The Bumblebee Cafe in East Hampshire

I arrived in the cafe in my usual happy manner. The lady who was guarding the till asked what I wanted, no hello good morning or smile. I asked for a large capacino extra hot and extra wet. The woman said chocolate on top? I said only if it's a pretty pattern. She replied we don't do pretty patterns here. I then said how about a nice heart shape. The woman replied we don't love anyone here either. What an awful woman. I guess she's the owner because of she had worked in one of my shops she would not have lasted long with the attitude. I turned to the girl standing next to me who also worked there and I said "blimey she's happy" the girl just smiled. What an atmosphere to work in. My friend who met me there wanted another drink but we decided to not give this venue anymore money so we had a lovely cup of tea in the very friendly welcoming pub just a, few steps away. Some people are made to work in retail and or with the public. Some people obviously are not.

Lovely looking cafe. Food was good enough. Completely ruined by the incessant bell ringing whenever people entered or left. What is the point? It’s a small cafe. Never experienced anything like it. Certainly won’t be going back. Unless I want to get a headache.

Excellent food Portions are just right size Scones and Cake fresh and tasty and coffee ☕ so much nicer than the big fast coffee shops Support local small businesses Bumble Bee is my favorite and first choice for breakfast/ lunch with friends Well done 👍

Lovely cafe and staff, lots of choices and beautiful homemade cakes

Friendly, efficient & professional staff & excellent brekkie 👍😋

A lovely cafe in a peaceful area, just popped in for a coffee and beans on toast, quick friendly service, I look forward to coming back to try the rest of the food:)

Lovely cafe, good food and friendly staff.

This is a great café, tasty food, excellent coffee, very pleasant atmosphere and good service from their friendly staff. Just the place to pop into after a walk around Stansted Forest.

Nice little cafe. Nice staff. Nice cakes. Reasonably priced.

Lovely breakfast coffee & hot chocolate wonderful staff & service highly recommended !!

Friendly service, delicious food

Lovely menu choice, nice atmosphere, comfortable and relaxed vibe with homemade food. Lovely.

Lovely cafe food was great and staff all very friendly. Will definitely be back.

I couldn't rate the food as I didn't eat but my tea was spot on, pot for two at £2.50 and the alfresco area made for a peaceful half hour 😊😁

Great little cafe, beautifully decorated 🐝🐝 Had the cheese+bacon omelette with beans, delicious 😋

Really lovely spot for brunch. Party of 4 who all had different meals and all enjoyed them very much. The banana bread was impeccable! Friendly staff and lovely decor. Have recommended it to friends.

Nice cafe. Nice coffee. Nice service. Had a bacon and egg bap and it was really good.

Service was excellent, Food was amazing, had the mezze and was delicious

Great food but staff are always grumpy, we go regularly and they are always the same, mainly the owners, rest of staff are more friendly. We keep going as the food is great but a bit of a shame about the staff.

Great value and delicious food.

We had a small breakfast, just enough, very tasty indeed, set us up for the day good all round Cafe.

Great food and atmosphere, we were 4 adults, toddler and dog.Super child and dog friendly. Very welcoming , asked for something off menu and it wasn’t a problem

The food’s amazing & the atmosphere is lovely. We’re local but have got chatting to people on their holidays or visiting relatives. It’s great meeting other locals & to become friends with them. Friends of ours that live in Southsea always meet us there now (we used to meet at a Southsea cafe) as they love it so much, amongst them a good friend who now brings all her friends, we were there today & she loved the Bees Knees! The coffee is excellent, we love iced coffee in the summer & the milkshakes are to die for! The staff are lovely always go out of their way to help. We go for coffee & sometime eats. It’s spotlessly clean & have all their Rated 5 star hygiene logos on their door. If you are on your own don’t hesitate to go, whether you want to sit & be quiet on your own or maybe sit near other people & chat it’s perfect for a visit. You can take dogs into the front bit of the cafe so great for when the weather isn’t nice enough for outside, there’s a pot of dog biscuits & towels to dry them off.

