovely and very helpful.

Stopped off for breakfast at Southsea Beach Café! Service was excellent, and Lola looked after us brilliantly. The black pudding was a standout—definitely worth adding. Highly recommend!

First time visit with friends for breakfast and great choice. Food was really good and staff were honest and attentive

Undeniably a beautiful location but the service appears to reflect a sense that the excellent social media reputation has led to complacency. We had booked so weren’t a walk in. Slow service, disinterested staff and very average food. Hopefully just an off day.

This could be an amazing restaurant but the service and price of food for what you get is very poor. We went for lunch and it wasn’t busy. We waited around 20 minutes for our drinks and had to ask for someone to come and take our food order. When the food came there was no cutlery so we had to call someone to ask for that. The waitress bought knives and forks and dumped them in the middle of the table and walked off. There were no napkins so we had to call someone back to ask for some. I ordered mussels (£18 for a very small bowl and slice of bread) and there was no bowl for the shells or a finger bowl. We called a waitress over to ask for a bowl for shells and she said yes then walked off and completely ignored the request and went to chat to one of the other waitresses. In the end I had to go and find someone to ask. When we finished, nobody asked if we wanted more drinks or to order desserts. We had to call someone to ask for the bill and then again 15 minutes later to pay. There were lots of staff, they just didn’t pay any attention to the customers. The food is nice but very small portions for the price (£20 for a small bowl of seafood linguine/burgers etc don’t come with any chips so you have to order as a side).

My son and I had lunch there yesterday. My fishcakes were exceptional. My son had fish and chips. The portion was rather small - and his comments was - our local chippy's fish and chips are better! Pricey restaurant in a beautiful setting.

Charming little gem of a place great cake's and coffee ☕

Close your eyes and you could be at a upmarket beach bar on the Algarve peninsula. Service attentive but large groups slowed food delivery. Very reasonably priced for the standard of food, which was very good. Nearby or street parking but not easy on sunny day. Presumably the provision of WiFi is so that the clientel can pretend they are working from home?!

A very frequent customer here and I was looking forward to coming for a late lunch (1.45 ish on 15/4/25) so made the journey from Haslemere to see the sea and have a nice meal. Paid £4.10 to park and arrived with excitement for a usually good meal and welcoming visit. Moderately busy today but waited by the door for approx 5 minutes, unacknowledged and finally ‘wafted’ over to a poorly cleaned table with no cutlery. Menus were plonked on the table and nothing else in the form of human interaction for 12 minutes (no drinks order or welcome / explanation or apology for potentially slow service). In fact, no service at all. Several other guests were summoning staff for their bills etc. We left and probably won’t bother returning until it’s had a clean up (toilet smell on arrival.) What a shame. I used to enjoy coming, especially during summer months.

Great location right on the beach, great customer service and food enjoy 🏖️

Been here so many times-since it first started-always great staff and breakfast! From Guildford especially to visit !

First time eating in Southsea Beach Café with a friend. I had the full English and it was really lovely and hot.

A lovely spot on the beach but nicely sheltered from the wind. It was busy but we can't fault the friendly service. The food was delicious (fish cakes, Caesar salad and lemon tart) and reasonable value for money. We were surrounded by well behaved dogs/owners. All in all a good experience.

Came in for the Mother's Day lunch, the staff were so friendly and helpful even though it was packed. Food arrived very quickly and the portions were enormous, especially the roast, it was piled high! Made a gorgeous sunny day even brighter.

We love this place great food great views lovely staff! Amazing holiday feel and we love to relax here after a hectic weekend

Disappointed,…..Full English breakfast, £13.50, 1 fried egg, 1 sausage, 1/2 a tomato, 2 small burnt & shrivelled pieces of rock hard bacon , small portion of sliced mushrooms & piece of sour dough toast. Wouldn’t go there if you are hungry

I love the view and I took a friend that was visiting me in Portsmouth. I never had any issues until this time. I found a hair in the food and I mentioned it after my friend paid the bill. I thought they were going to offer us not to pay for my food as I couldn’t finish it due to the hair in it but they didn’t.

