'The Cafe' in Exeter - Phone Number, Reservations, Reviews

Lovely welcome this morning for a couple of tired cyclists. Been visiting here for years and highly recommended.

Popped in on our way to the motorway to come home to the Midlands. Ordered the cream tea, freshest scones we've had all week. The staff, who were all lovely, despite being close to closing time, also gave us a little something to take on our journey home just in case we got peckish. Thanks all

The cakes are dry and not fresh. The service was appalling : the waitress slammed down the tea things without a bye or leave very rudely. We were nt told the cafe was closing so the 4 members of staff just started cleaning up around us slamming furniture and generally making us feel very uncomfortable …. Without ever saying they were closing . There is no management for customers here the kids run the show and god help You if u want service or just plain politeness : worst cafe I have ever been too / never again. Maybe the owner could take note .

I was absolutely shattered so we needed somewhere to rest and hydrate and chose this place because we'd had a great experience previously. We ordered and the staff member was helpful and polite, however from there on it went downhill. The tea, cakes and coke were slammed down on ghd table,l. I had a warm coke and a hot glass to pour it into. We didn't realise they were closing because we were on the sofa up some stairs and someone came and started clearing out table before we'd finished. I had to grab my nearly full coke can back. Instead of explaining they were closing up, the staff were rude and impolite, sullen and bad tempered. We will not be returning. Such a shame!

This was our first visit to The Cafe in Topsham and we weren’t overly impressed. We ordered cake and a pot of tea and sat down outside at the back in the sun. The cake was very nice indeed but when I poured out the tea it was a very weak, it would have been nice if they told us to let it brew for a bit first. It was lovely to hear the quietness whilst relaxing out there until someone came out and decided to collect tidy up. They kept waking around clearing the tables and all I could focus on was them treading on the loose stones, it was blinking annoying to say the least as they seem to take forever to finish. Then we decided to leave but make use of the toilet first, it would have been nice if they put some more soap out as there was hardly any left. The only real positive was the great selection of cakes. Will we go back people might ask, the answer is probably not!

Lovely Café. Good Selection of homemade food 🥪🫔🥗🍝 and Cakes 🍰🧁🍧🍨. The Service is just as Good. All Nice and Clean with the Tables all disenfected after use. Toilet was also nice and clean.👍👍. Not forgetting Tea 🫖 Coffee ☕ and a fine selection of cold drinks. 😋😋

Lovely place for a brew and chatter. Cakes are delicious.

Good selection of Gluten Free cakes and lovely coffee.

Friendly staff, nice scones. Will return

Very nice here, coffee good and lots of scrummy cakes. I enjoyed a ham and cheese toasty with apricot chutney. Cheerful staff and safe distanceing. Half English breakfast pictured.

I visited 'The Cafe' today for a lunch date with my friend. Wonderful atmosphere, service was fast, food delicious, and so many cake options I had to choose a selection to takeaway!

Great place for a quick coffee or a meal.

They serve delicious, traditional pastries. The coffee was as good as in other places. It is an independent coffee shop.

The breakfast we had was lovely but sadly it took nearly 30 minutes to arrive. There was only one other table having cooked food and any others just having cake or scones. This sadly is not the first occasion.

What a fabulous place. I had a black coffee with one of their wonderful Bakewell Tarts and it was delicious. I often find coffee too strong for me but this was perfect and came with a little jug of water. The staff were attentive and told me they were closing at 4.15pm. No problem for me and I even came away with a few complementary scones which have been delicious. Everything is home made and its an independent business. So I'm spreading the word. Can't wait to try the home made soup.

Bought four cakes costing almost £14. All of us said they were very dry, even the carrot cake which should be moist. Disappointing for the price. However the service was ok though.

Had a lovely cream Tea. Fruit scones were delicious. Beautiful cafe. Amazing cakes. Dog friendly. Very large cafe..large room and two smaller side rooms.. Highly recommend

We went for lunch on Wednesday, (the first back after xmas and boxing day) My 76 year old mum had a jacket potato with mushrooms for lunch. A few hours later she was terrible sick. This was the only meal she had all day. I have been attempting to call The Cafe all day today but know one answers the phone. so I have no other way to let them know but on here. It is the first time this has happened so very disappointed.

