The Elms Cafe in Southend-on-Sea

Lovely atmosphere..good quality food..excellent service.couldnt fault in any way..staff great..especially Lisa who was top class waitress with personality to match...great night.

I wasn’t going to write this review as I appreciate a negative review can really affect a small independent business like this, but after reading the other negative reviews it sounds like my experience wasn’t an isolated incident so the owner/manager needs to take notice. When I walked in there was a sign saying “please wait to be seated” but no one around. I waited a good 5 minutes before a young girl came to the counter and said very condescendingly “oh, just a table for one?” One of the main reasons I had decided to come here was because of a sign out the front advertising milkshakes. I asked what flavours they had but was told “no we only do them in summer.” Okay then. False advertising. I then noticed the specials board which advertised the cake of the day as white chocolate fudge cake. Thinking that sounded great I asked for that. “No we don’t have that” I was told. Okay then. More false advertising. At this point I wanted to say “you know what, I’ll just go then” but I felt awkward so asked what selection of cakes they did have. Victoria sponge, lemon drizzle, apple crumble.... what a basic selection! No carrot cake, no red velvet, and no chocolate. I decided to go for the coffee and walnut. When it came time to pay, I realised I only had about £3 in change but I had my debit card and 2 credit cards on me and clearly wasn’t trying to steal a slice of cake. I thought a slice of cake couldn’t possibly be more than £3 anyway, especially as Maxwell’s Cafe over the road does delicious cakes for £2 a slice. Wrong. £3.50 for a slice of cake. The minimum for card payments is £5, which is understandable. But my god the look the woman gave me when I asked if there’s a cash machine nearby. She made me feel like a criminal! She was so rude and made the situation unbearably awkward. I was standing there with my purse, obviously not trying to dine and dash. I even said to her “look I’ll just pay you £5 for the cake”. I felt so humiliated. I was made to feel absolutely awful from the moment I walked in until the moment I walked out. It’s such a shame as I had been thinking about coming for afternoon tea with friends here but I won’t be stepping foot in here again. Not after being treated like that.

Excellent full english breakfast. Great service and good value for money for families, highly recommended Services was great, the manager Kelly was great in accomodating in one table my large family and friends. Definetely will come back. Thank you

Food soo good, affordable, great atmosphere and very accommodating. Should be rated higher. £5 negronis also made my girlfriend like me a bit more

Best roast dinner I have ever had... need I say anymore?