Loud, noisy dirty, rude, will not return. Glasses filthy mine still had somebody food on edge! Knives and forks filthy and blunt. Food awful, brioche very tough, bacon had been cooked earlier, like rubber! Staff were abrupt, was told if the 5 of us wanted to pay separately we would have to sort price out ourselves! No apologies or anything, very blunt! Asked why she couldn't do it she replied with attitude she was busy! We spent £71 didn't leave a tip. Horrible place!

Decent enough coffee but charging for alternate milks in 2025 is wildly anti-consumer.

Food was delicious, but the service was atrociously slow, even though the place was less than half full. The servers paid no attention to us, didn't clear our plates, or see if we would like dessert or coffee. Then dessert took 15 mins to arrive, after we had finished our coffee.... We had to get their attention each time, and even to get the bill. A great shame as the chefs and food are excellent. Unsure as to whether we would go back again due to this.

Very overpriced. £3.80 for a cappuccino or latte is the same price as Central London, but you're only on the seafront at Southsea.

Always love coming here - great location, food, view and atmosphere.

I had a nice chicken wrapped .....,it was tasty and good!

Amazing warm friendly service and great food options.

Excellent! Food was fantastic, good service, hot chocolates were delicious. It's a small space if you eat in, so a little cramped and noisy fyi if you need space. But well worth it, would go again. The veggie option was different when we actually sat down to what was on the online menu but was really good all the same. Partner had a burger which was huge and they did really good chips!

Came here on a busy Sunday for brunch with some friends. Coffee was great. I had avocado on toast which was beautifully presented and pleasant enough although perhaps slightly overpriced for a lukewarm meal. I was also disappointed to learn the only vegan option for something sweet and was a sorbet which wasn’t suitable for the time of day or the season. There are a few places in the area that sell wonderful vegan options for treats and cakes. It would be nice to see this venue provide similar. The service was great throughout until the end where we waited half an hour for the bill despite asking for it twice. We were only served with the bill as we were standing up and rushing to out coats on as we were then running late. The staff obviously do work really hard here, I just think we came at a very peak time so long wait times are to be expected. However I do agree with other reviews that the food is overpriced for the portions you receive.

Great food, good service and lovely location. Had the feta cheese and sweet potato salad which was delicious 😋

Wow! Just had THE most amazing breakfast - lovely, freshly cooked food - service was very quick too! Recommend the black pudding hash and the mushrooms on toast

I highly recommend the Vegetarian breakfast. Top quality. Nice staff.

First time here and we only stopped for coffee. It was a sunny Saturday so we were not lucky finding a tablet without wait. The coffee was very good, service was fast and the staff was friendly. Best place in town for a coffee with a beach view. Will definitely recommend

It was lovely plus our dog could go in

This was our first visit since the refurbishment. It’s much more open and I specifically chose the restaurant for a friends and family gathering. It was very welcoming to our group of 7 with a 10 year old, two nonogenarians and a dog! I must confess I was a little disappointed by the altered menu. There used to be more fresh fish options with some lovely seafood platters. These menu was less adventurous than it was. I do hope they will reconsider the bigger menu they used to have!

Nice view in what used to be an excellent cafe. However, when we arrived today there were three dogs in our area, two of which were barking loudly at each other. The third looked like a mastiff or bull terrier with a muzzle on. That was at a table very close to us and made all four of us feel uncomfortable. I'm sorry, but dogs should not be allowed where people are eating God knows what they have been eating or rolling in...it is extremely unhygienic and possibly dangerous if they bite. To be fair to the waitress, she found us a table away from all the dogs, otherwise we would have left. Service took quite a while and when the food arrived it wasn't as hot as it should have been. One us wanted to exchange some potatoes(she is diabetic) for an egg(which is cheaper). That wasn't allowed. Why?You can pay extra for another egg...but if you request no roti potatoes you don't get anything off. Strange..and not customer friendly. All in all, not a great experience. We won't return all the time dogs are allowed in the eating area

The view is great however the service and food were not great. Waited an hour just to get water that was ordered and not one server came to our table during that time. The food was cold and left all of us feeling sick. The cutlery and drinkware were dirty.

We came for the outdoor sauna but had some food first, amazing location, french toast with bacon was so tasty. The sauna itself is nice and hot and the sauna hats are a great touch! Would definitely recommend :) On another visit: 10/10 chicken sandwich!

