The Temple Cafe in Southend-on-Sea

Fantastic food, great service, and atmosphere.

A really cosy little cafe, dog friendly as well for those with well behaved little puppers, my only concern is that twice when I've been there now, the eggs are undercooked to the point of the white being runny, new chef I think

Always a lovely experience when I pop in for a coffee! Had the Temple Breakfast and everything was cooked to perfection. Good to also see they do Chatty Café sessions on a Monday 🥰

Nice cafe with a lovely garden. Many vegan options too

We had been into a shop nearby so thought we would give this a try before carrying on our shopping search. As regular passers by , it looks quirky & interesting. I'm unsure where to start. Our food of sandwich/side crisps and drinks were ok-ish! My daughters frappe was awful, she left that. Our original food was not available so we made do. Those are the positives. Negatives. The place is filthy. Carpeted floors where dogs are also allowed to roam, children/babies crawling on the same floor, which was was utterly thick with sticky dirt, drinks, food etc. And the toilet facilities were disgusting. I doubt that's seen a full clean since opening. Unsure how these meet FSA regulations? Its one thing to have old premises that might have seen better days, but its another to leave it unclean & a contamination risk!

Great food for all dietary requirements. Outside space too, front and rear.

Not quite as good as you would think. A very disappointing experience all round I'm afraid to say. The food was expensive for the quality. And the quality was really quite poor.

Ideal for a simple lunch or cakes. Dogs are allowed.

Menu options not huge but includes vegetarian meals. Food its self is good. Staff pleasant, happy to go again.

Slow service , room full of flies,

Went here for comedy from Little Smash Comedy, had the guy from Radio Essex radio station there, i recommend this radio station 100% the guys are so funny and so nice in person. Give it a listen!

Delicious cake and great coffee! Will definitely be going back one day for lunch to try some of their savory options which looked and sounded great. The staff were polite, friendly and helpful. I did however feel the service was a little slow on this occasion, considering they didn't seem very busy.

Very tasty food reasonably priced. The staff are always so friendly and helpful.

Member of staff forgot to put the order through! Vegan bacon sandwich was cold! Breakfast was luke warm and the egg was hard!

Nice and very welcoming little café, would always come again. Tasty food, superfriendly staff!

Had the best carrot cake ever!! It's a nice relaxed cafe, with tables a nice distance apart. Will definitely be returning

Lovely place to relax and unwind with a nice cuppa.

Really nice coffee, friendly staff in this community-style cafe. Cakes are also worth grabbing a slice of. Lunches consist of great paninis with side salad and crisps, or generously portioned salads, recommend the smoked salmon. Great place to meet friends, stop to take a work meeting or catch up on some emails alone. Also had the breakfast rolls to takeaway before - which are also great.

Lovely catch up with a friend for lunch. My BLT sandwich was delicious, only down side was the ventilation in there is poor so was a bit smoky and my clothes stank when I left.

Afternoon tea was excellent service top notch and atmosphere welcoming and friendly.

Visited Temple cafe with hubby and his mum as a treat for her birthday. Had booked for afternoon tea and we weren't disappointed. Good selection of fresh finger sandwiched with delicious fillings (nice to see more choice than just your usual egg mayo!). Scrummy cakes and scones as well. Pot of tea and prosecco - lovely! Friendly service with a smile. We had come from Wiltshire to take mum out and will visit Temple Cafe again next time we're here.

Nice Cafe, we went to see a singer and had some food and drink.

Lovely cafe and delicious food. Spacious and peaceful outdoor seating area at rear of building

Staff so so. Food good. Coffee v good

We sat in the garden at the back which is a bit unloved but it was too hot to sit inside. My halloumi salad was £9.50 so I was really shocked to have a load of spiky salad leaves, 4 bits of tomato and some halloumi served in a cardboard box with a wooden knife and fork to eat it with. I would expect a lot more from a salad than this and the takeaway style made it even worse. My can of drink was served with a plastic cup. Despite inputting our table number into the online ordering service which was required, our order was shouted out across the garden and no-one knew whose order was whose. I would have thought that this cafe would try harder to create much less waste and should be more eco friendly. I can't work out why plates and knives and forks would be a problem here and the price for such small servings is way too high.

