The Rookery Café in Lambeth

Eoin, Emil and Sasha vrey good helpful and kind from sophie lea gerrard ps they look after me so well they need to have today off tonight

The toilets were absolutely filthy. Overflowing sanitary bins full of bloodied and soiled items. Cold water tap to clean hands. A good spot for vermin no doubt. I’m not sure whether the toilets are independent to the cafe, however it states the facilities are cleaned daily and if not satisfactory to mention to staff, which we did.

Who knew a place like this could be hidden away in a corner of Streatham. Had a walk around rookery gardens on a sunny morning. A pretty little walled area that could be out in the Surrey hills. The cafe is located at the entrance. I ordered what a normal cafe would call a full English. Great quality food including possibly the best poached eggs I've ever had. Not the cheapest fry up but excellent food in a lovely location. Would definitely come again.

The cafe looks inviting from the outside. But once your in it's a different story. I've been going here off and on for years and it used to be really good. But it's clearly changed management, and not for the better. It's all surface and no substance. This afternoon I went in for a takeaway coffee. There were three members of staff behind the counter, all of whom seemed more interested in talking amongst themselves about stock and ordering than taking notice of customers. Though my order was taken quickly enough by one of the three, it took what seemed a couple of minutes before one of the other two decided to go and make the coffee. He then seemed to make other people's orders before mine. He didn't really look like he knew what he was doing. It was at least five minutes before I got my drink which was way too long considering there was no one else in the queue when I placed my order. He did apologise to me for the wait. Even so it was way too long. I used to work in a cafe and wouldn't have lasted long in the job if I'd taken over five minutes to make one take away coffee, and been more interested in talking to my colleagues than paying attention to customers. Generally the cafe looks nice - though the prices are high and it's full of 'posh poser' customers. But the service is atrocious and as I walked out a member of staff walked out in front of me on her phone, without bothering to acknowledge me or hold the door open despite me being directly behind her. I doubt I'll be back in a hurry.

Its super cozy and perfect to do everything you want,even to little coffee picnic Whith family,very natural and excelent mokkas ;).

The place is very clean and tidy.The staff are very nice and friendly. I was very happy with the service I got .The food was delicious and I really enjoyed it. I will definitely be coming back. I can relax and enjoy myself here . Thank you very much. Claude Best.

Thank you to you all for helping to make my 40th birthday celebration so special. From the seamless organising with Carlotta, to the excellent!!! food from Chef (didn’t get his name) and the service by wonderful Eden and Sacha, it was perfect. It was a whole vibe! Exactly as I wanted. Easy and an intimate setting so I could just focus on enjoying it with my family and friends.

The other day, one staff member violently slammed the door behind me because they were not due to open for another 4 minutes. When I popped my head back in and said that that wasn't a very nice thing to do, she literally cackled while closing the door once again in my face. It was genuinely malicious behaviour and unbelievable. I wrote to the Rookery Cafe to report the incident but they have not replied or even acknowledged my complaint. The service at the Rookery is less than cheery at the best of times. Several members of staff will just stare at you rudely, and there's never a thanks or enjoy your day or acknowledgement of your own well wishes. Just a dead eyed malaise. You'll say 'thanks, have a nice day' and they'll say NEXT, if anything. Another time, I asked the price of a pastry and the staff member just stabbed their finger at an empty space and said 'read'. There was nothing there to read. She then lifted the price that had fallen over. The pastries at this time were yet to be displayed, so they weren't even in the right spot, but they were visible by the till. Yet another time, I've been charged extra for drinks I never ordered. A basic trick of hospitality is to repeat your customer's order so you take the right order. I'm a super patient person and have never written a complaint about service any time before nor ever done a trip advisor review, so this is really beyond the pale. They're a young staff but that's no excuse. I've worked in hospitality and customers can be hard work. But slamming a door on someone and dancing and laughing behind their back is unhinged behaviour. In fact now I think of it the only time I've seen a member of staff smile is when they're slamming the door on you. The location is why I was coming to this cafe, the expensive price did not validate their rudeness. I won't be going anymore.

Awful service, cannot comment on food as it was never served, ordered something off the menu, 20 mins later they told us it shouldn't have been on the menu, ordered something else 20 mins later still not arrived, certainly not going back

Had the breakfast bagel .. rubbery bagel with very little filling… at £10 plus .. not worth it at all. Sadly will not visit again even though at a nice spot on the common. Very disappointing !!!!

