The Old Mill Retreat in Broxbourne

Great place to stop off and have a rest

Great service always busy for a reason, can recommend the bacon baguette after a ride along the canal from Harlow

Great place to stop during/ after a walk along the river, but a little pricey for a café..£5.60 for cup of tea and a toasted tea-cake.

Had sausage baguettes, generous portions and good quality. Well worth it 👌🏻

Fantastic coffee!! Next time definitely have a meal

Lovely friendly service......great coffee and can't recommend the Eccles cakes enough!!! My dog loved the homemade dog biscuit!!!!

Lively little find next to the river. Lovely staff. If you have food/drink then you can get a voucher towards parking. Great cup of tea and delicious ice cream.

Helpful friendly staff, good food reasonable prices

Pity toilets were pending works

Stopped there while cycling along the canal. Staff were helpful and friendly, reasonably priced. Tranquil atmosphere. Will be going again when I next pass.

Delicious soup and a delicious breakfast! We came back again the next day!

Waited to be served but the lady served the person in front of me then walked off and ignored me the other lady serving served me eventually taking literally forever to make a Cup of coffee Not at all friendly staff and coffee was okay nothing special

Great place to stop and have a walk , cycle or a boat/ canoe ride. Friendly staff and good food especially enjoyable on a sunny day.

Great place to sit ,relax,enjoy a superb cup of hot or cold drink and delicious food. David Linda Daniella Maria Julie Diami all wonderful, helpful..Long may it continue.

One of our favourite cafes to go all year round. It's a small cafe but still have three options of seating area. There's seating inside the cabin, seating outside in the sun, as well as seating outside but under a cover which protects you from rain and sun. Food is excellent and high quality, please try their chips and ask for well done, they are served hot and are crispy outside and soft inside. Linda and her family are really friendly. Julia the chef makes the best breakfast, she normally cuts the sausage in half which makes them taste so much better. No mention that the location of the cafe cannot be better, it's in the middle of green area and right by the river, where you can always see wildlife. Birds build nests and have babies around there regularly. It's a really good place to go for breakfast, lunch and afternoon tea, either for the locals or for people having a walk by river Lea. Strongly recommended. P.S. There's plenty of parking space nearby which isn't controlled by the cafe, but if you shop from the cafe and ask for a voucher, you get a period of free parking!

A nice spot to treat yourself and refuel after a pleasant stroll along the River Lee. Great selection of ice creams, bakes and snacks. They even sell bags of duck food so our feathery friends need not miss out!

A great place to stop during a walk along the water. Good menu, reasonably priced and quick service. The bacon sandwiches/baguettes were delicious and enjoyed outside in the sunshine.

Slight queue, but friendly clean service.

A very nice stop off point. Relaxing

I’ve been gluten I tolerant for some time so was pleased to see this an option. Requested a gluten free roll and here I am two hours later in agony. IT WAS NOT GLUTEN FREE . Please be more careful with storage and labelling!!!!!

Seating inside and out, with a good menu selection of hot food. Had a bacon, egg and sausage baguette with chips which certainly filled me up and was really yummy too.

A lovely café by the river, serves classic café food but done very well. The service is always good and very reasonable prices.

Amazing, little cafe next to the river. Food was lovely excellent value for money staff couldn’t do more if they tried. Lovely place to spend a Sunday morning, stop by for breakfast and a cup of tea. Thank you for the lovely food and service

Excruciatingly slow. They just don't make an effort to speed things along. Very happily bumbling along at their own speed. Food was tasty but too expensive. Don't plan on returning unless I fancy a 25 minute wait for something super simple.

Nice festive drinks at this cafe by the River Lee.

It was very nice and the chips were very good but it smelled weird and most of the tables were wet. Overall very good, would recommend the chippys.

Good food at reasonable prices. Love bringing my kids here after a brisk walk up the canal, hot food and a heat lamp go down very well. The staff are always friendly and attentive.

My friend and i ordered fish finger sandwich which was awful - we both sent it back fish was grey, mushy and tastless really disappointing we got our money back and bought bread pudding which was not great either ery unusual for tbis to happen as we have been having lunch there for years i am hopinv it was a one off bad day and tbey have not gone down the route of cheap produce to keep tbe prices from being raised.

Great people. They help us so much with the celebration of grandad Michael. Thank you very much!

Best ice-cream I've eaten, and I measure it better than Thornton's my previous favourite. With the ice-cream comes lovely people, friendly and most important generous with the scoops of frozen nectar!

The female chef is nice & friendly. The woman on the till has the knack of always making you feel either a bit of a nuisance, or just generally unwelcome. She is more suited to being a traffic warden or a New York immigration officer.

We hired a kayak down the road and popped in for a cup of tea and egg roll. Service is very friendly and food and drinks are reasonably priced and excellent. As a customer you can even get. 2 hr parking permit. Will definitely come back.

