The Green Elephant Cafe in Ribble Valley

Turned up at about 8.50am on Easter bank holiday Monday. Had checked the website before hand. It said open at 8am. So we went along. 4 of us. Three adults and a 2 year old. Got to the door, which was open. Was told “we open in 10 minutes” we asked if we could sit inside for that time (because it was a bit chilly outside) but the dark haired girl said she was doing the cashing up so no we couldn’t. I was there with my daughters and a 2 year old. We were hardly going to rob the place. Plus, it turned out when we got inside that this was a building with a very open communal seating area which she could have let us sit at for 10 minutes. We ordered our food. I asked if there was any juice for kids (the 2 year old) - the dark haired girl working said “only what we’ve got in the fridge”. I said “don’t you have any orange juice or anything like that?” The reply being - “only what we’ve got in the fridge” which was those pretentious glass bottles of 1930’s fizzy pop (the brand that does stuff like dandelion and burdock). I bought two bottles of “Orange and Mandarin” thinking they weren’t fizzy. They were. More fool me. Basically Tory Fanta. Anyway. I went and sat down with my older daughters and my 2 year old son. My daughters ordered avocado on toast with salmon. I had a full English being the uncouth soul that I am. I asked if they have a kids menu for my 2 year old. The answer was no. I ordered him beans, one sausage and some scrambled eggs. I was told this could be done from the side menu, that alone cost £7.50. The beans, sausage and eggs came out on the same plate as one of my daughters breakfast. We had to guess that was the case (not mastermind but still ridiculously daft that they’d do this) we had to ask for a plate for my 2 year old who was in a high chair. Anyway. Another family came in about the same time as us. Low and behold another of their staff bought out two huge glasses of orange juice for them. So they did have other drinks available. My full English was ok, but it wasn’t great. The bacon was burned. It wasn’t crispy like the menu says. It was burned. So if the proprietor/owner wants to reply to this with a clever comment. The bacon was burned. Also, the poached eggs were COLD. And I don’t mean not quite warm, they were cold. We were the first people in, the place wasn’t busy and somehow I was served cold poached eggs. I’ve re read through the menu tonight before writing this review. Whenever I choose a place to eat again I’m always going to look for the word “Artisan” because that to me, on the whole means not very good. The “Artisan” toast I received was just sliced bread, but toasted. They even claim to have an “Artisan” Brioche bun If you look up the definition of “Artisan” in the dictionary it says. a person or company that produces something (such as cheese or wine) in limited quantities often using traditional methods —often used before another noun artisan breads I don’t think that you can claim that obviously pre sliced bread or even a Brioche Bun is “Artisan”. There’s too many mediocre cafes/restaurants who have latched onto this word and used it. The company website claims “We focus on quality and sustainability above all, which extends to everything we do. From our suppliers to takeaway packaging, we carefully select each element keeping you and the planet in mind. We support local, and well-being of the community is at the heart of what we do.” This is nonsense. My daughters asked for some tap water, they were pointed towards one of those fancy upside down glass water bottles, and plastic cups, plastic lids. Lots of plastic. They had paper straws. I don’t know about you, but if you want to be really sustainable, if someone asks for tap water, give them a glass of tap water in a glass. Zero plastic, zero waste. To finish up. Pros - pretty pattern on the coffee. Cons - Really incredibly gormless staff; bad cook who can’t even cook bacon or keep a poached egg warm; rude; not child friendly as no kids menu even at weekends/bank holidays (although there was a couple of high chairs). As you can imagine I will never be going back to this place. I’ve given them two stars because my daughter liked the swirly pattern on the top of her Flat White.

Lovely service and breakfast always so good, never have to wait long . Smashed avocado on toast is my fav. Would recommend a visit to this little cafe .

Went here with my daughter and grandson as she decided she fancied breakfast. The food was very good and the quality of the ingredients was high. The only issue was they didn’t do childrens/ baby portions so we had a buy a adults portion, saying that we need eat the left overs as well!!!