Good service - poor food and vastly overpriced Passing in the car we saw what appeared to be a fairly nice looking cafe. We stopped and upon checking the menu it seemed expensive. Giver it seemed fairly busy so though it would be a good experience? There were some interesting food choices including a breakfast bagel and a beetroot latte. Somewhat inexplicably, despite selling all the components for a full English breakfast as sides, they had no full English option on the menu??? The staff were unable to explain why and mumbled something about management? Ultimately 2 breakfasts and two hot drinks was £28, this is a high price to pay (especially for breakfast) but if the food is good, it would be have been fine. Unfortunate the food was extremely average and certain did not justify the high costs. I included photos of the food in my review, it looks better than it tasted. The one sausage was £2.50 and an egg £1.50. The bagel was £10.50 for a fairly average affair that probably only should have been around £6. I note that the previous reviews mention service which to be fair I felt was quite good. However overall we found the food to be extremely average and the prices crazy high (£14 for a burger and a small portion of French fries!!!) The menu could do with a full revamp, reducing prices, adding some more varied options. Additionally whilst I appreciate the fact the cafe source food locally, they need to raise the quality of the products or the cooking as the final product lacked flavour. Very disappointing.

Coffee is decent location perfect for end of a dog walk in the fields. Good selection of cakes sometimes stale sometimes not but you wouldn’t dare mention either way with the manageress who is on one gigantic power trip

Staff don't care and the soul has gone from what used to be a lovely community cafe. Everything's filthy too. Used to love this place . So sad

Such a shame - the coffee and food is good but the staff are really sullen and make you feel most unwelcome. They would be better off working in a mortuary!

This is my favourite café with friendly, welcoming staff and simply the best coffee & ‘doggie sausage’ which I enjoy as I don’t have a dog! It is surrounded by fabulous walks & plenty of green space - 100% perfect 👍🏻

The food and coffee here is pretty good - definitely sufficient for the top of the common. However the service is sullen and slow - come on I’d like to go here more!!

I visited the Rookery Café last month whilst visiting a friend in Streatham. We used the app to order which we experienced a couple of glitches with; staff weren't immediately on hand to offer assistance and when they did, they weren't particularly friendly or helpful, but we got there in the end and eventually ordered a couple of their avocado and feta sour doughs with added poached eggs. The food came promptly and did all taste good but a tenner was a bit steep for what was presented to us in a takeaway box. The coffees and cakes were tasty.

This normal lovely little place to get a coffee/tea, today was terrible!! It was busy but it was still slow as ever!! We got coffee and cake today, normally ypu would get a little paper bag with a fork/knife and paper napkins with you coffee and cake in them , but today nothing!! And to add insult to injury the cakes were stale!!

We walked for an hour this morning to get a take away coffee and croissant here and the woman so so rude we didn’t get anything and walked all the way back empty handed. Avoid, avoid, AVOID!

Waited 40 mins for a coffee and bacon roll. Really inefficient system, too many staff members making hot drinks, not handing them out. Hate the app too. Felt so sorry for the two ladies handing out the orders. Not worth the wait. Crazy system and the app kept crashing too

I recently moved to the area and have tried this cafe on two occasions. The first time I got a coffee early on a weekday morning, which was fine. This Saturday however my visit was very poor. I waited 35 minutes for one coffee, which...

I have visited this cafe on a few occasions now as I live in the neighbourhood but I am disappointed each time I visit. As many other have already noted the service is needlessly slow even if just placing a simple coffee order you can...

The food and drinks are pretty good and whilst not cheap it’s a nice place to pop in especially if you can find a spot outside. What spoils the experience is the service which, without fail, is slow and disinterested.

Lovely spot if you can get a table outside to take a breather after walking around the Common/LNR/Rookery. Coffee and ice cream were okay but toasties need some more filling in them and better quality bread.

Lunch for two at the cafe with the delights of squarking toddlers and mummies that may well be happy with the abismal size of the portion served - summer salad and feta sourdough slice - so very disappointing and dreadful value for money.

A nice, quaint café on the outskirts of the Rookery garden. We were originally enticed by the Rocky Road cake (layered in all sorts of chocolate), but stayed for the cappuccinos. Great selection of ice-creams as well. Great selection of items on the menu actually,...

Regularly visit this cafe, which is in a lovely location and serves good coffee. Service is always quite slow, but it’s a laid back community type place so never found this much of an issue. Decided to order breakfast at the cafe for the first...

Brought my grandsons here for an ice cream before playing football with them on Streatham Common. Great ice creams as always , tasty and generous portions. I really like this cafe, it has a fun atmosphere and offers a good range of hot and cold...

It’s a nice place to go to but due to the fact it’s the only cafe at the top of the common, it’s expected that it will be very busy although the service being slow doesn’t help. The drinks and food are nice , had...