We dropped in for a full English breakfast a few days ago, what a delight!! Everything was beautifully cooked and the staff were lovely. This cafe is a gem, thank you 😁

Lovely cafe, great food. Did have to wait to be seated as it was busy.

The best toasted tea cakes ever

Lovely place with wide choice of food and drinks. Excellent (espresso) macchiato. Nice staff, serving to table. Their Nottingham gingerbread cake is delicious. A must-have.

This Cafe is a life saver during off season visits. Cheerful staff and great food, including gluten free opt

We popped in for morning coffee, but couldn't resist the cakes on offer. They offer a huge range of cakes us scones along side their menu. I even had a choice of gf cakes,I chose the Blueberry and Almond polenta cake, it was delicious and moist . It was busy even on a Monday morning .

Good food and friendly staff, but part of our order was forgotten and the service was slow.

Have put terrible, but in all honestly didn’t get a chance … you stops serving at 16:15 and closes the doors at 16:30. Surely that’s about tea time. The amount of business you must turn away. Came especially to have a tea and a tea cake. Paid £3.40 for parking and then to be told rudely at the door that you were closing…. We won’t come back!!

Funnily enough, just like the below review. Went in on a Friday afternoon, after lunch rush (must have been 2.30-3.00 ish) No greeting at the door by the lady near the till, or signage to say ‘wait to be seated/find a seat’. After a few moments the barista turned to see us, and said to grab a table, gesturing to the back section by the kitchen. We went to sit down, looked at menu’s, and decided within a couple minutes what we wanted. Happily chatted amongst ourselves for about 10 minutes, watching 4 different staff members make their way from the kitchen, to the front, and back again. All of these staff kept their heads down, clearly set on a goal, a shame that goal wasn’t serving customers. After another few minutes of frustration, more FOH making their way to and from the kitchen, never looking at any of the customers or tables, we decided to leave. I get when the cafe is busy, and there was a queue of around 3 groups waiting to pay at the till, but that still only involves 1 person to take payment. Someone should be in each section, constantly floating to clear tables, take orders, top up drinks etc. Its not like there wasn’t enough staff to go around. Again, there must have been 4 different FOH staff, and from what I could see, another 3 in the kitchen/potwash.

If you're looking for a cafe, bite to eat, light snacks and drinks, look no further. Most excellent small cafe in the village! Yes it's a tea room, but an exceptional one. Recommend the tea cakes, caramel tart with extra clotted cream 🍦 and lots of other great cakes. Nice staff. The only improvement I'd recommend is if possible, add another toilet! Queueing in the restaurant for only one seat isn't cool.

What a gem of a place to drop into. Welcoming ambiance, wonderful staff, pleasent and polite. Food we chose was excellent. A great and varied choice, catering for vegetarian, vegan and gluten & dairy intolerance also catered for.

We had a lovely lunch today. Very tasty food and quick service. Staff were very friendly.

Just wanted a coffee but we were told to sit at a table and our order would be taken. We waited 10 minutes with staff walking past our table but nobody took our order. We left without ordering and nobody even noticed as we walked out. Went up the road to Sarah's cafe, which was lovely - great coffee and pleasant service.

A brilliant little cafe with an outside seating area. This is what England is all about at its best.

They have a lovely selection of cakes and beautiful smoothies. The tables are a good size and the garden is nice. We did think it was a bit expensive but not enough to stop us going back

I visited this place with a friend.. She comes here quite often and recommended that we go in... I had a cappuccino and a slice of 🥕 cake....It was so yummy 😋. Loved it, so delicious. A little expensive, but hey, why not give yourself or a friend, a treat...

I know that everyone has experienced increases in costs but a soup to-go with bread was £3.50 two months ago, now it is £5.25 - a 50% price increase! I find it hard to understand that this level of increase can be justified on a cost basis, and this just smells of profitering and taking advantage of the current inflation situation.

Very pricey for what you get. I thought my sandwich was going to be lovely thick cut farmhouse bread. Instead it was Warburton's bread. Should have saved my £8.75 and made a sandwich at home ☹️ Not very accessible as huge step to get in and service was slow. Such a shame as I used to love visiting but cannot justify the price.