The Bumblebee is my local cafe of which I am extremely proud that we have it. The food is exceptional, the coffee choice extensive and well thought through - I have just had a delicious cup of tea with one of Kate’s home made cakes.

Pleasant staff. Service was very good. Food was lovely

If I could rate this place lower I would, based from the replies to the reviews the owners clearly cannot take responsibility for their own mistakes and are very argumentative when they know they are in the wrong. Clearly you did not have to think long and hard at which “multi ethnic” customers it was as your staff (that were stood to the side of the counter not serving customers) had a good long stare at us throughout ordering and when eating our meal, also family members of staff feeling the need to comment on the fact that the “youngens” were out today, we do understand you shouldn’t have to apologise for the demographic of your customers treating anyone they don’t know like dirt on the floor but these reviews help other people like us know where we are not welcome, also if we’re saying that white people is a racial slur then I don’t think your chef would appreciate your description of him, we await your very kind and professional response thank you.

We stayed in a hotel in Rowlands Castle and went to this cafe for breakfast in the morning because it was right next to this hotel and we thought it would be friendly. The food was really good, however the atmosphere and service was terrible. From the second we walked in everyone was staring at us in a judgemental manner because we weren't local. We smiled at the staff however they did not smile back and were not friendly. Whilst sat down, we heard a few comments from the staff talking to other customers about why us "young people were in the cafe" and clearly whispering about us, making us feel uncomfortable. Every new customer who walked in would give off the same vibe towards us, looking us up and down. Clearly they are not welcoming to visitors who aren't their regular locals. So if you don't live there, don't go there because you will not feel welcome and will get the impression that they want you to leave. Never visited such a place that feels as old fashioned as this cafe, clearly they haven't moved with the times and have not yet discovered that people travel now and they are going to have to accept that the world is not just full of white people.

A lovely little place. The best food and excellent service!

What a lovely Cafe! We didn't try the food but the drinks and service were great

They advertise 'open till 4pm'. We arrived at 3:30 to find O'Henry noisily vacuming, much sweeping and cleaning making our welcome questionable. Well before 4pm a family came in and were told "we are closing" and were sent away. Otherwise coffee and cake very good but reluctant service, which was hardly a relaxing experience. That they had been working since 7am, not our problem! Having looked forward to a quiet cup of coffee with cake, we were hugely disappointed.

Arrived at 3:20pm, it closes at 4. Lots of people sitting inside. Before I could order, was told that it was take away only. I am a cyclist, it has got good reviews from other cyclists. I’m also Asian……Cafe owner got aggressive when I told him I could guess which way he voted on Brexit !

Mark and Kate always very welcoming, great value for money, great location and excellent food. Staff always have a smile even when rushed of their feet

Very lovely cheese omelette fluffy. Thank you very much, will come again for lunch fancy meat and cheese platter and maybe a cake.

We go here most weekends and the staff are always lovely and the food is fantastic.

No complaints, always good service and food.

Great cyclists cafe, had a lovely bacon sarnie last time I was there.

Tasty food, excellent service, lovely place!

Did not go in here, but friend who works in hairdressers says cakes are to die for

Not impressed with this place now. Apparently it's changed owners and the new ones aren't any good. I went along at 3.30pm and was told they were closing and could only do take away (which I didn't want) even though it says they close at 4pm!! When I queried/pointed that out, they said they needed time to clean up!! To which I replied surely you di that after you close? So I didn't stop. Very unfriendly!

The Bumblebee Cafe is perfect for just a Coffee on your own or Breakfast for two, Lunch for Four or Afternoon Tea with friends, the food is always fantastic and the service and staff are so friendly and welcoming. Lovely to see so many items on the menu for gluten free, dairy free and other dietary requirements. Also so lovely to see dogs allowed in and towels provided for muddy paws.

Perfect location for us to visit when we cycle however we've always been disappointed by the Bumblebee and have preferred to go elsewhere. The coffee here is adequate but not up to the standard you would expect from a specialty coffee shop for example. The vegan options are lacking and I have only ever ordered an avocado sandwich, the staff have never been very accommodating in this regard and I have sometimes felt unwelcome as if I am making their job difficult. If you are not vegan and prefer tea over coffee I think you would still enjoy this café as the cakes do look excellent and the outside seating is great.

