The Place to Eat in Central Bedfordshire - Phone Number, Reservations, Reviews

The drinks were lovely once we finally got them (cappuccino & hot chocolate) but the queues were really long. The cafe is very light and airy and they were lots of seating available.

Lovely relaxing area of dining with lots of people. Food served warm, due to cooked already. Chips are over cooked. I could see other peoples food freshly cooked due to sold out and looks much better than mine. I guess it’s the timing of arrival. Sandwich/baguette is slightly hard due to already made and in fridge.

I have enjoyed visiting The Place to Eat at Johw Lewis Stratford Westfield since it opened. I have always found there to be a warm welcoming and relaxing environment for coffee, brunch or lunch and I will continue to visit. However, each and every time the cakes are either hit or miss. Yesterday's visit was a miss where the cake was concerned! My mum and I moseyed along for brunch and each chose the tuna & cheddar toasties (delicious!), hot drinks and the apple cinnamon strudel cake. The cake looked nice but oh dear, it was pretty tasteless and a tad dry. This was such a huge disappointment as our toasties were so good. As I have said, for years the cakes are hit and miss. The select changes often which is great but the flavour can be often lacking. Please, if you need a cake taster, I'd be happy to oblige, but The Place to Eat must do better!!

Nice place to have coffee and breakfast.

Not bad for a simple pot of tea and a slice of cake. I wouldn't go there for lunch/dinner. Especially with so many other options nearby

Thought we could always rely on John Lewis for quality food. So being strangers to the area, we headed there for breakfast. Arrived at 10.00 just as they opened. Ordered a full English and was given a number to put on the table. Then waited for ages to get two teas. Only one member of staff serving ( who was struggling as she did not seem to know where everything was) though other staff stood around chatting. Whilst still in the queue, someone walked by asking if someone had ordered our breakfast as they were trying to take it to a table - we had not even got that far! We then had to queue to pay - if they knew there were queues then why not pay first? I asked the cashier if I could make a complaint, could I speak to a manager. He said I could tell him and he would pass the complaint on. I then sat down to eat. Never had a boiled egg with a full English before - but everything was over cooked and stone cold. Complained again - waste of time. Requested a refund for the full English - which I got. The total lack of customer care from John Lewis stunned me. I would not recommend this place - particularly as there are so many other places to eat very close by.

About 10 years ago I would visit once or twice a week for either breakfast or lunch and a hot drink. When the food started to go downhill I came in about once a week for a tea or coffee and maybe a scone or slice of cake. I stopped coming for a while when that deteriorated. I popped in today for a scone and coffee and to be honest it's the worst I have had here. The coffee is dire and the scone drier than the Gobi desert. I will head back to the M&S one from now on. The service was good the space is amazing and they keep it clean but I want a good coffee and decent fodder for the price I pay here. The above is for the Stratford Branch. Looking for the Shepherds Bush branch it has lead me to the same place. I am in Westfield's Shepherds Bush and popped into their cafe once again. This time a total wreck. Staff moaning about who and when they are taking a break, in front of us customers. Slow service, had to remove stuff from a table so we could sit and eat. I have learnt myself not to eat here any longer as the quality of the food has deteriorated, in my opinion, over the last few years. My partner has the cod, chips and mushy peas which were ok but the same as she would get in a spoon pub. In these sure times I can see what this is happening so I suppose we should all be going back to making our own food.

For the price, it’s great. Staff are so helpful as well. They really help with a kid.

Excellent service, spacious with lots of tables, plenty of desserts to choose from.

Lovely Carrot cake + peppermint tea

Had sausage chips and beans. The sausages were OK, but luke warm. The chips and beans were cold. For the price they charge you'd expect it to be hot. Won't be going there again.

Love the cakes and drinks but the breakfast wasn’t for me

I like coming here for cake and a tea. It's quiet, and the tables and facilities are clean. The staff are friendly and willing to help, and very accommodating. Like the Belgian chocolate fudge cake, my fave. Will definitely come again.

The staff are rude. Overpriced food and drinks ....

service here has really gone downhill over the past few months; the cakes don't taste as fresh as they used to, and they have also reduced the offering.

Always friendly and helpful at the John Lewis - The Plsce to Eat. A good range of sweet treats available and fresh hot food to order. Staff are all friendly and helpful. Tables are all sanitised before use. Highly recommended, will call here again next time I'm in the store.

