The Castle Cafe in Shropshire

We called in for lunch on a damp and miserable Wednesday. Our mood was totally lifted by our visit to Chapter 66 cafe in Ludlow Castle. The drinks were great and the food was totally delicious. We shall certainly visit here again soon.

This is a hidden gem for food and coffee in Ludlow. We enjoyed a wonderful lunch sitting outside overlooking the castle grounds. Our go to. Highly recommended.

Staff were polite and friendly. Latte was one of the best coffees I've had, so creamy and not at all bitter. Shared a brownie as ordered for my son and it was huge. I think it had an upperclass vibe going on which I don't think is needed during the day as a cafe but obviously would suit the evening as a restaurant. Price seemed about right. Would use again.

Nice outside area to sit in. Good service. Enjoyed the decaf coffee, wasn’t bitter as can sometimes be. The cakes are ok.

It was a friend’s 80th Birthday and we sat down for lunch for 20 or more, last week. I must say, our lunch was wonderful. The choice of food had been made before, but it really was beautiful, with everybody saying how much they were enjoying it. My steak was one of the best I have ever had, served sliced and cooked to perfection, seared on the outside and pink in the middle. Just how I love it! After our delightful meal, we had coffee outside, but we couldn’t stay long, as we had come from a funeral before and were returning for the wake after. I have been often to here as a cafe, but to have such a good meal was a wonderful surprise. No, not really a surprise, as the food here is wonderful. We will definitely book for one of the evening dinners in the future. Thank you guys for proving that there is another great place to feed two fussy folks who love their food and love cooking.

There were no listed vegan choices on the menu. When the waitress came over, I asked her! She told me that they could probably make me something but everything contained oil. I told her vegans can consume oil! It’s a shame that someone working in the food industry does not understand what veganism is! She had a really judgemental attitude! When i said, ‘Never mind, I’ll try somewhere else’ her retort was, you’ll not find many places in Ludlow (that sell vegan food)’. Luckily I live in Ludlow so know this not to be true. I’m shocked because I have been to this restaurant many times before and there have been vegan choices! THIS IS THE 21st Century! This is a backwards step! I’d suggest a change in staff too! This woman’s attitude was appalling!

We recently attended a 4 course dinner and wine flight event which was exceptional. The ambience, service, presentation and quality of the offer was superb. One of the best dining experiences in Ludlow in recent memory. This eatery has been flying below the Ludlow radar for some time now. This is hopefully about to change.

This was to be a lunchtime birthday treat given to me by my daughter. As so as we entered the castle area for lunch we were greeted by a lovely young man only to have a grumpy woman come out from clearing tables to scold him for taking in more customers for lunch as the kitchen couldn’t cope. We went out side where we were expecting huge swaths of hungry customers only to see three tables occupied. There was only one table occupied inside. Taking note of the grumpy woman and being a party of four, we order three scones, chocolate brownie & a cookie plus drinks. The young gentleman came out to apologise as there were only two scones left. Not problem so ordered spiced apple cake and asked if I could have cream with the cake, the answer was no because it wasn’t part of the menu. Two scones appeared with two pots of cream and the drinks only for us to be told we would have to wait quite a while as the chief was too busy to cut the apple cake. So I told the young gentleman to change the order if it was troublesome. A brownie was delivered instead of the apple cake however we had to ask for knifes and the children’s cookie & brownie to be delivered as this had been forgotten. I am local and run my own business in the centre of Ludlow and truly this is not the way to greet and serve customers.

Five of us had an excellent day in Ludlow including visiting the amazing castle with its spectacular views and the Green Festival event in the main market square. We planned to finish our castle visit with some refreshments at the Castle’s Café, Chapter 66 but to no avail. There were only a few cake items available on the menu. We agreed with the male barista to have coffees in the garden and buy sandwiches in Castle Square. When we returned with the sandwiches, we were refused coffees to drink with our sandwiches, despite all but one table being unoccupied. Chapter 66 seems unaware of hospitality and customer service.