I love to stop by when I am cycling. I indulge in a double cone. Today I had the best Rum and Raisin ever. The Staples Ice Cream is fantastic. Just the right reward after 40km ride to London and back.

Decent coffee and well filled sandwiches. Fair prices 👌

Came here with my dog, nice to see that there are dog bowls left out. Enjoyed the wonderful surroundings. Will be coming back in the near future.

Terrible service, overpriced below average food been here on 2 occasions in the last month and can assure I will not return

For such a small place the variety of cakes,drinks and fast foods is good. Currently because of the Covid 19 they're only operating a take away service. Normally you can sit outside, inside or in a covered area depending on your choice or weather !!! Recommended April 12th the place is buzzing . Plenty of customers making use the 'facilties' chairs and tables set out, with picnic area open. Monday morning's there's live jazz. Try a bacon baguette with your coffee ☕ !! Tasty Sunny afternoon enjoying a bacon and sausage baguette, when suddenly it rained ,so everyone rushed to get under cover, which we were all able to , then sun back out along with the 'diners'. Great place to relax and enjoy the British weather 😀 Very sunñy Sept morn ,luckily there's a large tree which overhangs the dining area. And I see the council are replacing the old benches alongside the river, for new ones,making it possible to sit under the under the Riverside 🌳 trees

Absolutely lovely canal side stop on the Lea valley. Views of trains and waterside activities plus tons of dogs and cyclists but the people who run it handle it all with aplomb. Delicious fry up with very very good homemade bubble and squeak. And so friendly. Will bookmark!

I have been coming to this cafe for years. The staff are excellent. It’s great for locals to meet up for a chat. We take our dog down here most days. Can’t fault the ambiance and good nature of the staff.

Given it was Father’s Day for the visit, I’d expected it to be packed. Nope, it was empty, checked the prices online before the visit and was expecting great things. Looks like a lovely location on the map, and will agree it’s good that they give two hours parking free with the visit. But that’s about as good as it gets. Sausage baguette for £4.95. I was expecting a baguette, I got something half the size of a baguette, cut in half. You’d thing for nearly a fiver you’d have maybe three sausages, but I couldn’t really tell what was inside, probably 1 ½ sausages. The contents filled the baguette. To their credit, they use a local(ish) variety of sausage. Also ordered a portion off the specials menu of fries with Parmesan and rosemary. For £3,50 I was expecting a good portion of chips, what turned up was nothing more than a finger bowl of chips. Cinnamon bun, well, heavy enough to kill a cat. If you like your cinnamon buns thick, stodgy and dry, you’ll enjoy it, looked appetising on the shelf. A real shame, the cooked food was really tasty, just ridiculously stingy portions for the price. Would’ve loved to make this a regular haunt.

I visit this cafe regularly with my son and absolutely love it. The food is good value and the staff are friendly and treat you like family. It’s a great spot to pick up a coffee and food after a walk. This visit I got a veggie breakfast whilst my son had eggs on toast. Looking forward to returning - especially for an ice cream when the suns out!

We often cycle here for a coffee and have always liked the location. The decaf coffee is excellent and soya or oat milk options are available. The food must be good as there was a constant stream of customers who all appeared to be regulars. This can mean queueing for a while, and then a wait for the food to arrive (you are given a buzzer which goes off when it's time for you to collect). There is a small amount of inside seating, some covered outside seating but mainly al fresco seating. Also a few wooden benches with tables up on a grass bank. There is a small car park next to the cafe and you can have two hours free parking for a minimum spend at the cafe (I don't know how to claim this as we always cycle). There are public toilets next to the old mill ruins, fifty yards back up Mill Lane. My wife assures me that the ladies are perfectly adequate. The cafe is a thirty second walk to the river Lee. (Not sure why this venue doesn't appear when I search for restaurants in Broxbourne.)

Lovely relaxing environment. Wonderful friendly staff.

The staff very kindly catered for vegan options. Had a delicious breakfast with a cheeky side order of chips. Highly recommended.

Please beware that I received a £100 parking Fine as I wasn't aware I should request voucher from the cafe. Which made for a very expensive cuppa! I did not see any prominent notice.

Made a detour off M25 for a country coffee on route to the Midlands from London. More a take away venue than a cafe, though there is seating. Grab your coffee cup & fill it here with a fresh cappuccino & choose from fresh bakes or cooked breakfast, then enjoy a stroll next to the pretty canal. It helped that it was a beautiful sunny day.

Nice location, it can get busy so could be a wait to get served.. the sausage sandwich wasn't great..

Lovely spot for a spot of breakfast or lunch, all very tasty and staff very nice and quick!

We often stop here when taking our walk by the river for a cold drink and a tasty icecream ! It has changed alot over the years as it used to be an more of a fairground shack with candy floss .honeycomb.coconut ice.icecreams.tea.coffee and burgers/ sausages in a bun! Also it now has an inside small cafe and outside awning to sit outside and watch the people go by ! X

Good value, good service, hood choice 👏

Best ice-cream in the area! Wonderful flavours and nice size portions too 😊

Friendly staff, food is nice, but expensive

Great place for a coffee after a walk along the river.