Lovely welcome, good coffee and cake, not in a hurry to move us on!

Well looked after by the young ladies and Emma was on hand to clear away dirty dishes.Lovely tea and the Teacake was very very nice. Quintessential England is Topsham and sat in the tea garden here in the warm sunshine was lovely.

A very disappointing visit to The Cafe today (Saturday). It was extremely shabby and grubby and staffed entirely (front of house, at least) by scruffy teenagers. The service was slow and when I complained at the till that my husband didn’t receive all of his order, the girl just took off some money, with no apology. The food itself was good, however it is not cheap place to eat. I wouldn’t be writing this review, if the service, cleanliness and ambience were good. I don’t believe you can just charge what you like just because it’s Topsham. Unfortunately, we won’t be eating there again.

Negative experience today at the cafe. Waited ages for my order to be taken whilst the serving staff were huddled around chatting together. Inappropriate music playing which wasn't at all relaxing. Not the place i am used to.poor

Fresh delicious scones with plenty of cream and jam. Lovely staff. Would go again in a flash.

One of our favourite places for lunch or tea and cake

Not to bad. Quite a nice coffee shop

A lovely, busy café that draws you in with its great selection of cakes! All the staff were cheerful, efficient and helpful.

Whilst we were in Topsham we found this little cafe for our lunch stop. It certainly seems popular as at first it appeared to be full but we were shown to a table in a second room. Service was good as was the food, we had the excellent soup of the day which came with equally delicious homemade soda bread and very good coffee. Prices are reasonable and atmosphere was good.

The cakes are absolutely amazing!

Thank goodness we found and excellent cup of coffee today. Always a challenge. Good coffee and gorgeous looking cakes. I wish I lived next door.

Have eaten here several times over the years and always reasonably satisfied. However have just had my second bad experience. Time before last was overcharged by approximately £7, but didn't realise until I got a long way down the road in Topsham. Walked back and was given a refund with hardly an apology. Have just eaten there again with two friends. Parked car for an hour in the high street nearby. Thought it would be enough time to have a quick snack. But after a long wait, still waiting for our order to be taken. Meanwhile three other tables who arrived after us had been served. After attempting to attract some attention from a waitress without success, walked to the counter and asked, "please take our order " Forty five minutes later our food eventually arrives, coffees, tea had arrived previously, mine was not very hot ! At least one of the other tables had finished their meal and the other two tables almost. By now, time to move the car, in case of a fine, before starting on the meal. Left to move the car. Returned and my meal had been returned to the kitchen to keep warm. Again had to visit the counter to ask for my meal to be returned. By this time very hungry, however meal was not that warm, but reluctantly decided to eat it. Not pleasant, bacon was over cooked and hard, also very salty ! My friends had long finished their meals. By this time I just wanted to get out of a totally unsatisfactory experience. The waitress collected the plates and made a statement " everything alright " Well no actually, explained why, " oh sorry about that " I might as well have not bothered explaining ! Paid the bill at the counter, and said that we would not be returning. Reply " no problem " Conclusion, inexperience staff, not managed properly, poor quality food ( mine ) No proper apologies and my day was ruined with a totally poor experience. We will never enter the place again. We will spend our money elsewhere in the town maybe. The Cafe does not deserve our business ! Also as an add on, parking in Topsham is a nightmare !

Excellent fresh food, lovely homely place with friendly staff

Lovely hot chocolate and a slice of cake on a sunny Sunday afternoon. Lots of options. Will have to go back to try other cakes.

Lovely coffee shop, very busy but well staffed and efficient and lots of books which the little ones enjoyed reading. As visitors I'd certainly recommend a cream tea or lunch. We spent a long time here with family members.

Yet another great dining experience at the river cottage canteen😃👍

Cakes and coffee all enjoyed tremendously.

Speedy friendly service. And very good value. Just what we needed today

Lovely cakes and coffee, friendly staff and gluten free food available.

Very nice cafe with good though a bit expensive food. Staff were friendly and efficient

Always great, lovely staff great home cooking and dog friendly

Great breakfast menu ( apparently served all day ) , generous sized coffees and high ceilings . Overall the cafe is spacious with large tables , and a cosy snug at the back. Excellent range of tasty cakes too !