Always lovely staff, top views and good food. Please add Hampshire trout to your menu ;-)

My friend and I went for lunch and struggled to find something we wanted as we were advised nothing was made to order but was made on site. Eventually she chose gammon and fries I,the fishcakes . Our meals arrived, for some bizarre reason someone thought it a good idea to put the fried egg on top of the fridge cold gammon, and the punnet of fries looked like the scrap ends of the tray. On request a new hot egg was delivered. My fishcakes were the tiniest I've ever seen covered with a cornflake like coating which was thicker than the content and sat on 'a bed' of wilted spinach, if there had been 4 leaves of baby spinach I'd be surprised. All in all a disappointment, another venue that's all show no substance, to be avoided if you actually enjoy good food.

Food was lovely today, and considering how busy they were, the food came out quickly and delightful.

Afternoon tea & two stale scones @ £17.00 is not acceptable. What has happened to SBC, poor quality? Cost of a cuppa is extortionate. Used to be a favourite.

Popped in today for a light lunch , was asked to come back in 20 , NP as we had not booked. Was met and greeted by the Captain, seated by the fire, service was excellent and the food was great as well. Might be a little on the expensive side but you pay for what you get, the view is worth it alone. The bacon was really good as a side note.

Shitty service, dirty cups and way too expensive.

Southsea Beach Cafe Sauna - very enjoyable beachside sauna 🏝️ Great view out to sea while in the sauna. We went on NYE when it was quite chilly outside but a comfortable 105 degrees inside. Followed by hot drinks in SBC. Life is definitely better by the beach 😀

Cool place by the sea and been here quite a few times now but food is always bang on and of good quality whatever you order.

Lovely staff and lovely sauna and location. Extra charge for oat milk which is a shame!

I came with my family and we ordered french toast from kids menu for the kids they really loved it, it comes with banana and yogurt too. My wife and I ordered vegetarian breakfast and pudding hash it was so delicious. Thank you, we will visit again..

Really lovely place to sit next to the sea.

Un excellent moment dans ce café, les pieds dans l’eau, avec une équipe professionnelle et des pâtisseries appétissantes.

Used to like this place but seems to have dipped in quality of late. Fish and chips - tiny portion of chips served in a small metal beaker (the kids fish and chips we ordered actually had more!), and the fish was extremely greasy and tasteless. For £18 simply not good enough. Coffee served practically cold until sent back and tasted unpleasant.

Outstanding beach cafe Just a pity it was winter and summer and side to the sea wasn't rolled up! Food was very good, nice ambience.

Not what it used to be, fallen along way. Average food at unreasonable prices.

Good food, excellent, prompt friendly service and a stunning setting.

Dirty, more than 10 minutes of waiting to be noticed. Instead of good morning how can I help? we hear ''hello we are short''. Tables dirty, greasy just disgusting. Coffee it is just plain water with something added. Never again!!!

Surprisingly fine quality food for a beach cafe! With a prospect of a sauna right before or after the meal 😀 The chicken and mushroom pie is so good.

Great meal. We enjoyed our fish and chips and the chowder was scrummy! Staff were welcoming and friendly. We will be back when we are next in the area.

What a disappointment! Heard rave reviews but they do not live up to expectations! Food is awful!! Service is disgusting!! Please don't waste your money when there are so many better places to visit!!

Been here a few times & always have a nice time. Food & drinks are decent. Service is good. Atmosphere is chilled. Only criticism is I always feel the portion size isn’t enough but definitely a 8.5/10.

Stopped here for a good coffee. Food looked good but we didn't eat. Views over to IOW and a place to watch the hovercraft.

I have been to the SBC quite a few times over the years and each time I have had the same experience. The food about scrapes above average for a beach cafe and as for value for money I’d say it’s a little expensive for what it is, however the service is positively terrible. The last time I went (and I mean last time in the past, present and future tense), two crucial elements of the dish I had ordered were missing and for just about 10 minutes we were calling for our waiters attention but somehow through the thicket of empty tables managed not to see us?! Eventually our waiter was called over by another member of staff that brought light to our predicament, this seemed to unsettle her as she looked completely unwilling to come over to our table as if she actually had to work on shift (I know shocker!). Once alerted to the missing food she replied with a snark “Ok? Anything else?”, a different tone and a small apology wouldn’t have gone a miss. What’s more is throughout the entire meal we weren’t checked on once and had to go up to ask for water, again after waiting to be noticed, when asked for water I was told it would be brought to the table even though it was sat in the fridge she was stood in front of and it took another 10 minutes to come, again they must’ve been so busy with the empty tables? It’s also not nearly as clean as shown in the pictures in fact it can be a little bit grubby at times, especially the loos. Overall I would not recommend, as I say this is a typical experience at the SBC, that I’ve also heard from many friends and family.