It is literally painful to watch several people move this slowly and struggle to put together a lunch - meanwhile the food is over priced and tastes like it came from a tin - what a waste of (way too much) time

Definitely Not The Place To Eat. Went in Saturday whilst breakfast still being served; asked for a sausage sandwich on white bread and a bacon sandwich on white bread. The server disappeared into the kitchen and emerged somewhile later with four slices of toasted white bread and proceeded to put the bacon between them. I had to enlist the woman behind me in the queue to confirm what I asked for. Ended up with cold bacon and cold sausage between two dry slices of white bread with two packets of cold butter on each cold plate! Total incompetency and slow with it. The one star awarded is a "minus"/"negative" star since I can't give no stars.

None of the current food selection is vegetarian let alone vegan. I asked for details of the vegan options and was provided the nutritional information book which showed that all of their so called vegetarian and vegan options may contain fish and dairy. This included the supposed vegan sandwiches and the soups. I understand this is because the supplier produces fish, shell fish and dairy in the same factory. I presume they are doing this to cover their backs but if they can't provide a guarantee their food is free from cross contamination then I wouldn't trust them even if I wasn't vegetarian.

I have always been a John lewis customer and always said you can't beat their customer service always brilliant. Well how can you be so wrong the way we spoke to on Friday the rudeness by a so called lady manager the way she spoke to us .like a bit of dirt and it made us feel like we was telling liars .so much that they should listen to customer first before keep walking off and leaving us for about 10mins at a time .what happened to customer has rights well this lady manager needs to be retrained in customer service manners and we got better service from the younger members of staff at John Lewis mk .no-one wonder they are losing customers in store when you have management like this working their .the store was much better run and kindness under mr matthews .

The place is very nice , but the food is disgusting and highly priced.

Amazing food! Amazing Service! Amazing Staff! Amazing Store!

very helpful and knowledgeable staff good selection of gf

Went to have cream tea / cake with my mum and very disappointed with the dirty crockery - please see photo of tea pot. It's a shame because it is a lovely place to go. I asked a member of staff to see the manager about the state of the tea pot and was told the pots would be soaked at night and that the manager 'would tell me the same thing'. When I spoke to the manager he said it would not happen again and just walked off - obviously in a hurry. Disappointing John Lewis experience.

Once again visited JL The Place to Eat when visiting MK and we were not disappointed. The quality remains very good and meals are good value for money. Very often busy, yet the majority of staff remain so pleasant and helpful and at times go out of their way t make patrons happy. No matter how busy, you see staff helping folk carry the tray to a table, help elderly folk with seating etc. This is very much appreciated guys.It is also extremely good to see management digging in and helping clear tables, stack dishes etc. What a great example being set to younger staff.The only negative is the absence of the Moroccan Chicken soup.We loved this dish for many years and miss it on each return. Come on guys get it back on the menu!

Have refurbished and made it terrible

Huffkins Coffee Shop do fantastic food. Afternoon tea is a must. Homemade soup was delicious. Lots of vegetarian options. Staff were friendly and helpful.

You can find any food you can find from the beginning of the store

Nice cake and hot drink available free if you are a John Lewis card holder. On a mid morning visit it was reasonably quiet, popular either with mothers with their prams or home workers with their laptops. It is spacious enough to handle these clientèle. The place is clean and the staff were welcoming and helpful. Cake self serve and bigger range than Oxford St. A nice place to come for some chill out away from busyness of westfield.

Hard to beat for a great choice of coffee and cakes in this surprisingly spacious restaurant situated on the second floor of the John Lewis store. Friendly and helpful staff too. Well worth a visit.

And it's got a Waitrose there too!

We stopped visiting here when the way it served food and drink was changed for the worse some time ago. The similarly upmarket store we went to instead for breakfast has also recently gone downhill e.g hot food served on cold plates, no choice of brown toast. So it was back to John Lewis and what a surprise. Things have improved since we were away and we were very happy with the food and service. It meant we did some impulse shopping in John Lewis and looked at buying a new bed instead of going elsewhere.

Good for the view and coffee or tea but the food it’s not that good the truth is , and the prices a little bit expensive

I've just been shouted at by the manager Sayma Nasrin 😔😔😔. Stormed over and in front of customers she abruptly told me, in no uncertain terms, with no introduction and no apologetic smile that I must immidiately remove the plug from the socket! A sign said I shouldn't but a kind member of staff said it'll be fine till after lunch. Whatever the case Sayma's threatening and over zealous approach was terribly anti-John Lewis... A place I've been shopping at since Nan took me there back in the 80s. A pity the quality of managers is plummeting. The other members were embarrassed and facially apologetic. I packed up and left and I have no plans to return anytime soon.

