The Place to Eat in Kingston upon Thames

Good food selection fair prices and river view

This cafe should be amazing. The space is lovely and food delicious. But it is dreadfully run, always agonising long slow queues. Weekends they never have enough breakfast options, never any brown sauce, no mustard. Always understaffed and ‘waiting for a delivery’ of things out of stock. They need to just order enough, get plenty of staff to cover busy times and better management to work efficiently.

I first visited in July 2014. I went for a jog and went into John Lewis to look around and drink coffee and the cake was really delicious. Above all, it was a place with a great view.

Not enough staff to cater for a busy cafe. As they forgot my order, everyone received their drinks before me. I waited 10 minutes plus. I politely asked them if they could reimburse me for coffee based on long wait. They said No. Tables not clean. The Place to Eat is a place I frequent. It is unreliable...

First time I went there I ordered a large latte, but got hot chocolate. Unfortunately, it was half drank before I realised, so I couldn't return it. View is great though, no complaints whatsoever :)

Slow!! Waited ages for a bacon bap! My coffee was drank before the bap arrived! Not impressed

30 minute wait for a bacon roll. The most depressing surroundings on earth.

Great place and amazing view over the thames. Several food options for all tastes

Lovely place nice view of the river. Plenty of space.

The location is super convenient and the view is absolutely stunning. The food and service need to up their game. The food options are limited, mostly cold sandwiches and salads. There are some options for hot meals. The staff is friendly but the preparation time on food could be better. Finding a table is on first come first serve basis, so it could help improve customer experience if they have at least one server directing or helping customers to be seated in an orderly fashion.

This is not a gourmet dining place . But the food is good freshly cooked and well served . Self-service. Order, pay , and take your tray to an open table of your choice. Some good views of the Thames as she flows passed Kingston. My only criticism is there could be some more air conditioning. We love going there for cream tea.

Food great. Staff really friendly and helpful.

The selection of food available really is great, everything from baguettes of beef with beetroot and onion relish to super healthy poke bowls....hot food is also served and the menu is great for a lunch or brunch. Large seating area and the views over the Thames are very nice. John Lewis is always a good visit.

It's fine , however a little disappointing that 1 person can occupy a table for 4

Sadly the view was so much better than the food or service. I had a "full English" breakfast, was told there was no bacon, ordered extra mushroom, yet bacon arrived on the plate. The food, paticularly the poached eggs, was overcooked and nowhere near hot enough. Will go to Cote next door next time.

In the 90s and early 2000s this was the place to eat.. but just seems a bit run down and canteen like. Shame. John Lewis used to be a premium place to go shopping.

Lovely seating area, especially if u can look over the river

Vouchers with a view .. would be to expensive without

I had a pie with mash, alas no alternative to minted peas. I found the pie cheap and of low quality and the dollop of mash lukewarm. I spent about 20 minutes there with my partner and in that time all the empty tables were covered in dirty crockery with staff only clearing those near the work station. A sad plate of slop in sloppy surroundings . I wish I'd gone to a workman's café. The two stars were for the pot of tea ( earl grey) which was delicious !

Lovely views of the river. Very relaxing.

It's always a best experience of Food, Service & Ambience at Kingston John lewis- The Place to Eat. Thank you

If you get there early then you have the chance of a window table and then you will have a lovely relaxing view of the river thames.( It does get busy quite early )Plenty of wildlife and rowers etc as well as a coffee and food if needed, (I recommend the scones.)The people that work there are polite and helpful.

The food was good, but till wasn’t working and service slow. What I noticed most was how dirty the PTE was with food splashes up the wall where the JL timeline is sited, lights not working, stains on the ceiling which was a grim yellow colour. The child high chairs were thick with dirt as were the blinds on the glass ceiling. Really needs a makeover

Had a voucher for cake and coffee.Good selection, tasted fine,very busy but efficient apart from the elderly who constantly tried to jump the line because they just wanted a coffee,one queue system but service was excellent.Place buzzing and busy which was nice

Great place for a bite to eat or just a coffee. Very reasonably priced and great views of the Thames.

Ok, but lots of dirty crockery around at Lunchtime, with many empty tables full of soiled crockery.

Dear John Lewis - The Place To Eat Cafe by the Riverside. We discovered this cafe from the Introduction of our daughter, who resides in the UK. On 15/12/23, we were at your cafe from 2.30pm to 6pm. Having Lunch. Our family friend came over to join us at the same cafe for coffee and cakes until about 6pm. He brought us a special Hotel Chocolate because it is Christmas. As you can see it (the attached photo of us with the Hotel Chocolate on the table) is on the dining table. But unfortunately, we left in a rush because it was late, we had forgotten to take it with us. The next day, On 16/12/23 around late afternoon, we went back to the same cafe and sought Customer service and the cafe staff for help if anyone seen it and or saw and or noticed or found it but unfortunately, nobody had any knowledge of it. We left disappointed in our carelessness and forgetfulness. But we did not leave our contact but if anyone out there, knows something, or sees something, please reach out to us. Cheers from Rose, have a blessed Merry Christmas and Happy New Year for the coming 2024

Tried their rhubarb custard pastry and chocolate muffin with tea and coffee!! It was nice Beautiful atmosphere and river side cafe feels... Will go again !!