Perfectly situated but my gosh did it take a while to recieve a ham baguette and a portion of chips, if it wasn't for the beautiful surroundings I would of knocked another star off for the wait but I did enjoy taking in the beauty of Broxbourne

Tried Bovril here for the first time, was not disappointed

It was lovely, took a lovely walk after a mice hot cuppa

Ok, except I ordered brown toast no butter and got white toast with butter, so at least I got toast 🙂

Yeah lovely cafe shame the lea valley park are money grabbing and now charge for parking 365 days a year !

Went this morning great location and lovely service. Well worth a visit on the canal

Very needed little cafe. Quite exp but nice

Indoor and outdoor tables available so reassuring from a covid-19 perspective. Good for a hot snack or breakfast/refreshments, with free parking for 2 hours, but ensure you ask for your free QR code to use at the payment machine prior to exiting the car park. A nice place to stop for a break, chat or stroll along the river.

Lovely place to stop by at in the middle of a walk or bike ride. Good food, lovely service. 👍👍

Good produce nicely cooked pleasant staff well worth a visit

Friendly staff and believe in value for cost, food of good standard

Been going there for years bacon rolls nice

Very nice coffee lots of people.

Good food, great coffee. Nice setting.

The old mill restaurant is a must go to place after a long walk or run brilliant selection of refreshments not only for you but for your dogs why not stop by and have a ice-cream or biscuit and why not treat your dog to one to all round excellent service

Excellent bacon sarnie's and Latte. Good selection for a quick lunch or breakfast.

Very good nice sausage sandwich

Very nice food. Great selection, took the dog sat under open shed,really enjoyed the meal good value for money. Lovely luxury hot chocolate. Defo go back

Good location next to a rental place. Had a tea and a coffee. The coffee was bad and the tea came without a teabag. Not sure what the food is like but I would not buy my beverage from there.

Really lovely staff , lovely food, will go back 100%.

Excellent spot to relax if you are walking or cycling in the Lee Valley Park. Coffee and food are delicious.

We each had the bacon burger and a portion of chips between us, and it was really nice. I will definitely visit them again

Good place to stop off have a coffee and some refreshments.

I've been here a few times with family and the food is always very fresh and delicious and the staff are friendly and welcoming. It's nice to be able to have a crunchy cheese salad roll instead of a hotdog or burger. Looking forward to our next visit.

Just popped in for a cold drink

Simple fayre but very tasty! Very busy but quick service. A real treat!

Quick service and decent cup of tea.

Went here on a hot summer day. I asked how much a soft drink was. The lady behind the counter was very unfriendly and told me £2.10. I counted out every last penny I had in my purse, which was exactly right, and gave it to her. When I was walking away pushing a pram, she shouted out to me (again very unfriendly) "excuse me, this is short". Perhaps I had made a mistake counting out the money but she didn't offer for me to pay by card or to have something cheaper or heaven forbid, let me off a few pennies. Considering it was double the price as in the shop. I handed it back to her and said don't worry about it. Still no suggestions. Have people lost their manners or lateral thinking. I won't frequent this "charming" place again. Thanks

Good tasting tea, especially peppermint! Pleased and impressed they use containers that are compostable :) Opening times good too

Lovely little cafe. Had a great breakfast here after a morning walk.

Thanks for the First Aid wipes, and lovely drinks.

Always such a delightful experience to visit The Old Mill Retreat Cafe. We’ve been visiting there for at least ten years now and always had a thoroughly enjoyable time … winter or summer, but especially in good weather. It’s a real community experience and run by the lovely Linda and Dave, who have employed just the right staff. The food is always of a high standard and they don’t stint on anything. Been there twice this week and can’t wait to go again soon.

Very friendly staff, great food and beautiful location.

Lovely get away. Lovely cade selling hot food drinks cold food etc. Lovely walk along the canal. Too.

Bacon sandwich stuffed with meat in a lovely environment amongst the birds.

Good value, nice location for a walk along the river afterwards.

Very friendly staff, clear queues for social distancing and good quality food

Great place. Always a must stop on a bike ride.

Great place for a cuppa and a snack

Food tastes amazing, very friendly staff, will definitely visit again

Nice little cafe for amazing breakfast

Nice cafe with quality coffee. The rocky road was especially tasty! Nice setting by the canal.

Lovely coffee ,chilled and relaxed area

Great place to stop for a coffee and something to eat when you are walking nearby, recommend it to dog walkers, cyclists, families with young children

Love it! Lovely fast service, clear signage and covid safe ❤️ will definitely be back

Great place for something to eat and drink. Staff really friendly.

Staff need more customer care training.