The Old Curiosity Shop in Thanet

Lovely little cafe! The coffee was perfect and so was my toasted hotcross bum. Would recommend.

The only Curiosity about this place is the fact that they can’t do a cheese and ham toasty and burger. Awful dry cheese and ham toasty. I won’t even talk about the burger.

Lovely cafe, great food and service

Dog friendly cafe. Good choice of food reasonably priced and excellent coffee

Pretty good but they said no scones for months . Thats what we go in there for

Great visit, staff very friendly and service was very quick. Dog friendly too and also a nice range of independent retail on display. Prices were also great.

Found this fab little coffee shop this morning. The bacon roll was delicious & one of the nicest cups of coffee I've had in a very long time. Made to feel very welcomed by the lovely friendly lady who had a great rapport with some regulars that called in. If you're going to Broadstairs call in you will not be disappointed.

Been to this place before & not had a problem. The young girl serving was really friendly & polite and my sandwich was ok. When I ordered she had a friend sitting in seating area which I was fine with but when I returned my plate & cups the friend was sitting on the counter top where food was being prepared. A hygiene issue I think. Unfortunately this has put me off returning.

Such a lovely little shop. if I lived in Broadstairs, I'd be the regular that pops in for a Cream Coffee at least 3 times a week. Scones were delicious and coffee was spot on.

Lovely place, we just had coffee. Seating inside and outside

It would be nice if it were open according to the opening times and the sign in front of the door. We went past there three times and each time it was closed even though it was marked as open. Very annoying!

I ran into a closed restaurant several times, even though it was officially open. Lousy service

What a lovely place. Hidden in the back streets of Broadstairs. The food was cheap. Massive burger for £5. Old building with lots of history. The owner was lovely, cheerful and a good cook. If you visit Broadstairs, check it out.

Unfortunately they had run out of bacon,then placed an order after our sandwiches for a teacake.Waited ages,went to enquire,girl had forgotten our order plus tea we ordered.Teacake then came but no tea had to go up again as girl had forgotten that as well again.

Lovely cream tea to keep us going. Scone was light as air. And good tea ( very important)I also had a sandwich which was very nice. We sat inside in a hot day before more exploring around Broadstairs

Popped in for a takeaway coffee and toasted sandwich, service friendly and quick

I stopped off at the old curiosity shop cafe with my family and our friends. It ended up being a very bizarre experience. We ordered simple things - an egg sandwich, a few toasties for the kids, a brie and bacon sandwich, and a salmon and cream cheese bagel. Most of it didn’t need cooking. We were told it was a 25 minute wait for food which was fine. It took 40 minutes to even get the drinks. We were told the food was coming. After over an hour of waiting, with 3 very grumpy and hungry kids, and a few polite requests as to when our sandwiches would come out, some of them eventually did. The guy who brought them out dropped the Brie and bacon one on the floor. Accidents happen and usually it wouldn’t remotely be a problem, but we’d had enough so asked if we could get a refund for the floor sandwich and the final one we were still waiting for, which we were told had been brought out already so it seems to have been lost between the kitchen and where we were sitting outside. My friend went inside for the refund as by this point, we’d been waiting for basic sandwiches for an hour and 20 minutes, with no apology or acknowledgement that this probably wasn’t an ok amount of time. Even the refund seemed to take a long time. Insane. So after all that, some of us didn’t even get fed. I love Broadstairs and have been going there since I was a kid. We won’t be going back to this place again the next time we visit.

Never again service bad waited 1 hour

I regret to say that roll wasn't fresh and they had run out of jacket potatoes, sausages and bacon at lunchtime. When I enquired why this was, i was informed it was Because they were busy. Nice environment and location but I won't be returning

Good food, service excellent and friendly happy staff

I took my granddaughter and she said the cheese toasties are the best

Really good value great coffee Cream tea or coffee excellent Beers on sale Dog friendly

Lovely spot for lunch. I had a jacket & beans. My partner had a sausage sarnie. Generous portions. Great food. Most excellent value! Would recommend 100%.

Our group stopped here for lunch. The prices seemed reasonable and the order at the counter for four sandwiches and teas was taken quickly. The cafe was fairly quiet so they weren't busy. Drinks were served after about 15 mins, so not a good start. After waiting another 30 mins or so we asked when the sandwiches would be ready. On their way was the reply! Another 15 mins passed. No food. Still on their way apparently. Drinks were either drunk or cold after almost an hour. The server then asked what bread we'd like on the sandwiches, so clearly not on their way!!! When they did arrive no apology at all was offered. Awful service. Needless to say, we'll not be visiting again.

Stopped here for drink. Prices on the menu at the table are different to the prices we were charged. When I asked about it, the menus were old and there was no apology. What a strange attitude and practice... deliberately misleading. Beware....