Great place to have coffee /tea and cake. Also lunch if it's that time...

Good quality basic menu. Service can be slow at times.

Perhaps the most civilised place in Westfield for coffee or a light meal. As always JL staff are great and always helpful

Good place to stop for a bite to eat and rest from shopping. Turns into an unruly creche at times though.

No staff serving hot food, no sign indicating soup is self serve, no bowls in the soup section, rock hard bread, and a cake that was partially frozen!

Good coffee, pleasant staff & comfortable surroundings

Every time I have visited this restaurant with my small children I have been so impressed with their staff. I have always been offered help with my tray throughout the service without having to ask anyone, including taking my tray to a table so that I can manage the children. Thank you so much, your kindness goes along way in today's world.

Reasonable choice of food at a reasonable price for the area. Not too keen on the coffee though

If you are looking for some peace and quiet away from the hustle and bustle of the shopping centre then head for this restaurant on the second floor of the John Lewis store. A wide selection of cakes and drinks were on offer, which were as good as they looked. The staff were also friendly and helpful. Well worth a try.

None of their food is labelled for allergens and ingredients, you have to ask. Admittedly the man was happy to look it up. But a lentil and coconut soup I would assume to be vegan. Good job I asked.

I love this place. Always a great place with the kids as not chaotic like other haunts in Westfield. Pleasant staff. Lovely scones.

Nice and quiet and a very tempting array of cakes, desserts and pastries to have with coffee or tea.

John Lewis place to eat is a nice quick stop off for a coffee and a bite to eat Like the tables by the viewing gallery as you can watch the hustle and bustle downstairs at your leisure Good place to stop off and sit down

The first time we had coffee in John Lewis Westfield Stratford was from the drinks dispenser and it was lukewarm. The second time we asked for coffee at the hot drinks counter, thinking it would taste better and again it was lukewarm. After a couple of months we tried the drinks dispenser thinking that there was an improvement but again the coffee was lukewarm. Don't John Lewis ever heat the water and milk in their cafe? Has anybody experienced the same? The worst coffee we have tasted. Never again.

We went just after peak lunch time but a long while before lunch slot closed. Staff mainly concerned about packing up. Chef wouldn't make a salad. The quiche slice I had was very tasty but accompanied by a very small salad. All at top prices. No atmosphere at all in dining area.

Staff very slow and inexperienced, long wait at the counter despite short queue

Beautiful place to eat and meet friends for lunch

Thought we'd pop in to John Lewis Restaurant Place to Eat, plenty of places to eat in CMK,Pleased we went here for a change, had soup and pot of tea served by lovely lady. Went to pay at the till, where this lovely northern spoken lady smiling and very pleasant. So thank you again for making our lunchtime enjoyable, oh and the food was good as well

The airy feeling of this place makes you want to stay

the ambience is great but the products are subpar

Had to be in town so we treated ourselves a little with a full breakfast here. Great move on our part. The place was relatively quiet as it was early about 09:00. The food was hot and tasty, the staff polite and friendly and price very reasonable. We thoroughly enjoyed it and would recommend it to anyone.

A lovely pot of tea and a slice of cake for me and a Hot Chocolate, sandwich and slice of cake for my wife. We enjoyed it all with a nice view looking over the street in Westfield. Great service from all the staff. Just some advice. Don't store the Chocolate brownie with the Mint cake, it contaminates and ruins the Chocolate brownie if you don't like mint much and ease off on the Mustard in the bagel, it was lovely but a little too heavy on the heat.

Always a pleasant experience. A place to shop and eat.

Good sized restaurant tables well spaced and great variety of food and drinks

Dissapointing for John Lewis. The cakes were uncovered. The choice was minimal, although it was late afternoon. The only good part is that it was noise free. The views out are terrible. John Lewis where have the freshly made pancakes and waffles gone! I know there is competition within the shopping centre but you are not competing anymore. It's a shame.

Hard chips, cold food, tasteless tea. Absolutely shocking for JL!

This cafeteria is located on the 3rdfloor of John Lewis. They provide a friendly and fast service. The place is big and it feels great with the big windows. The coffee is made by machine but good. The pastries are delicious specially the black currant proseco cake

A very tasty piece of carrot cake with a nice mug of coffee to break up a long shopping visit, even better when it's free as part of the John Lewis reward club!