A very tasty bacon, mushroom and cheese baguette for lunch today and a decent pot of tea. Plenty of lovely staff on duty so not long to wait.

Very noisy. Unhelpful older staff, too lazy to pass the right cups/plates to each of us. Awful-tasting coffee but croissants were good. Disappointing overall and not worth visiting.

Had a lovely cream tea 😁 cream first of course 👍

Good Coffee, lovely homemade cakes

Too noisy for my taste. There are no soft furnishings inside, just wooden floors and painted brick walls. No views. Friendly staff, but not somewhere I'd choose to again.

We love this cafe.! We first came 8 years ago and it is still excellent. Delicious cakes and scones. Lovely lunch options. Dogs welcome.

just visited topsham cafe yesterday for lunch although they were extremely busy staff found us a table food was worth the wait amazing tart and toasties followed by cake and coffee , now i understand why people queue here the only downside is only one toilet so there was a queue but well worth a visit if your in topsham

Two of us chose items on the menu with Kenniford sausages - well known premium and award winning sausages. When the all day breakfast and Bubble and squeak arrived it was clear that sausages were cheap supermarket sausages. I questioned this, and was then told the Kenniford sausages had not been delivered. The cafe should have taken them of the menu, but instead chose not to, and did not inform us. This feels like fraud to me - it felt like the cafe was stealing from me. Very poor. I was offered a pound off a £23 meal which kind of made it worse. I also feel a bit bad for Kenniford- cheap sausages were being passed off as theirs. I would not recommend nor return to a restaurant that behaves like this.

Very busy when we popped in for coffee on a bright sunny Saturday morning, had to wait a couple of minutes, but then got a table in the back. Coffe good, staff friendly.

I've been here before, and it's good food, pricey but good. Last visit, we ordered our food and waited patiently for it to arrive, people who ordered before us got their food quicker than us, 30 minutes gone, said to the waitress "where's our food and drink?" "Let me go find out" 15 minutes pass...... Still nothing. Went out to find out what was happening, nothing was happening.... No order was taken...... No action was taken...... No apologies. We wasted nearly an hour of our lives there. I'll never go back again..... Shame... Because it was really good one day in the past.

Disappointing latté, very little creme, far too hot for coffee and the only taste was a nasty after-taste, possibly due to the milk being nuked! Only took three sips then left the rest. Paid at the till, no questions from the serving person as to how our coffee and cake had been the service was the opposite of the coffee, cold. The lack of interaction between customer and service was lamentable. Therefore I will vote with my feet, and wallet, and go elsewhere for my elevenses!

Stopped for a coffee (hot chocolate) and a cake.. (banana and walnut, and a chocolate brownie) The cakes were incredibly dry, and almost inedible, but the hot chocolate was alright. Over priced for what it was.

This cafe is wonderful, lovely friendly staff and ample seating inside and out. The other afternoon we had a cream tea which was gorgeous and this morning we went back for a full breakfast, it was amazing, in particular the bacon, which was just delicious. My diet starts next week when I'm (sadly) back home.😊 Highly recommended !

Absolutely GREAT place for food & a lovely menu too. Staff are welcoming & passionate about the food they serve - they just want you to enjoy it! Yummy cakes, including gluten free. A little gem

Good selection of cakes and cooked food .

Its worth diverting when in the area to support this superb independent cafe. Breakfasts, coffee and cake, or lunch are all catered for. with friendly efficient service and smiling staff. Some things are a bit pricey, but these are hard times for small businesses, so I'm content to pay a bit more for good quality fresh food.

We stopped for lunch at a delightful building with a high roof called The Cafe. Our original plan was for my husband to have the Cream Tea (fruit scones with cream and jam) and I to have the Savoury Tea (cheese scones with cheese and chutney). However, they had run out of cheese scones, so I changed my plans and ended up with something even better. My husband had his tasty Cream Tea, which he says was delicious, the cream was fresh and the scones very fruity. He was very pleased. I opted for a goat's cheese and bacon salad, thinking the cheese and bacon would be broken up and sprinkled through the salad. Nothing like it, this was a whole warmed cheese with lovely strips of bacon over it served with a salad, it was amazingly delicious, but not what even I would call a light lunch! Thankfully, I’m a bit greedy, so eat every bit of it with delight. We really loved our meal and cups of tea.