Very disappointing, tea was warm and not a full cup. Scones were falling apart. I think you could improve by serving tea in a pot and warm the scones before serving. A choice of scone would be nice. Im afraid I wont be eating here again.

Surprisingly nice little place, tucked away from the main street. Despite it being close to the end of their day, the young lady who served us was friendly and helpful. Would visit again

Cute, little cafe with lots of charm. Nothing fancy but great snacks, cakes and service.

Lovely little cafe/shop. Friendly staff. We didn't eat but the coffees were lovely. Steeped in history. See the well is a must!!!! No parking

As a coeliac I asked if there was anything that was gluten free and was told by the young lady there was nothing. I saw the sign on the till desk saying to ask the staff about allergens. So I asked again, thinking there must be something. I asked if the burgers had wheat in and she couldn’t tell me because they ‘ had thrown the packet away’ so there was no allergens list for things on the menu. I asked if she had any jacket potatoes on the go and settled for that. I would have left with nothing if it was up to the young lady serving. I went to meet up with friends that I hadn’t seen for ages. One of whom recommended it. (I have fond memories of this shop as a child) There’s no point having a notice saying ask the staff about allergens if they don’t know what’s in the food they are serving. I was left a little underwhelmed and disappointed.

Popped in for a cup of tea and something to eat only to find that I had to go hungry as their were no dairy/egg free options to eat. The young lady serving was very sweet, it was not her fault. She offered me a slice of toast but as there was no dairy free spread the thought of dry toast was not very appealing. Surely if you can offer oat milk in tea you could come up with food to compliment it. It is 2022 afterall. There should be no descrimation on dietry needs.

Wanted a jkt potato and none available. Had bacon sandwich but bacon was like cardboard. Next customers left without service as informed only cakes available. This was at lunchtime. Badly organised, unless theyd been really busy, but wont go again

Amazing paninis with generous amounts of fillings. I had the brie and bacon with jam and it was overflowing with taste. Plenty of local teas sold here and will take some time to go through them all. Friendly and inviting. Would go back

Only drank coffe with a teacake

Looking for somewhere to have a quick lunch in Broadstairs during Folkweek was 'difficult'. Finally found this gem. Excellent service (thanks Mai S), we had a small dog with us, first thing asked was 'would the dog like a bowl of water?'The table service was efficient, friendly and quick, the prices were very acceptably reasonable. Great atmosphere too and they have inside and outside seating. Super pleased.

It was excellent. Sandwiches were freshly made and reasonably priced. Staf were friendly and efficient. Will definitely return.

I ordered a cream tea at 15.30hrs the girl informed me they would be closing in 15 mins. surely the time for cream afternoon teas is 15.00hrs to 17.00hrs Granted it was a quiet Tuesday afternoon. But I found this unacceptable. WIsh I had gone somewhere else....London day trippers expect and deserve more

The name is more illusion than reality. This was the most unlovingly presented cream tea I have ever had. A pity. At 4 p.m. the Ladshon was closed and there were no more sandwiches available.

Very good value for money, bread nice and fresh and lovely latte. Young lady serving was very polite and calm even though working on her own, which we noticed some members if the public did not appreciate and a please and a thank you would not have gone amiss.

Quaint setting, lovely you can sit outside if you have pets. The food is just OK. Sausages were similar quality to Walls or Richmonds. The bread was sliced very thickly. There was only one person in and was struggling to get everyone's orders. The coffee was OK.

Generous cake slices and decent coffee.

This place has been consistently good all through lockdown and beyond. Only one member of staff today who kept calm although place very busy. No gloves worn and food handled without. Hygiene a worry as was the toilet which was filthy!

Chose here because of the positive reviews, but found it very average. To be fair they only had one member of staff on and she was fantastic, remained very positive, well organized and polite, despite clearly having been left to ‘man the ship’ hence score is mostly for her- well done. I say mostly because the coffee was fantastic and great value, would definitely go back for the coffee. ……. But now to the food….. Had a baguette, ok but bread was microwaved, which warmed it up but made it stodgy, no salad garnish, would have been nice with a bit tomato, cucumber and lettuce in In summary fantastic coffee, great staff, give the food a miss

Horrible place , dirty , unfriendly, dry uncooked bread . They would not offer to change it and still charged us for what we said could not eat. Would not recommend to my enemy .

Lavazza coffee okay, but service very, very slow. Disappointing.