Disappointing experience… I usually love the GE, ordered French toast with berries, definite lack of berries. Queried with staff, and wrote in to provide GE the opportunity to comment, but no response .. I accept they may have had a shortage of fruit (even though we arrived within 30 minutes of opening), but not to communicate with the paying customer is unacceptable

Met with friends for breakfast after having heard good things about this place. But having experienced it for myself I have mixed feelings... The service was absolutely fine and we didn’t have to wait long for drinks or food. The staff were happy to substitute a couple of items on the full English. So far so good. The food and coffee was not great though. Three of us had coffee and none of us liked it, which is too much of a coincidence in my book (although the tea drinker wasn’t overly impressed either tbh). It tasted a bit odd and had a weird after taste? It has been very cold recently and the place was absolutely freezing and, sadly, so were the plates, so the ‘full English’ was cold halfway through eating it. The toast wasn’t burnt at all, but it was absolutely rock hard? I’m not even sure how you do that? I tried softening mine up in the pot of tepid baked beans, but it didn’t help. The bacon was very nice though. One of our party ordered french toast with fruit, and we had to ask for some more fruit because, quite honestly, there must have been one strawberry cut into tiny pieces plus about four blueberries! To be fair they did provide a few more blueberries when we asked, it was just a shame we had to ask in the first place. At £42 for four breakfasts (various options) and four hot drinks it was decent value, but it wasn’t very well executed. Maybe on a warmer day when we didn’t necessarily want hot food, it might have been better? But based on this visit I couldn’t really recommend it, sadly.

Been here a few times and love the place. Most recent visit was with the family early Jan ‘22 for brunch. Lovely rich coffee, good veggie options for my wife, fresh and non-greasy full english for me, and bacon & egg brioche rolls for the kids. The cakes looked so good we ended up sharing a couple of slices before leaving too. All good from a Covid perspective too. Highly recommend.

Popped in for a late breakfast/brunch. Awesome food, chicken bacon and smashed avocado in a brioche roll. Absolutely awesome. Coffee is strong and full if flavour. Small and friendly

This coffee shop appears to be located on the ground floor of an office complex and has a spacious and pleasant interior. We enjoyed sitting in here for quite some time sorting out our plans for the day. We enjoyed two good quality flat white coffees.

I've stopped here a couple of times, for a drink, a cake and a couple of times for brunch. Always delicious, always a friendly welcome, would recommend.

I was really looking forward to my first visit, since I heard they now do French toast on the menu, one of my favourites. My husband wanted a full English and decided on poached eggs for his egg choice. I wanted the French toast with bacon, egg and maple syrup. I do not like fried eggs so asked if I could have the egg poached instead. The answer was a resounding “no”. I said what difference does it make to swap it since the full English has the option. The young girl said no, it can’t be changed. I’m sorry but I find this absolutely ludicrous that you can offer a selection of eggs on other menu choices, you can even purchase poached eggs as one of the “extras”. Needless to say, we walked out and our first visit will be our last visit unfortunately.

Friendly faces and good coffee plus the tastiest cinnamon bun I've eaten in a while. I sat outside and spent a really pleasant hour here waiting for my son.

4th visit and usually excellent. Unfortunately today seems to be an off day. Order was taken incorrectly, coffee was over extracted and bitter/acidic, staff not attentive or actively listening, part of my breakfast (tomatoes & mushrooms) were cold. Am chalking this up to a one off for now.

This is our second visit to the GE cafe, I enjoyed the brioche french toast with berries last time we visited, even though it was a busy Sunday morning but on our visit today, it was sublime .. and the service was efficient but very friendly.. my partner had the full English, which he also enjoyed immensely..

Excellent cafe. The coffee is fabulous, we had the omelette and French toast, both were amazing. Lovely staff and great food, I will definitely return.

Lovely food and amazing taste. Great service and lovely to talk to very polite people. Would definitely come again as the food was amazing.

Delicious lunch ( smashed absconding in toast and chicken salads) from very pleasant and passionate team. Definitely will be back.

Lovely service from the staff here! Can’t recommend the food enough if you’re looking for something healthy yet tasty. Decent prices as well. Coffee was amazing

Easily the best coffee in Milton Keynes. Relaxed atmosphere and friendly staff. Try the cakes too! Recommended.

A great independent cafe. Fantastic quality food and reasonable prices. Vegans well catered for but plenty of choice for meat eaters too. Can highly recommend the vegan breakfast. The staff are lovely and passionate about their food and drink. Huge thumbs up! 👍

I was really excited to see an independent cafe pop up in Milton Keynes! Green Elephant is such a lovely cafe, I would really recommend it! The menu is varied without being overwhelming and the food was delicious! They were kind enough to let me...