I can only describe our non visit to the Bumblebee cafe as bizarre. We were 7 cyclists riding the Shipwrights way and wanted to stop yesterday at the Bumblebee cafe for a coffee and cake. We sat down outside but felt cold under the canopy so moved to table in the sun. Cafe had one other person in it outside. We were the asked by middle aged grumpy cafe lady to move to the other side so that she could fill more tables. There was no one waiting to be allocated a terrace seat. Grumpy knickers did not like our explanation about the warmth of the sun and we really did not like the most “unwelcome welcome” she was giving so left. I guess she can’t be the owner because you would never run your own business like that but this lady really was unfriendly and unreasonable. Shame as we always liked this cafe in the past for stops.

Went here for mother's day and it was absolutely fabulisious. One of the BEST EVER cafes I have been to. The staff was amazing. The food was tasty, fresh and plenty and such a gorgeous place. Have been recommending it to all my friends.

Lovely little village cafe, with good cafe fare. Had the salad in a tortilla bowl, filling and yummy

Passing through the area & we happened to spot this oasis, and we're so pleased we did. This venue is grab a table first type (so identifying table number) & then present yourself & the counter for service - be warned, this is adjacent to the fresh cake display, which will pull you in! Superb choice of freshly cooked food offered. Service was polite, friendly & warming. We elected for tea for 2, Lemon drizzle cake (amazing crunchy sugar topping) & warmed, home made sausage rolls with caramelised sweet onion- uber thin pastry & the best filling ever!! Locally produced cards & art work adorns the walls, which is for sale, great to see. This Bistro cafe is a must if you're nearby.

Lovely friendly staff and delicious food. The fish finger sandwich was yummy.

I love this place. Went for the first time a matter of weeks ago and have already been back around four or five times! The food is great, there are comfy sofas you can sit on. I always have my children with me (baby and toddler) we are made to feel welcome, we usually sit on the comfy sofas, and Saturday just gone the nice lady said my toddler could play on Crackers the lovely traditional rocking horse. I took my husband there on the weekend as he was off work, he really enjoyed it, he had one of the specials, which I didn't expect the chef to make as it was only 10.30am but he happily obliged. The coffee is very good and the cake is heavenly! The ladies who make it are very clever! Needless to say, we will be back soon....

Delicious food and excellent service

Fantastic sausage rolls and cakes make this a great stop on a bike ride. My only gripe was that the staff weren't particularly welcoming. It does seem to get busy so I think they had their hands full. Overall, well worth a visit.

Wonderful place, friendly staff, great coffee, glorious food with the FEB to die for!!

Ordered 2 coffees and sandwiches. Sandwiches were really nice, the coffees were terrible. Both black coffees tasted off. I raised this with member of staff and then the manager, who advised the coffee beans are fresh. My friend and I left our coffees. On the way home I googled and learnt that the coffees were likely over extracted and:or water wrong temperature as the coffees were bitter and cloudy. We left having paid for coffees we didn’t drink, was made to feel uncomfortable for complaining, without even an offer to re-make. Poor customer service.

Always a pleasure to go the Bumblebee Cafe. Owners and staff always very polite and friendly. Food, coffee and tea delicious. Cannot fault it and would highly recommend it.

Had a great coffee after our afternoon dog walk, always great service, many thanks

Delicious coffee, hot chocolate and marmalade cake today. I thoroughly recommend The Bumblebee Cafe.

Decent baguette and lukewarm coffee. The owner is a v passive aggressive chap who was incredibly hostile to a member of our walking group who admittedly joined us briefly with her takeaway coffee. It was the manner and approach which shocked us, in telling her to move on. Customer relations erm, a weak point.

Good place to stop whether you're walking cycling or in a car. Good sausage sandwich too. Expect delays when they are busy and more friendly and smiley 😀🌞😀

Arrived at this cafe at 8.55 am this morning, the door was open to be met with a very rude chef who basically told us to go away as we are not open and to come back at 9am a mere five minutes!! Maybe you should try leaving the door bolted until you are open and also try being more polite to your customers who keep you in business. Wont be returning!!!