Very expensive. I think it was £16.50 for a chicken sandwich, which came with no side of chips or anything, other than a few green leaves. That would’ve been another £5. The chicken was the thin chunks you get in packets in the supermarket, not the standard of “chicken breast” I’d expect for that price. Our bespectacled waitress was a little off too, and couldn’t find a smile. Almost threw the drinks menu on the table when she came to take drinks order & we didn’t have the menu. And then when I enquired about desserts, she pointed to the dessert board as if I was a complete buffoon for not having noticed it already. Didn’t enjoy her attitude. It’s dog friendly, and has a great location (hence the prices), and has been good before, but it really isn’t good value, and there are other better options nearby.

Firstly, we were greeted by staff who possibly had hangovers, but definitely didn't want to be there. When we ordered, we were advised we couldn't 'swap' items on the breakfast menu. However, they would happily remove items and charge for something to replace what had been removed!! When the breakfast arrived, there was more 'clean plate' than food. Portions were miserly and very pretentious. I'd expect a far better service for a £15 fry up. Never again.

The location of this place was brilliant. The food was hot and well presented. The chai lattes were delicious! The avocado on toast was a little too chilled for my liking but that's only a personal preference.

Great little place right on the beach. Friendly welcoming staff. Dog friendly Great for catering for dairy and gluten intolerances. Food is always great and full of flavour.

Awesome place to sit ,eat and enjoy the beach view. Foods were so delicious!

Excellent service and excellent quality of food

Arrived for breakfast and seated quickly. Service was pretty quick but unfortunately our waitress looked like she didn't want to be there and didn't crack a smile. I ordered the French toast with maple butter and bacon. It was swimming in butter and maple syrup and was soggy, greasy, burned and inedible. This isn't a cheap cafe and it was pretty disappointing. My daughter didn't finish her strawberry French toast. Husband enjoyed his full English, however. Sugar was soggy as it had sat by the window and got either rained on, or condensation. Prices were surprisingly high, we drove a bit further down the road and there are lots of other eating places, so probably wouldn't visit again.

I love going to this place and I always make an effort to visit when I’m in the area. I’m a big fan of the vegan breakfast. So delicious! The views are amazing and the staff are always so warm and welcoming.

I love the shingle beaches of Southsea and this is as good as any along that section of the beach.

The staff here are uninterested and rude with a couldn’t care less attitude. If you want to be ignored then only have half your order delivered this is the place for you.

Good place for breakfast. A bit pricey but you pay for the location. Very friendly service.

Great fish and chips, would recommend them to everyone. Not too expensive either!

Good food and great service. Thank you.

Went on bank holiday lunch so we waited nearly an hr for food. Worth waiting though as their foods are amazing. There's some mistake on the bill but got it sorted so not big issues.

A simply superb beachside restaurant. Don't be fooled by the beachside location.....this is NOT a greasy spoon. Fine food, atmosphere and great service. Recommended.

Gorgeous view and good food. Service was okay but good for a busy spot on a sunny day.

Lovely food, very well presented. Great staff who were very helpful as one of our party has a lot of allergies so has to be careful. Feels like a temporary structure so in the wind it was very noisy. Didn't detract though, really great place. Will go back.

What a spot! A great location, with a good selection of food and beverages and it definitely helped to have a blue sky sunny day!

Yesterday evening we thought we’d go down to Southsea and enjoy an evening by the sea. We then thought we might grab a bite at the Beach Cafe. It turned out to be extremely disappointing. The waitress omitted to let us know we could order other items off another menu that we had not seen so ordered from the menu we were given. The prices were ridiculously high so we went for a Mediterranean share platter costing £55. Well, you would think yum however, what a disappointment! The portions for that price were measly and some aspects of it inedible due to the high salt content. I really need to mention the dreadful singer who we had to pay for through the high prices. Her voice was not mixed in so it was so loud and shouty at times not to mention out of tune. The waitress apologised for not letting us know what else was on the menu but did not offer anything as compensation. We also had to endure floors being swept, tables and chairs being put up for the night, all this whilst we were trying to eat our over prices meal. Very pleasant waitresses but poor service. The view should not compensate for the above.