This cafe has the potential to be great. Great location with great drinks and snacks behind the counter. However the service really lets it down, so many members of staff yet the service is so slow. The queue is out of the door, not even...

Just had a delicious meal here! And quite different flavours to the kind of food I’ve had elsewhere serving brunch! Very prompt too! Will come again. Could do with some more tables on the inside. So more people and families could sit down.

Really disappointed, 6 members of staff and not acknowledged when we entered. table had just been wiped and was soaking wet with soapy foam bubbling on the surface. I ordered at the counter, there was no hello or smile just a woman stood there or...

Went here today and wow so disappointed! If anyone visiting here please do not order the ham and cheese toastie, as all you will get is a ham and cheese sandwich with no flavour! We had these today and had to take the toasties back...

Visited yesterday afternoon for tea and cake. Long queues, no trays, paper cups, no clean teaspoons, pot of tea (£2.90) barely enough for 2, no milk jugs so yet another wasted paper cup to put the milk in, banana and walnut cake dry and tasteless,...

If you time your visit to avoid of the tide of mums/toddlers and dog walkers, the food is excellent and just the job to fuel a stroll around Streatham Common and Norwood Grove. If you don't you might very well be queuing out the door...

Moved son to Streatham and needed some sustenance as it was the hottest day so far this year!!! We headed to The Rookery where I used to play as a child but the water was not trickling down the stone steps so we had a...

Haven't visited here for a number of years, so I had no idea what to expect. I had a takeaway coffee to drink while wandering the Rookery gardens, good coffee. Returned to the cafe at 2.15, in the hope they were still doing lunches. Yes,...

Always happy with the service, always recommending your place, but today came across really arrogant waitress, blond with glasses. Becouse I dared to mention, politely, that she cut me too thin cake. She shovelled the plate to me aggressively saying :What's the problem?!...I Can't be...

We recently visited the Rookery cafe for late lunch. There was no table available for us but we could see that some customers were ready to leave so we waited inside. Despite the fact there were four people working in the cafe who were mainly...

I am regularly visits this cafe. Most of the time ordered my poached egg crushed avocado on toast. Last time was let me down because it was make by a new chef’s. Amount of half avocado only I get was a little spread on the...

Small menu done very well. Enjoyed the coffee thoroughly, eggs done perfect and easy parking. Casual atmosphere and very friendly.

Dog and child friendly café at the top of Streatham Common. Freshly made meals and sandwiches and some unusual cakes to refresh those who have been having a stroll round the common or Norwood Grove. Friendly relaxed atmosphere created by the young team who run...

Visited here with friends who have recently become parents. Found it really baby friendly and obviously frequented by families as saw several other babies whilst there. Food that we had (burgers and avacado on toast) were good. Fresh and didn’t take long at all to...

Looks lovely and food was okay but customer service was awful. Order got messed up by the staff which was no problem because stuff happens. However the lady's attitude who works there when it was politely pointed out was awful. No apology but rudely told...

My sister in law and I dropped by for a Sunday afternoon tea, here recently. The place has definitely been improved, and it looks very up market, but I was disappointed that I could not find any cake that was vegan. I guess this is...

This café has been transformed since it recently changed hands. It's now a great part of the Streatham Common experience, offering good beverages and cakes, plus ice creams and hot food. The interior is now a pleasant place to sit and relax and there is...

Really impressed with the Rookery. Excellent, simple, good quality food for good prices, and the coffee is fantastic. Would also highly recommend the coffee and walnut cake!

Enjoyed tea and shared a cake here. A promising looking Jude's ice cream stand as well. Loved the setting - who would have known Streatham was so pretty. Hours a bit restricted so worth checking before visiting.

The Rookery cafe has been on the common for years and has recently been taken over and transformed by the new owners. At the top of Streatham common it is worth the walk to enjoy great coffee and freshly made food. The staff are welcoming...

I am so pleased that the new owners of The Rookery Cafe have done such a superb job of transforming it in the manner that they have. The place is great and just what the area needed. Quite aside from the lovely decoration, the friendly...

First visit to this area and pleased to find a nice dog friendly cafe - we don't have a dog ourselves but always enjoy their presence when we are out. Generous and reasonably priced cakes and nice grey tea pots. Would recommend.

Make sure you pop in for coffee and maybe a delicious snack at the end of your walk around the Rookery gardens. Good quality coffee served in cosy and warm surroundings which have been recently "done up" very successfully. The place has a nice community...

This little cafe, right next to the Rookery gardens on Streatham Common, came under new management sometime towards the end of last year and has recently been given a complete internal transformation (they have yet to get around to doing the outside and the outdoor...