The Secret Garden Cafe in Stockton-on-Tees

I don't leave many poor reviews, but this place was truly awful. How it is still in business, is beyond me - I can only assume it caters to tourists (like us) who will never return. We ordered a simple 4 coffees and 4 cakes. The coffee was OK - it took a while to come, but when we got it, it was OK. We had to go back to ask for our cakes and specify which (despite fact we had already ordered AND paid). One of us had a lemon drizzle cake - for some reason they got 2 thick slices - looked nice, but was tasteless - just tasted of sugar, no lemon. Another had caramel cheesecake - similar - tasteless. 2 of us had caramel and apple pie - for the first time in my life, I left most of it on my plate - it was not exactly unpleasant, but texture / taste were quite disappointing and I chose to leave it. As did my wife. Most of the "lemon drizzle" cake was also left. Service was chaotic, inefficient and a little discourteous. The interior was a bit grubby and the toilets were dirty (urinals blocked and hand-drier broken). No customers were allowed to sit iside for some reason. This little lot (reminder - 4 coffees and 4 very poor cakes) came to £38. I'd say that was £25 over what it was worth. I suggest you avoid (and I wish we did).

Awful place. Extremely disorganised and expensive and the cakes were flavourless and pretty inedible. Coffee was the only good thing about it.

Chaotic....... Food unremarkable, long wait for the food. Staff couldn't understand you - could be an issue if you had a dietary need. Cleanliness not up to scrath, mess behind the food preparation counter and the route to the toilets upstairs was very grubby. Would not recommend.

Horrendous. Take your money and time elsewhere. Place is a complete disaster ran by a lunatic. Places like this shouldnt be allowed to exist. Almost every order someone for some reason was asking for a refund. Including ourselves for inadequate food, service and drinks.

Afraid this was the worst meal we’ve ever tasted. Half an hour wait. Tomato Soup was tasteless and didn’t even taste like tomato. It had been thickened with flour or cornflour which was still full of lumps . Goats cheese and beetroot salad absolutely dreadful. Lettuce past its best. Goats cheese had dried up. The citrus dressing was a slice of lemon??. When I asked the waitress where the dressing was she pointed to the lemon slice 🤷. I asked for a bit of French dressing and was given tartare sauce?? We didn’t stay for coffee. We left leaving 3/4 of our meal uneaten. Absolutely dreadful tasted quite inedible .

To put the review in context, the cafe was far from full inside and due to the weather there was no one sitting at the outside tables. We ordered two coffees and a carrot cake to share. To give even more context it was an individual cake, that wouldn’t even need slicing, simply needed to be put on a plate. The coffees which were OK arrived but no cake. We waited and after a while asked the same young waitress about the cake and was told it was coming soon. We waited and waited and waited some more…. After 20 to 25 minutes we had finished slowly drinking our coffees and was just about to put our coats on when an older waitress finally bought our cake over. We explained it had taken so long that we had now finished our coffees and asked for a refund of the cost of the cake. The waitress returned, glared at us and threw the coins towards us (they landed on the table) and walked off without even a sorry.

Don't be put off by the reviews! We had a beautiful lunch in the sun today; it's a gorgeous spot, hidden away with vines and lovely flowers. Felt like we were on holiday. We had salads, which were excellent, tiramisu, which was excellent and top quality iced coffees. With free sweets and fruit afterwards, a lovely touch. The owners and waiting staff were really friendly. Yes it was busy! On a Saturday in Bakewell everywhere is busy! We had to wait, but not too long and it was nice to sit, relax and enjoy the garden. Quirky, relaxed independent, family run cafe, clearly much loved and cared for. Great food. Try it!

A magical discovery, hidden away in a secret garden. The proprietor was so lovely, welcoming and engaging. The food was gorgeous, and my sister loved the 'full experience' of the Turkish coffee.

Lovely atmosphere, lovely staff, delicious food. Surprise item on the menu was Turkish coffee. Very smooth coffee served from beautiful coffee pot in a delightful wee cup accompanied by best Turkish delight. A great treat.

I think I found the worst cafe in Bakewell. Outside looked lovely … I sat inside - the decor was dated , budgies in a cage, and the view outside was marred by cobwebs … happy to ignore all of that …. Counter service was rushed … ordered, I thought, a ham salad sandwich plus coffee, coffee came very quickly (1 star) … 45 mins later I asked about my sandwich- turned out it had been waiting on the counter (for 20 mins) - guess serves me right for being polite and waiting… anyway said sandwich did look awesome - doorstop proper bread with proper ham (another star rating) - no salad - after a little discussion I did get a salad but that was tainted by some bits of slimy lettuce - knowing how easy it is to get food upsets with salad did give that a wide berth (just in case - esp giving the 3 star food hygiene I googled while waiting) … yet there was this lovely looking doorstop proper ham sandwich … until I took the first bite - it was ruined by the margarine - at £8 I would expect butter, or at least a good quality margarine … it was not nice!! however my experience was, the homemade lasagne did look amazing and the garlic bread smelt delicious- perhaps had I ordered differently my experience would have been better .. I haven’t walked out of a place wanting to warn people off it before!