Superb breakfast, good price and very friendly atmosphere. Thank-you the Bumblebee Cafe in the beautiful Hampshire village of Rowlands Castle near Havant.

Lovely comfortable homely atmosphere good food and friendly staff.

Follow Mr & Mrs R on TikTok. Thank you bumblebee cafe of our delicious coffee and walnut cake. Hope to be back to enjoy a lunch with you. 👍🐝🍰

Really super afternoon tea! Lovely attentive staff and very fresh delicious sandwiches and so many cakes.

Excellent Sunday morning breakfast. Quite busy so waiting times wete longer than you would like, however the did warn us beforehand. Very pleasant place to sit outside and enjoy the sun.

Loved it ,will definitely go back and definitely recommend 👌

Lovely place in Rowlands Castle

I was treated to an afternoon birthday cream tea at Bumblebee Cafe by my daughter & granddaughter and what a treat it was too. Highly recommend and 100% will be back for other visits. A right little gem in Rowlands Castle

Dropped in for lunch, all freshly made and really good, will definitely be going again

What a lovely little Gem 💎 of a place to eat 😊 and chat Great service, homemade cakes and food, with a lovely place to sit chat in the Sunshine with spotlessly clean toilets which are always a good sign This place is now far better than M&S to visit for cake and a chat The only downside is the local parking 🅿️ is poor but this is the same as everywhere now XXXXX The person who makes the cakes 🎂 needs a Six Star's review they are all lovely XXXXX

The afternoon tea was amazing. Superb selection of fresh sandwiches, which were delicious. Good variety of cakes. The staff were friendly and polite. Lovely atmosphere and nice decor. Would definitely go again.

Been using this cafe for a long time and have always found the food very good and have never had a bad meal and the dogs are always welcomed even having a treat jar for them also found the owners and staff very friendly this cafe is in a small village and I have seen them go out of their way to help people that come in we always have a chat and a laugh with them so people just be careful what reviews you give as you can ruin their business

If you like maps you will love this place, if you don't you will still love it.

Delightful cafe in Rowlands Castle, with a great breakfast and lunchtime menu. We had a spot of lunch here, with very generous portions. Jacket potato was tasty and good value. Friendly and attentive service. We will be back!

Excellent service and excellent food.situated in the heart of the village with a good range of dishes to suite most needs. Fabulous cake selection too. A nice chai latte and good coffee

Visited on 10th September which was a hot day however, the cafe was like an oven! Breakfast was served on a very small plate which made eating difficult. The butter portions provided for the toast were actually liquid!!! Maybe I'll come back on an icy cold day.

Lovely small quirky cafe in a beautiful village serving delicious brunch. The servings are generous with interesting choices on the menu. Would recommend booking, although they were able to seat 9 of us on different tables without a booking and seems to be popular on a sunday when we visited.

My dad and I visited today for the deluxe afternoon tea. Wow, what can I say! Not only was everything sublimely tasty (made by Kate from the National Bakery School) but oh my goodness the attention to detail! The proper china, the palette cleanser, the kirsch cream with the scones, the lemon slices for the tea! Even the toilets were lovely!! Plus the staff are so friendly and welcoming, they let us take our time enjoying the experience but checked in throughout, kept our water chilled and our tea topped up. Couldn't recommend it more and I will definitely be back!

My dad and I visited today for the deluxe afternoon tea. Wow, what can I say! Not only was everything sublimely tasty (made by Kate from the National Bakery School) but oh my goodness the attention to detail! The proper china, the palette cleanser, the kirsch cream with the scones, the lemon slices for the tea! Even the toilets were lovely!! Plus the staff are so friendly and welcoming, they let us take our time enjoying the experience but checked in throughout, kept our water chilled and our tea topped up. Couldn't recommend it more and I will definitely be back!

Great place for a coffee & cake

I love this cafe and recommend it to everyone I know. The staff are polite friendly and helpful. The food is amazing, and being gluten free I have so much choice and always get a cake away before I leave.