Oir food and drinks were 10 minutes on the bar before anyone noticed and brought it to us.

I came in this morning for breakfast and treated myself to the black pudding hash which was absolutely outstanding!!! Real pleasant atmosphere and happy smiling staff. Perfect start to my day! Thank you.

It seems as if management has lost interest, or lacking experience... Owner needs or maybe should reevaluate who's the face of business... Please don't take this comment as rude or arrogant...

The drinks always take an age to arrive as well as the food. They have the tuniest kitchen ever which must be the cause of the slow service. They serve take-away coffees as well as serving the people in the restaurant and they cant cope with the amount of business they get. They need to double the size of their kitchen/barista area to cope. When you pay the premium for being the restaurant, you at least want good service which goes wanting due to their inability to make food and drinks quick enough. With regards to the food, good but tiny portions for the money you pay. They are unwilling to swap food ingredients if you don't like or are intolerant of a certain ingredient. You just get the feeling of being scammed in there! Luckily, the views and atmosphere is great due to it's great location on the seafront

I love the Southsea Beach Cafe, the menu is always inspired and the food is fresh and tasty, so I chose to visit for my birthday treat on Saturday. My husband and I arrived at 9.30 and the cafe was fairly busy but no queues. Strangely it was evident that the service was slow from the off. We were shown to a table with the menus and left. I was conscious that our table hadn’t been wiped down with a coffee ring and sugar granules from a previous customer, but no returning waitress. After about 15 mins our order was taken and coffees arrived fairly quickly. The cooked food took longer and with the open kitchen it was evident that the chef was working through orders methodically. I watched with interest his ‘ping’ of the bell when orders were ready to go out- yet no waiting staff came to collect. Some meals (ours included) were under the lamp for a good few minutes with additional orders stacking up on the hot plate. The repeated ‘ping’ of the bell drawing no one to deliver the food. Consequently when we finally got our food the poached eggs were hard boiled and the meal was dry. By now the cafe was getting very busy and the service began to disintegrate around us. Both adjacent tables having to ask after their orders, food arriving before drinks, half orders delivered. The waiting staff were in disarray, walking around aimlessly, profusely apologising for the delays and generally not taking control of the situation. Without exception they looked miserable and disengaged from the job. Whether this is weekend staff only, or a tranche of new staff I’m not sure, but it tainted our visit and was a disservice to the kitchen team who were prepping food in a timely way, only for it to sit and wait for an eternity to actually be served.

My favourite place to break/brunch/lunch in Southsea. Amazing service and food. Great views and atmosphere. The best of all: super pet friendly! Love it!!

Update 2024 We had the sharing seafood platter. Just lovely, with a really nice sauce. Attentive service, and a chilled atmosphere. Perfect. First visit 2022 A sweet place to eat with a sea view. We had the fish sharing plate with a side of vegetables. On the plus side, nice prawns, and very polite, friendly service. On the down side, knives forgotten, paper towels forgotten, water forgotten, butter forgotten, table very dirty. To be fair it was a very busy day, but even so maybe have someone working on keeping things clean and well stocked. Had a takeaway coffee later, and that was super. Staff kind, polite and thoughtful, and excellent coffee done exactly as asked.

Fish and chips amazingggg, crispy batter fresh chips and homemade tartare sauce. Perfect location open windows right on to the beach with great music selection.

We've been here a few times now, and always had a good experience until today. I ordered a tagliatelle pasta dish from the lunch menu but unfortunately quite a few bits of the pasta were hard and dry, as if it had been heated badly in a microwave. My children had carbonara and pasta with a tomato sauce, both of which were extremely rich - far too much cream and cheese. They both only had a small amount before stopping, and when I tried some of each I was very surprised to find them sickly. I couldn't manage much myself. Not good at all unfortunately, especially for children. We'll still come back, but I hope the chef/s make changes.