Excellent cafe bistro we had coffee and cake which was delicious. The service was 5 stars nothing too much trouble. The food looked delicious and was all freshly prepared.

Went on Sunday lunchtime and really enjoyed the food, drinks and music. The staff were really friendly and helpful. We ordered two salads; beetroot and goats cheese salad and a Mediterranean salad and they were both really fresh. The Turkish tea was a nice surprise too. It is in a peaceful hidden courtyard. I hadn't read any reviews until 5 minutes ago and there are so any negative ones. I just don't recognise it as the same place. Give it a try and decide for yourself. We will definitely be back

We loved it here .. goats cheese and beetroot salads were beautiful and baklava and Turkish coffees to follow. The staff were so lovely. We have recommended this already to family and friends. We have been to Bakewell many times and never found this little gem ..but do not worry we will be back

Difficult to grade this place - for pure comedic value it would be a 5+ as really must have rivalled Fawlty Towers at its best. The answer appears to be ‘yes’ to every question whether or not that is what happened. Food was OK but mark up on Costco cakes was large. Halloumi fries were strips of halloumi a little charred with garlic bread. Shame as location was fab and it could have been so much better. We so enjoyed reading the reviews as they summed up our experience. Keep trying!!

Having queued for 30 minutes and watched a completely disorganised system I should have been prepared for the low quality of the food when it finally arrived. For a light lunch of a jacket potato with salad and coleslaw and two drinks the bill was extortionate for the quality. The potato had been reheated in a microwave with the cheese on it which lead to a globby lump of cheese and no coleslaw. When asked the response was they had none. No alternative offered. The only positive I can write was about the friendly waitresses who were working hard to cover for the inadequacies of the back of house staff. I truly wish the place had remained a secret.

Dreadful! Its not even worth the one star. We each had a slice of lemon and vanilla sponge. You would think you couldn't go wrong with it. First, we got the wrong cakes. Then it took an age to bring the correct cake. The cake was disgraceful, absolutely rock hard and dry. They had put it in the microwave to try and warm it up, probably in an effort to hide the fact it was well past its best. That didn't work! I have never in my life refused to eat cake that is served to me. I've had poor cake at places but this should have come with a not fit for human consumption warning. I honestly can't believe it was served to us. If food standards agency went in, it would be without a doubt closed down. The hot chocolate was poor, but we drank it. Very week with little flavour. We paid for the hot chocolate. We declined to pay for the cake. The member of staff didn't even check it before saying we didn't have to pay. I suppose he knew we were right. The staff lack any people skills. The food is not fit for sale and the place is grotty. It truly let Bakewell down.

This cafe was great for healthy Mediterranean food in a relaxed atmosphere and friendly attentive staff. We popped in on Christmas Eve for late lunch and shared toasted ciabatta filled with halloumi and roasted vegetables and a Turkish salad with feta and olives and the most delicious flatbread. Ordered from the counter and food arrived in 10-15 minutes even though there was a big table making the staff very busy. We didnt read any of the reviews here until afterwards and we were surprised how bad some were.

Ordered 1 x Coffee for myself and 1x hot chocolate for my wife. 1 x steak pie for myself and 1 x baked potato with Cole slaw for the wife Drinks came quickly and both were enjoyed hence the one star I have given. After 30 minutes I asked when our food would be brought. I was told we had only been waiting 25 minutes. After 40 minutes our food arrived. Steak pie, which I was assured when ordering was beautiful, the meat was totally dried up inside the rock hard pastry. The accompanying veg was barely cooked, the gravy however was good and welcome as it made everything else taste of something. The baked potato, although sold as large, was little more than a small potato served hard, in other words uncooked. We sat just inside the door and in full view of the food prep area. Basically food prep is the responsibility of 1 benny hat wearing man with a microwave. All food is precooked and microwaved in portions as required. This place should be closed and its staff chased out of town by the council. A beautiful town and a beautiful day out spoilt. Don’t be fooled or drawn in by the name and quaint location avoid

Hi this used to be a beautiful cafe, not been for a while probably pre COVID, was so disappointed today, I am gluten free and vegetarian, asked for a cheese and onion sandwich,l to take out and a slice of gluten free lemon cake. Bread was dry and had no butter on so cheese and onion fell straight out of it, the lemon cake was awful had one taste which I struggled to eat as so dry and tasteless that I threw it away. So disappointed this used to be such a lovely place to eat 😔