Excellent friendly service, nothing too much trouble. Excellent value for money, I had a mug of tea and toasted teacake. I would certainly visit again

Omg! Avoid! We decided to give this pretty, quaint looking cafe a go on a visit to Broadstairs. It was bank holiday, the chip shops were all packed and The Old Curiosity Shop was quiet. What a mistake. A limited, bland menu which was poorly presented. I couldn’t see any quality homemade cakes which they advertised either, just scones and a tea cake. I ordered a ham and cheese panini. It was just edible but very unappealing - oozing cheese a la heart attack style. No salad, tomato or any extras on offer. No napkin. My teenage daughter makes better light lunches! My latte was small, although fairly good quality. Wi-fi is sparse in Broadstairs so if you need Internet, it’s not at all easy. This establishment refused us wi-fi. Overall, simply dire shoddy customer service, horrible food and I would never return. I realise now why the place was empty! I should have waited and questioned for my fish and chips. I have included a photo of my panini.

Sat outside for a quick cuppa before heading home...they even found our bag of shopping we left behind thanks for that. Lovely coffee very quirky building

Love this place..I remember this as a shop! And the well. Us kids adored it. A bit of history for you.History of Broadstairs: Broadstairs, originally a fishing village, dates back to around 1080, and was originally known as ‘Bradstow’ It was known to be a smugglers town in the 1700s, and you can still visit the Wishing Well at The Old Curiosity Shop, 9 Harbour Street which is where around 250 years ago a lot of contraband (tea, spirits and tobacco) was hidden from the Customs and Coastguard officers. There are many old and forgotten smugglers tunnels and caves underneath this area. Still amazing now. So glad I popped in so say hello to Mr Bones and his mate!

Me and my family went here for lunch. We all ordered milkshakes as it was advertised that they served fresh milkshakes but what we got was a small plastic cup of Yazoo milkshake which for the price we paid could've got us a big bottle of Yazoo milkshake to share between us at Tesco. We also all ordered either a prawn sandwich or baguette which were filled to the brim and tasted lovely so not all bad. Certainly is a nice local cafe to visit for a small bite.

After a long walk along the beach from the west cliff in Ramsgate to Broadstairs we went to the cafe where we have been many times and were not disappointed freshly made sandwiches and a refreshing drink.

We went in there today. I ordered a cream tea and a tea. The lady behind the counter quoted a price which wasn't correct. She overcharged me. I challenged it and she agreed to the price which was advertised. No apology!!! I therefore asked for a receipt. This caused more confusion. Eventually s guy came over and asked for my phone number, saying he would text me a receipt. Never arrived. I heard the woman say "did you give him his receipt?" Sorry I asked!! One shouldn't be overcharged, two should get a receipt. Tea and scone were good.

Always good food and friendly service

Had a cream tea. The scone was big, homemade and was so light and fluffy. Yummy, defo be back.

Lovely friendly staff, very nice coffee and a beautiful building

Lovely little place. We stopped for a snack and found a table outside. My husband had a prawn baguette that had plenty of prawns and I had a delicious fruit scone with cream and jam with coffee. The price was very reasonable . Staff very friendly .

Sat outside in the sun. Nothing to dislike, nice coffee and good selection of cakes.

It has been a while since I've been here, but I find myself leaving a review because the topic of a cream tea just came up with my housemates, and I remembered that this cafe did the best cream cheese cucumber sandwich I ever had. Here's hoping to many more sandwiches when lockdown lifts!

Lovely place for tea, coffee and food

Lovely place and the sandwiches were really lovely

We popped in whilst in Broadstairs for lunch. Ordered bacon sandwiches. She brought them over ..the bread wasnt the freshest and the bacon stone cold. I asked for it to be hot she looked at me like I was deranged and said the bacon had...

Lovely little cafe, ask about the well.

Cute tea shop in dickens country

Excellent bacon Sandwich lovely staff with great smiles on a really busy Saturday. So many people asked for different milks and did the bread have egg in it. All questions dealt with COURTEOUS polite service Needs a bit of a paint job

Visually this is a historic and attractive snack bar and we had great expectations(!), however, the jacket potatoes we had were small and served up in small cardboard boxes. The salad came in a separate cardboard box and wasn’t very inspiring! Not great trying to...

Delicious coronation chicken and sausage sandwiches washed down with a nice coffee & cold drink. Lovely service, despite the lady being solo. Will be back again

This is a quaint little place just next to the beach. At the minute, due to Covid, they are serving food outside in a courtyard so unfortunately we were unable to enjoy the historic interior. However, the place have thought carefully about safety measures with...

In these troubled times with social distancing and an alfresco cafe culture it was nice to be able to enjoy a coffee safe in the knowledge that the owner was doing all they can to minimise risk. Waited service and disposable crockery all made for an enjoyable 20 minutes, with the rubbish going straight in the bin. Will definitely stop by again in the not too distant future. 😁😁

Not the best place to have dropped into, it wasn’t busy, yet was made to wait for while the drinks were made, they could have been brought over. The coffee was bitter and very small. The condition of the cafe was very tired.

Cream tea was fantastic, dogs very welcome.