We have been to Temple several times and we always find it a very pleasant experience. The staff are warm and welcoming, the food is delicious and it is really just somewhere to relax in comfort. There is a tranquil ambience and it is in a good location, being just opposite Chalkwell Park with its two cricket clubs. We cannot recommend it highly enough.

Great soya latte there served by a lovely waitress very polite good service 😀 🙏

When for tea snd cakes. Delicious

Everytime I've tried to go they have been closed hours before they say they shut (without updates on their Facebook etc). I went today before 4, and whilst the staff were nice to me and apologetic, I was a bit dismayed that they were just waiting for a delivery and couldn't cut a slice of cake to go, they had shut an hour earlier. Please update your website/Google opening times!! It's so frustrating. Your café looks really nice and staff friendly, and I'd change my review in the future if closing times were consistent. But for now they're not, and has lead to many disappointing visits.

Has gone downhill recently sadly...poor service and getting orders wrong frequently. Not open as stated and often staff are still setting up when arriving for breakfast. Can't help but think this happens when the owner isn't there 🤔

A real gem on the Isle of Harris. So pleased to have found such a lovely little cafe. The coffee was fantastic, the cakes so fresh and tasty and the staff were a delight. I loved the little deli and the fact that the produce is all locally sourced. Def worth a visit!

Closed an hour before the advertised time. Not very professional.

Excellent cafe with good food and lovely service

Very nice place to have lunch, afternoon tea or just a coffee. Good range of meals and sandwiches. Good value and service Recommended

The Temple has a nice relaxed atmosphere. The breakfast was good

I pop in quite frequently and am never disappointed! Love the food (including vegan and veggie options), the coffee and the staff! Lovely place to visit if you’re in the area!!

Cosy little cafe. Stocks two beers from Leigh Brewery, I particularly like the Legra Pale, great taste. Excellent toasties. Good music venue, there tonight to see Holly Williams, really good strong voice, solo show, covers, originals, Christmas songs. Finished the evening with a fine version of Get It On to send us all home humming the tune.

I'm visiting every week. Awesome food and really lovely staff.

I just paid 27 pounds for 2 sandwiches, 2 milkshakes, a kids sandwich and drink, and 2 waters. Except the waters and orange juice never came, took over half an hour and prompted 3 times. Got bored of waiting and watching people being served beers and coffees ordered after us, and left. It's also quite dark and poorly ventilated in there for cooking. Milkshake was nice though so 2 stars not 1.

Nice cost Cafe opposite Chalkwell Park. Had a lovely afternoon tea at this Cafe lovely time and food delicious.

Love this place! So friendly and do a gorgeous Turmeric latte.

Looking at the previous reviews this place has a good rating. However I can only write down a review based on my experience of today that my friend and I received. When we arrived I asked if we should just sit down and the lady said yes as it is all table service. So we went to our table and waited for the menus. After about 7 minutes a couple came in and sat in the cosy place by the window bay. We were still waiting for our menus. Whilst we were waiting the two by the window was given their pot of tea. So after 15+ minutes my friend took it upon herself to go and ask for the menu. We were then brought the menus and asked what we would like to drink, I would have thought an apology at this point should have been forthcoming for our wait but no. Not a great opening gambit. So we eventually ordered our Falafel wraps that came with a thimble of vegan coleslaw, a salad garnish and for some reason a pile of crisps. I have seen this crisp thing in the 1970's but thought it was an era thing. However it's lucky my friend was hungry as she ate mine. The food was OK, a tad on the expensive side for the location but it filled a hungry hole. The food took a while to arrive but we managed to eat and drink at exactly 13.28 after sitting down at 12:50. So no awards for a hastened service here. Whilst I was contemplating a review score for this place I was set on a 3 star but something happened that made me take it down. The cosy couple having afternoon tea, who came in after us and were served before us, were asked if everything was alright. We had none of that so I can only guess it was either an oversight or that we should not have asked for the menus. Either way this affected our experience, be it an error on the day or whatever. I think others should check it out as this may just be a bad day but for us there are better experiences elsewhere.