A good range of food available with friendly staff. Though it seems standards have dropped as have often found crockery not in its cleanest form. When this was pointed our to a manager,got a quite nonchalant response. Certainly not what it used to be.

love this restaurant, bright and welcoming. Food pretty good

Bad. I went for lunch and I was shocked to see a member of staff putting back in the serving pot food unwanted by a client for being cold, after she touched it with s finger. Avoid it unless you go for cake and coffee.

Nice cafe very large and spacious on the third floor, nice pastries and cakes, they offer hot food mains and home made pizza reasonably priced, it's nicely laid out, there are a lot of kids here so it's ideal for families with kids

I am very happy with their service and hot drink and cakes are delicious.

Overpriced lukewarm canteen food. Mains £6 - £8.50. My fries were soggy and almost cold. Nice views from sunny terrace, will be good in summer but only for a cup of tea or coffee.

Ordered lemon chicken and ratatouille. Chicken tasted old and veg tasted rubbery. Order meatball and mash last time and meatballs tasted fake. Not good for the price you pay for these meals. Can get better quality food for cheaper elsewhere (e.g. Sawmill in Stratford).

The cafe has lots of space so it's good for going with kids, but food is terrible. My son had lunch there and got ill.

Went for breakfast at 9.45 am today, expecting good quality food and service (this is John Lewis we're talking about!). Having observed the fiasco/performance of trying to provide a full English for the couple in the queue ahead of us, we opted for two bacon sandwiches. Should be easy and quick. Wrong! Took for ever, and then when they arrived there were two measly (luke warm) rashers inside two large slices of bread. £3.95 each. Never again. Sainsbury's, Morrisons etc do this so much better.

This spacious restaurant situated on the second floor of John Lewis is a haven of peace and quiet away from the hustle and bustle of the shopping centre. We found a wide selection of cakes and the hot drinks were good too. Well worth a try.

Do some nice food. But cater for lunch time meals. After that basic tea and cakes.

We had a bad experience here last year but foolishly decided to give this restaurant another go for coffee and a cheese scone. Same as before - a confusing, dingy environment and uncleared tables. The counter service was slow and we were also told our cheese scones could no longer be warmed up. We were directed to a microwave to heat them up ourselves so by the time we had paid, worked out how the microwave worked and got to our table, the not particularly good coffee was cool. We go for coffee regularly in the city centre and in other establishments such as Carluccio's and Cafe Rouge, we feel well cared for and valued. Our experience in John Lewis was quite the opposite and to add insult to injury, was much more expensive!! Never again!!

Lovely place, but chairs now are worn out and need replacing.

I was told that there was no hot gluten free food available. Even the mash has flour in. I find that hard to believe, but not worth the risk.

Had a nice quote breakfast here, nice open space with good natural light. Canteen layout so grab a tray and help yourself. Had the full English which was 7.95 and came with egg, has grown and toast plus 5 items of your choice. Staff friendly with a nice atmosphere, would recommend for a quite breakfast

Very poor selection of cakes when I visited today at 4pm, I asked if they had more cakes but was told no but by the time I left the selection had been replenished. Also many uncleared tables in the restaurant made it look untidy and ditry. Not what I'd expect from John Lewis. Going there for a coffee and a cake is no longer the treat and pleasure it used to be

Good lunch spot... it's a cafeteria, not a full service restaurant! Not sure why others are complaining about service...it's a cafeteria... you grab a tray, and walk around picking the dishes you want to eat... then pay for it and take you tray to a table and eat. Had a great egg mayo sandwich and corn chowder soup...was very tasty. if you don't like your drinks room temp, ask them for a glass of ice.. they are happy to get it for you. Was a good spot to meet colleagues for lunch on a busy work day.

Great choice of fresh foods,very relaxing place to enjoy your purchase.

Can't say I find the sparse design particularly welcoming. Mostly self serve. Design of layout is confusing having to get milk for your tea across the other side of the room to the hot water and coffee machines. Not as busy as you'd expect and I did think this is due to a lack of atmosphere. Sorry, not a fan. Give me the Liverpool version of The Place To Eat any day.

Called in for a snack early yesterday lunch time. Went for the soup and bread chose Carrot and Coriander. The lady serving us filled the soup bowels to overflowing, one plate was drenched in soup so she changed it for another plate. Did nothing about the overflowing bowels so by the time we had paid and found a seat both plates were wallowing in soup. It was early lunch time so there was no pressure to rush to serve us.