After being regular customers for a while, my Husband popped in to grab 2 coffees at around 3:45pm today, while I waited outside with our dogs. We didn’t realise they closed at 4. My Husband was met with what felt with contempt and disdain that we turned up so late, 15 mins before they closed, for a coffee, nothing else.The owner (we assume) was quite rude. We won’t be back unfortunately.

Lovely find, great food and service.

Everything about the Bumblebee Cafe is great….we love it here! Delicious food, excellent coffee, nice selection of teas, etc. and lovely friendly service. You can sit outside very comfortably in most weather. Big parasols, cushions, blankets. Inside there’s a choice of sofas with low tables…or dining seating if you prefer.

Nice bacon roll and cup of tea. Reasonably priced. Pleasant & Polite staff. Warm and homely surroundings.

What a beautiful place. We visited with my elderly mother in law and she was enthralled withe decor and the menu. Being gluten free I found the menu choice for myself impressive and the food was delicious. There were homemade cakes avalible that were not overpriced and very delicious so a cake away was the order of the day and I throughly enjoyed my coffee and walnut. This is a popular stop off for cyclist with places to leave your bikes and the staff are friendly and very helpful.

Group of 8 of us visited after our walk. We all had coffee or tea and cake. Our friend that must have gluten free food and normally only has a choice of brownie or nothing was very happy with the choice of banana cake that looked like a scrumptious cake (rather than a boring loaf) or lemon drizzle. Two others of our group also had it and said it was delicious. My rhubarb and ginger crumble cake was also great and very gingery. The afternoon tea looked very tempting and so did the specials.

Fabulous afternoon tea, just amazing scrumptious food and wonderful service.

Fantastic food and friendly and efficient service. Today we had the sausage sandwich each followed by a slice of homemade cake. Everything we had was delicious.

Perfect service and the most tasty salad I have ever eaten. Strawberry and walnut with feta. Always been my favourite cafe and I go at least once a month for coffee. After this experience I will definitely eat there more often.

Very clean and very friendly. Such a cute place

Had Afternoon Tea last weekend as a birthday treat. There was so much food we had to take doggy bags home. The sandwiches were the freshest we have had for an Afternoon Tea and we have had a fair few between us. Great selection of sweet treats and tops ups for tea and coffee. The staff were lovely and made sure we had everything we needed. Could not recommend this enough. Five stars!

Lovely little find, excellent customer service from Stuart.

Simply the best sausage and egg sandwich in the entire world … according to me and my dog!

Lovely food & cakes! Very nice welcoming staff & dog friendly too!

A very good place to relax! Thanks!

Had a snack lunch after a 2.5hr walk. Enjoyed my salmon and cream cheese sandwich.

This is my local cafe and I'm so lucky to have it walking distance from my house... I took my best friend here for lunch yesterday.we decided to have the strawberry, walnut and feta salad- Words CANNOT DO JUSTICE!! IT WAS THE BEST SALAD WEVE EVER HAD! I am a complete foodie, so trust me! Mmmmm yummmmmm!!

Disappointed with the amount of time you have to wait for food. Even though we ordered before other people it seems they cooked the full breakfasts for those people before our items , egg on toast and a sausage bap! It surely should be in the order you come in! Won't be returning in a hurry or recommending it, unless you are prepared for a long wait 😩 In respose to your reply, it does not explain while people who came in behind me got served 1st . My review was asked for and i answered it honestly. 9.15 am is when we came in and waited more than half hour for food , i did question had we been forgotten!

Very pretty places to go to , food was ok sat in doors but a little Awkward as staff were standing there watching, looks like it gets very busy.

A great place to stop for coffee, cake or a meal at the end of middle of a bike ride. Geared up for cyclists and sometimes they have the bike rack outside.

Great food, coffee ☕️ and staff

My friend and I stopped here for lunch whilst cycling to Chichester. Luckily, the weather was dry but a little chilly. We were able to sit outside, which was nice. I ordered a sausage sandwich, and within a very short time, the food arrived. The sandwich was huge and delicious, and full of quality sausage supplied by a local butcher. Unfortunately, the calories worked off during the journey to Rowlands Castle were lost. I recommend the sausage sandwich, especially if you like decent sausages.