We've now been several times for lunch and really had excellent service and beautifully served food that tasted delicious. Smoked mackerel paté was really tasty and the soups are always delicious. Now called "Chapter 66", and menu is getting more adventurous every week. Would definitely recommend.

If in Ludlow eating in the castle is a must . The food is good and sitting outside on the castle grounds to eat it a must do

A beautiful position largely wasted. If sitting outside, you are led through some unused rooms into the external area. Inside, the tables are scattered around various odd cramped positions. The menu is not exciting. This place needs some positive professional management.

This is the place to have your Lulow snack You can sit outside in the castle grounds and enjoy an hour eating and dreaming of the king Arthur who never made it to his coronation

Took 15 minutes to get us seated and then when we finally got a table the lady served 3 couples that came in after us before serving me and my wife. Service was absolutely shocking. When we eventually finished I was told to go inside and pay but for some reason we got followed and got the feeling they didn’t trust us and no idea why???? Felt so uncomfortable start to finish.

Having passed a lot of cafes in Ludlow who were all serving food and breakfast, we decided to go to castle cafe. Time 12.30 they stopped serving breakfast and do not start lunch until 12.00. We had coffee and left. We were asked how it was and told the very unprofessional ilk at the till who was male. That we found it odd regarding food times. He stated it was normal practice in hospital these days. Hospitality you have lost it. Its called Catering you cater for the need of your customers if you cannot see that you should work elsewhere. On the bright side the two lady staff members were really nice. So I suggest you go to another cafe in Ludlow where they cater for your needs and will be very glad of your custom. As a trained Chef I find his attitude very rude and his approach to customers rude.

We booked to go with our friends to celebrate their wedding anniversary. Communication beforehand was easy and Damien did us his taster menu (even though this wasn’t on the menu that night). It was very very good indeed. At at £44/head for 5 courses it was very good value indeed. Damien came out to accept the plaudits and chat. This place is a hidden gem. Best compliment I can give: we booked to return on the 5th November.

The food served was excellent and the service was first class, I can highly recommend the Ham & Devilled Egg Sandwich, first class!!

We were offered choice of inside or outside and chose outside. Lovely view towards the castle. Service throughout was prompt and friendly. Not a big menu but food obviously prepared to order. We opted for the fish. The menu said skate but we were actually offered bream at a higher price. Beautifully cooked and well presented. Desserts were above average. Overall, an excellent lunch.

We were taken outside to a table by who we assumed was the manger. He didn’t ask if we wanted to sit outside or inside. It was a lovely sunny day but we had a baby with us and there were quiet a few wasps around. So we asked another staff member if we could move inside. I used the baby changing facilities while there and strapped my baby on the changing table, but then she rolled over and the buckle came undone and I was able to catch her before she fell off! I realised that the changing table strap was broken! The plastic buckle bit was broken and had been tied back on to the strap. I advised the gentleman who seated us when we arrived about this and that if I hadn’t seen what was about to happened my baby she would have ended up on the floor. He did apologise but he didn’t sound very sincere or bothered about this and didn’t look me in the eye to apologise and then walked away from the conversation! I’m not confident that it will get fixed so be cautious and don’t trust the strap on this table!

We went for a light bite at lunchtime- requested a table outside and chose one that was shaded. Michael the waiter was polite, helpful and courteous and friendly. My wife had a lovely goats cheese salad which was served warm and rather lovely. I had a ham sandwich with devilled egg. We were expecting dainty small portions, however the food was good quality and a reasonable portion size. The outside area was clean and tidy, calm and a nice outlook towards the castle.

We had lunch at the Castle Cafe and thoroughly enjoyed the experience, staff, ambiance, cooking - all four dishes were excellent. Excited to see that the restaurant was open some evenings and promptly booked to return during our holiday. Dinner was equally good. We had attentive and friendly service, a really interesting menu and the dishes themselves were superb. My halibut was beautifully cooked and served, and the pork dish was also reportedly excellent. As another reviewer has said, a hidden gem. Thoroughly recommended, and I'd love to stay there, too. Thanks again to the team at The Castle Cafe who are doing an excellent job.