Great place to stop for a cup of coffee and cake after some shopping! Lovely view of the river Thames!

Only had coffee, needs some a c., Good views but sun makes it a greenhouse.

Beautiful salads and an amazing selection of cakes.

More staff needed to serve on counter to clear queues, this now a daily chore to stand in queue for long to be served. Rest, it's one of my favourite places to eat & relax.

All good, but my favourite cake, "passion fruit," is mostly in the fridge under some temperatures. I don't know what that is, but most of the service & place is good.

We ordered an sandwich had to take the bottom off to hard to bite

What's not to like when you get a free cup of tea and a slice of cake ...we always love it

Very old furniture , very poor services , staff confused and not trained well, not nice attitude , miserable faces , bad atmosphere , very big caffe with very bad management

Awesome place, lovely food, nice staff. Its tucked away at the very back of John Lewis with a setting looking over the River Thames and Kingston Bridge. Scrumptious deserts, high quality lunch and I specifically want to thank the cheerful gentleman behind the hot buffet till who was cheerfully serving us with a lot of care!

Great place for coffee or lunch with views over the Thames.

It’s only spring! Today recorded as 31degree in london. This weather Jhon Lewis doesn’t have AC on. It was great to see river side through the window. But it was extremely hot under big windows 😢😢 and I ordered Spanish stew 🍲 tasty was great and fresh!!! But I was melting with hot stew and temperature 😅😅 English apple juice 🧃 is absolutely great! Food and staff are great 👍 I don’t know how the staff are working under this hot weather serving hot food without AC. 🫡🫡 great tasty and good atmosphere but not recommend in hot 🥵 weather ☀️☀️☀️

No sandwiches and only baguettes. 2 fish and one cheese and ham. Didn't look really appealing so went for broccoli quiche with salad which was lovely but again a small amount of salad but a good helping of quiche

The welcoming place with great view

Always a lovely place to eat, go quite often, you can see right out onto the thames 😍

A lovely spot looking out over the river and always something nice to ear. Good place to meet friends for a quick lunch

I had an English Breakfast. I don't like baked beans and didn't want eggs. So I was offered something else. I had a second sausage. Very pleasant staff and helpful.

Excellent for coffee and cake and view

Well, this was a surprise. Weak, tepid coffee, really poor service (lots of staff but they were all talking about how soon they could leave and managed to ignore the queue of 6 people for an age). Dirty tables; we could only sit looking at the river by cleaning one ourselves first. The spray and dirty cloth were handily set out close by. We used the spray with some napkins in full view of staff, no-one came to help or apologise. Our salad and wrap were tasty, but the staff were far too obviously interested in going home, and this was with plenty of other people who came behind us. By the time we had finished our meals, there were about 40 people there, at 4pm on a Monday, surely the staff should be used to serving at this time of day?

Usually lovely venue but appalling service today. Cream teas served with “no cream” “because we don’t have any”. No warning but ok. Attitude was lump it Then when we got to check out was told that because there’s no cream it can’t be charged as a cream tea and will therefore cost more! When we questioned that it was airily dismissed. It’s hardly a major issue but appalling attitude

I had lunch with my friends here. The Lady who served us was very friendly & welcoming, I believe her name was Rozita. Thanks to John Lewis for employing her. Great viewing over the river. 💯% recommended, Great Experience 👍

Very nice place to relax in Kingston. Quiet and lovely scenery as it’s right on the water. Scone and tea for 4.95.

Such a stunning view whilst you enjoy you meal or just a coffee and perhaps cake, lots on offer reasonable priced, good portion sizes and very friendly and accommodating. Child friendly, high chairs available and children's meals.

So first time I’ve ever been in here, very disappointed. Had a pot of tea and a Welsh Rarebit and bacon Toastie. The only good thing about it was the tea, the toastie wasn’t that great. Not much bacon in it, but to be fare it wouldn’t of matter anyway. As the mustard overpowered everything, you took a bite and all you could taste was mustard. Also there wasn’t that much on the menu. Would I go back here? Well that’s easy to answer. No!! I’m better off making a toastie at home!!

Post-covid this isn't as good as it used to be. There's sandwiches, toasted sandwiches, soup, coffee, tea and some cakes but no hot meails. ...... The view is still good however, and reduced people means that there's more space to sit, it was nice to get a window seat for once. If you want a sit with coffee and cake, it's a good spot.