Near closing time, granted. Was told no hot food only cake, as we got to the counter, but we figured we'd just give it try, never been here before. But it was a shame to feel so unwelcomed, ordered and the server who delivered coffee and cake to the table was excellent. Come near to closing I hear a customer next to us ask when they close (as chairs were being placed on tables around people as they sat drinking their coffee!) and the lady abruptly said "NOW" ! Wow! never felt so ushered out so rudely, literally clearing plates and cups as each of us finished with them rather than wait (as you should) for the whole table to be finished! It was a shame as the cakes were delicious and would have loved to try something else from the menu. Think someone forgot their manners today and a reminder that customers buying cake and coffee is what makes your business a business!! Close earlier if you need the door to be shut on time so that you can! A little more friendliness wouldn't go a miss!

Recently visited and had an outstanding lunch. I had the barley salad with halloumi special and it was amazing. My partner had a jacket potato and said its one of the best she's ever had! Great little place with friendly staff and a fantastic selection of food and cakes.

Excellent venue., clean and the Jacket Potato with Tuna was scrumptious. Staff were very hospitable and I would strongly recommend this Cafe for your dunning . Sit in the main hall to sample the local atmosphere and enjoy the food

Went with a friend for the first time and had absolutely delicious fry up, very good price and loved the cafe vibe. Only downside to me was that it felt a bit town halley but not enough to put me off! Delicious food, great vibe...

Not great supposed to be a luxury milkshake but was average and the carrot cake was tasteless

We had lunch at The Cafe today. 16.7.22. My husband had a cheese and ham sandwich on white bread and I had a ham sandwich on granary, both with peach chutney. The bread was dry, the ham was tasteless and they didn't both to put...

Table situated right next to the toilets which was not a pleasant experience. We ordered a sausage sandwich with granary bread . The sandwich arrived the bread was a cheap sliced brown bread and the sausages were horrible. It cost £6.95 absolute rip off . Would definitely avoid this place .

Called in for coffee and gluten free cake this afternoon. Lots of choice of cakes - labelled vegan, gluten free plus regular cakes and bakes. Warm welcome and shown to table. Was very busy. Order taken quickly by pleasant staff. Ordered two gluten free cakes....

Nice place for a quick bite and service excellent.

What a wonderful experience, we had lunch. Good place for children and welcomes dogs (with well behaved owners!)

I was more than happy, as I have a dairy intolerance and they made lots of cakes without it, and tasted delicious. Nice staff also. My family live in Topsham and I visit often, so I always go here when I'm down that way.

My favourite place for a fabulous full English, especially the fried bread! Highly recommend.

myself and my wife visited the café for an afternoon tea and cake stop whilst doing a walk from Exmouth really friendly staff service was quick and efficient and the food was really good as we are both visually impaired they were very helpful as well highly recommended

First rate coffee and excellent cafe, polite and friendly service. Back again excellent tea and cake, and excellent service.

Love it here....service is efficient and courteous....food/drink Iis reliably good

Absolutely love this place. Great food, great service. Friendly happy staff.

A great place for coffee and cake, the cake selection is excellent and the portion sizes are significant.

We had coffees a paying and an apple crumble cake. Large selection of cakes to eat in take out

Nice breakfast but service not great. Didn't once check if we wanted anything else eg the toast that was included in the breakfast or a drink.

Fabulous Full English, which comes with a round of toast to end. Friendly staff and cakes are yummy. Thank you so much! Will be returning 😊

Delicious cakes. Warm and worth a visit.

Lovely tea room. Scones are great. Decent cappuccino

Lovely breakfast & friendly staff. Went back for tea & cake in the afternoon. All excellent.

Beautiful service and food but very noisy could do with another toilet

Nice enough. Coffee was warm not hot. Breakfast was nice. Service was slow and not really welcoming. Appreciate all hospitality businesses are struggling for staff so everyone under pressure.