Not the best bacon sandwhich re-heated bacon Luke warm coffee. Young girl very sweet but got order wrong. Best part was its dog friendly

Friendly, good coffee, cozy, perfect

Whether you want just a drink, some cake or scones or something more substantial, this place offers an oasis of peace - and the prices are very reasonable too. Service is warm and friendly. And it has a well with skeletons at the bottom. Curious...

For a cream tea visit it and find out what is inside the shop of interest a well with a skeleton inside worth a look

My wife and I and Ruby our sharpei dog visited for the first time today for coffee and found it to be a lovely place, very clean excellent service, nice hot coffee and even ruby got free dog biscuits, plus their prices were lower than other coffee shops, we will be back another day,try it you won't be disappointed

After a walk on the beach The Old Curiosity Shop is a great place to drop into for a coffee or snack. The staff are very friendly and helpful. The coffee was delicious and my wife said that the Gluten Free cake was extremely good....

The atmosphere was nice and the staff friendly, nevertheless the food was not the best. We expected a great lunch accordingly to your reviews but the sandwiches were nothing fresh and the Scones not even warm, no more jam for the cream tea at 3.00pm...

I took 2 grandchildren & a dog in for a snack. The young lady was so friendly & helpful, really made us all feel welcome. We had hot chocolate & 3 banana milkshake floats which the children said were very yummy. Toasted sandwich, hot dog...

Little gem in Broadstairs. Lovely little cafe that sells a selection of delicious homemade cakes, scones, sandwiches, jacket potatoes etc. The huge bonus is that it is dog friendly, even provides dog biscuits!

Was anything but. Lots of shouting and raised voices between the owner and others who I assumed were his friends. Felt uncomfortable in such an environment. When leaving the owner, without any prompting, apologised for the madness of the place. I told him it had...

Dog friendly cafe in Broadstairs. Serves fresh home made cake, coffee, cream tea and snacks. Very friendly family owned business. Listed building with original well inside.

Walking on a cold sunny day arrived at the restaurant. Didn't want sandwiches so the man in charge very kindly did me a delicious breakfast.

This is the best place in Broadstairs for a coffee, a toasted sandwich or home made cake and a good chat with Sam the owner, who never forgets a face and always has a friendly welcome.

Brilliant place to visit for good food and hospitality.

Bought two coffee’s this morning and watched the lady make them in front of me. Well One shot of coffee tipped a third back in her jar and then made our coffee’s. Warm milk is not what we asked or paid for. Very disappointed.

Location great but that's where it ends. Owner non attentive to us as customers and too busy talking to his mates. No sugar bought to the table and brought the wrong coffee. Replaced with correct coffee but without any acknowledgement or apology. Wrong change given...

Great prices and welcoming owner

All I can say is thank You Sam for a lovely lemon drizzle cake and coffee stop. We love stopping for a morning break lovely people and excellent cake especially the chocolate cake which my son loves. Our friends from London came along today and really loved it all.

Very authentic cafe with reasonable prices and a menu you recognise! After walking around Broadstairs looking for a family lunch venue that sold family friendly food everybody recognised and not vegan and odd names food we found this friendly gem of a place. Got a true authentic feel,wishing well indoors and outside seating area on a slant so drinks did roll away which was funny..Sat outside as a sunny day.

Great service, even whilst busy the service was prompt and with a smile. Kids loved their ice-cream.

Freindly warm welcome from staff who keep the place spotlessly clean. Food is very good I enjoyed my jacket potato with chicken curry and the ice coffee was very good. The visit was very enjoyable looked after children well and have a wishing well for children to make a wish.

I always think it’s a good sign when you have to wait 20mins to get your cream tea! Amazing scones, clearly freshly baked, served with ample jam and cream. Baking Bank Holiday Sunday, they were running low on all sorts of stuff - but the cream tea was fab and just £4. Highly recommend getting off the beach front to find this place. The wishing well in the middle of the room is awesome - and dogs welcome too! I’ve eaten lots of cream teas this summer and this one was probably the best.

Very pleasant cafe in a side street which leads to the beach -quiet but centrally situated and convenient for the sea, the shops and places of interest. Good place to retire to after a strenuous swim!

Did our usual walk from Ramsgate to Broadstairs on an unexpected sunny day and enjoyed an excellent cheese on toast.

Very nice little coffe shop, very welcomed and nice staff. The scones are the best and coffe cake just spectacular

Very friendly great service quality of food is excellent. Especially their freshly made fruit scones.

Very friendly and efficient service cream teas are to die for cakes made fresh every day 100% satisfied

A regular drop off point, when walking the dog, for coffee and a slice of cake, preferably Lemon Drizzle. Friendly atmosphere and meet up place for many locals.

Great place full of history, see the underground area where smugglers hid, make a great cup of tea and home made cake

You must have bacon brie and cranberry toastie. Gorgeous. The old lady who used to work there was sat outside when we were there. She was lovely could have chatted all day with her . Bless