Went to the Xmas market today and decided to look for somewhere to eat, found this bistro in a secluded side street. On entry no greeting so found ourselves a seat and my wife went and picked two menus up. Ordered tea and a water along with Chilli con carne with rice and a beef lasagne. Drinks arrived after 10 mins and food followed 20mins later. The Chilli had big clusters of minced beef and the rice was part cooked, lasagna was tasteless along with wet garlic bread. We both decided it wasn’t fit for consumption and left. If we had internet on our phones at the time and read the reviews there is no way we would have visited this shambles’s of a so called bistro…..! For your health’s sake please avoid at all costs.

On a recent visit the lovely town of Bakewell we called in to the Secret Garden Cafe for lunch. Although it looks OK and the location is good, the experience and food were not. We only ordered two toasted sandwiches and 2 teas and it wasn’t very busy but the second sandwich never arrived. So after waiting 20 mins we decided to cancel the second sandwich and ask for a refund. The very stressed owner was extremely rude and had no idea about customer service as he refused to refund the tea as well as the sandwich as he said we had received that so its chargeable, even though we didn’t drink it as we were waiting for the food. Then was really belligerent and argumentative towards my wife, ranting about having to pay the bills etc..and the whole situation went downhill very quickly. However we did get the sandwich refunded. We don’t visit cafes to be shouted at and ignored. This place cannot cope with the requests it receives and the food is average at best. This is really disappointing and is a blot on the otherwise vibrant atmosphere of Bakewell. AVOID, AVOID, AVOID *Zero stars applies

A really lovely place for lunch. This place is hidden away but really pleased we found it. We hadn’t read the reviews of it beforehand - don’t let these put you off! Very tasty soups and jacket potato with pulled pork. Excellent Turkish coffee and baklava. The owners were extremely friendly and quick service. Dog friendly.

Lovely home cooked food. Great choice of fillings for panini and sandwiches. Cakes looked really nice but we didn’t try any. Outside area looked like it would be really nice on a sunny day too

Brilliant service and really tasty food. Lovely soft music with perfect ambience. Great staff. Definitely will return 😊

Had an amazing cream tea, sat in a lovely outdoor space. Amazing food and portion sizes. Extremely friendly staff x x very reasonably priced would definitely return

Just don't go there , I went for coffee and cake which they basically had to put on a plate and put on the table but this seemed beyond them . I had to go in three times and ask for my order. In the end I insisted that they put the three little pastries on a plate and give it to me. The staff are very stressed and arguing and saying they can't cope and that the food is being burnt. They should just simplify the menu so that it is quick to serve eg cake on a plate ....no whipped cream , no microwaving the pastries , no strawberries on the side just a slice of cake ...just cut and serve. The garden looks lovely but the music is too loud it must disturb the people in the flats. Suggest they re think menu to aid swift serving. People chose this cafe for the seating area as it a lovely courtyard . If I were the owner I would change the name and seriously think about a completely different theme with a very simple menu eg just tapas , or cold lunches . Give yourself a break ! I hope the owner is reading this and just consider stopping what is obviously not working and relaunch something which makes the cafe a simple, quiet , calm place to go. Pick one theme and serve it and do that well . You have a potential goldmine here but not as it is .

TERRIBLE PLACE...Do not go... I wouldn't give it one star.. Thankfully we visited for an afternoon coffee only and not for our lunch. I do enjoy a coffee and can honestly say this is the worst cup of coffee I've ever had, So very happy we didn't decide to have our lunch here... The manager was rude and didn't have a clue how to approach the customer or treat his staff... Thankfully we found a little gem not far away where we enjoyed a super healthy lunch and coffee... The secret garden cafe indeed... The big secret is not to go to this terrible place... We certainly won't be back...

Can't understand the bad reviews, we had fab Turkish coffee and delicious baklava, the outdoor space is lovely. Great place!

Very poor service and refusal to refund money or food for which I had paid. Some speciality bread, which I had not requested, was brought to the table. I said I did not want it. At the end, I was charged £7.99 for this item. Because I was on my way to the hospital for an appointment [I have eye Cancer], I was rushing and paid before I realised. My request for either the return of my money, or the bread to take home, was refused. I will never go there again and I would recommend that you do not go either!

Please don't go here the food was terrible dry bread not much filling which you pay an extra £1 for. My husband likened it to Fawlty towers. None of the staff seem to know what they were doing. The young waiter had a right mop of hair in between serving food he kept running his hands through it 😝 Then two of us had stomach upsets