Very large seating are so can always get a seat. It does seem to have gone down hill though - selection of cakes aren’t as good and usually look a bit dishevelled. Found a hair in one the other day. Only ever use the free coffee and cake voucher as would not pay the prices they charge for machine coffee. You can have someone make one by hand if you ask.

We went for lunch today and for years we enjoy the Moroccan chicken soup, they have a new recipe and it was awful, there was hardly any chicken in it and the veg in the soup was not cooked and it was over spicy... and the bread you get with it was really small, it was no comparison to the original recipe was a very cheap version... what a let down I will go to M&S; in future

I do remember this place being a bit better than it has become. Often if you're going there for hot food, items are always in a "being prepared" instead of ready state. As a result the selections can seem sparse, as if you're experiencing a post apocalyptic event. The food is good quality.

I try to give a good fair and honest review but I have to say I cannot about this place should of gone to M&S; . John Lewis’s didn’t even have fresh milk.

We have shopped at John Lewis in Milton Keynes for 30 years and frequently have coffee and a cake as part of the day out, however the catering has reached an all time low. We were there yesterday evening at about 18.30 and although the store was very busy, unsurprisingly the restaurant was almost empty.

Having travelled extensively round the UK and visited many many John Lewis stores I just can't believe how poorly these restaurant's are run. The brand is known for its efficiency of it's staff, their knowledge and the pleasure you get from visiting the stores, but, "The Place to Eat" OMG!! it bears no resemblance to the rest of the organisation, please please get it sorted, they are pants!

Lunch in MK store. We both had salad. Antipasti salad has one small piece of ham. Caesar salad two flakes of parmesan the size of cornflakes. Utterly appalling rip-off. The cheap ingredients like lettuce are plentiful. John Lewis really do take the mickey. Never eat there again. This after spending over £200 in the store btw.

J Lewis MK recently changed to 'standardised' scones. They used to be quite good.

Went here for breakfast. Ordered a full breakfast and scrambled eggs on toast. Scrambled eggs on toast were cold so spoke to member of staff who asked "do you want another one". When replacement came was told it was freshly cooked, it was colder than the first. Returned them and explained they were colder then the first.Full breakfast arrived looked like it had been poured onto the plate

After long morning shopping and dealing with banks, we were looking forward to lunch. It was just about ok. I had the chicken ceasar salad and hubby the minestrone soup with rye bread. An extra slice of this seemed really expensive. Was charged £1.50! We had a diet coke and a coffee. The total was £16+ which I think was far too much. Don't think I will bother again. Have been there many times but no more.

After enjoying and praising the fish and chips at this restaurant for many years, this year's visit was a let down. The fish was tasteless and the batter not crisp; the peas were mushy and not the garden variety as before and the chips lacked that homemade taste which we had so enjoyed.

Tried to tell me that a baguette was meant to be rock hard and thought she was being friendly because she called everyone " darlin" like it was an East End pub 😮

Visit this place about once a week on average, so I cant be too critical! On my latest visit, there was only one person serving beverages and operating the till. Service can be a bit slow due to the fact that with most people having different types of coffee, its a lot slower to produce than if people are just having tea, where you just stick some hot water in a teapot.

We went here yesterday for a spot of lunch and it was good. I had the Moroccan Chicken soup which is always nice. My husband had the Leek soup which he enjoyed. The coffee and tea we had were good quality. The only downside was the bread that came with the soup was standard white crusty, no other choice was available. I think a selection of bread would have made our lunch even nicer!

Just awful! as we went in we were surprised to see scruffy, littered tables, awful, cold unappetizing food, unfortunately we were hungry and foolishly decided to to try eating here. We are surprised that John Lewis is not embarrassed to put its name to this "the place to eat".

The restaurant in this Milton Keynes store used to be good but things have slipped since it was moved. It's dark and uninviting and lacks real character and, as others have said, tables are often not cleared promptly.

Hard to believe this was John Lewis. Tables not cleared, crumbs on the floor and depressing dingy decor. Tasteless glow in the dark 'orange and chocolate' cake. Disappointing.

Stopped for a cup of tea and snack (fruit scone) It was a lovely looking place, clean, tidy, friendly staff but the food is over priced (diet coke, tea, fruit scone & cheese scone almost £10!) and small portions. Fruit scone was dry, pot of tea was good, getting three cups out of it!