Waited 58 minutes for a cheese and ham toasty

Love this place, food tasty, good garden area, could speed up service a bit

Nice surroundings nice food excellent customer service thumbs up from me

Good coffee, lovely service and a great place to meet.

Ordered a frappe and it was disgusting the lady blended it so much that the ice was not even there and it tasted so watery so I complained and she made another one and it’s just as bad! And I ordered the sweet potato fries with a sweet chilli jame for £5 and the frappe for £3.50 and this is what I got for £8.50. Bloody disgusting. I’m trying to help local businesses and I get this! And the lady was moaning about me because I didn’t like the frappe I won’t be coming here again. And to think I loved coming here!

The temple cafe is amazing! Myself, family and friends celebrated my sister who is getting married FINALLY after the last year we’ve had! My sister is vegan and the temple cafe pulled off the most incredible tasting vegan afternoon tea that we could have asked for. All staff are wonderful and everything was just perfect. Please go and try for yourself it was fantastic and so delicious!

Really slow service if you sit in, so be prepared for a long wait unless it's just cake. The food was OK, but there is better for the price.

Had lovely afternoon tea here. Sandwiches were lovely and so generous with cream and jam. Staff were amazing asked several times if we were OK for tea and coffee and we were left to take our time, enjoy the feast and chat. Lovely local business, well worth a visit.

Bright friendly and delicious food

Priced a little heavily for an eaterie not in the trendy part of Leigh and north of the London Road. The craft fair was a nice little event. (the solo guitarist/singer, not quite so!)

Lovely sausage sandwich & coffee. Friendly staff & beautiful surroundings. Will definitely visit again. Highly recommend

Didn't fancy the garden area, to be honest it looked a mess and uninviting, could be so much better, so went in the front section, Cold local Beer on Tap a plus point, cakes good, the Temple Breakfast at £8.50 really needs 2 eggs and not 1, 2 bacon and not 1, although it has 2 sausages these are skinny ones so amounts to 1 real sausage, comes with 1 slice of small toast, small beans, some srooms and tomatoe, £8.50 is way too high for what you get so thats off the menu for me Service ok as expected, its a casual place a bit of a mish mash of things and dogs are allowed inside, so if you are not keen on dogs whilst eating (especially when the shake themselves) best use the outside areas.

Visited for breakfast on a Saturday morning. Nice atmosphere and the staff were very friendly. Unfortunatley the food wasn't up to much. The quality of the ingredients seemed ok but some of it was cold and lacked seasoning. We saw on our way out that they were cooking off a hotplate and didn't have a proper kitchen which explained why. Prices were quite high for what we got considering there are lots of places nearby which do great breakfasts for less. Drinks were good though (turmeric and oat milk lattes). Cakes looked really good too and they do Leigh beers on tap. Wouldn't come back for breakfast but might return for a drink.

Good selection of sandwiches together with scones and cakes. I would recommend this cafe for it's staff, atmosphere and quality of food, our afternoon tea was excellent

Went for a gig, yeah,fine out back, service app worked well,fair prices.

Friendly staff. Good food selection. Plenty of outdoor seating out the front and in the garden.

Visited here with friends for a post lockdown coffee ☕ and cake 🎂. Lovely sunny garden and plenty of gossip to catch up on.

Really good coffee shop nice atmosphere and good food with normal prices

Wonderful takeaway service. Lovely staff. Speedy service. I got a yum coffee with syrup and my friend got a delicious boozy hot chocolate. I also asked for a veggie pannie and she asked the cook and he did me a delicious brie and crambery toasted baguette. It was really full up and very yummy. thank you staff.

A very warm welcome and great service.lovely food and cakes..outside seating and gazebo/garden area at the back so you can meet up ourside..highly recommend for a light lunch or coffee and cake..sue

A very comfortable place to sit and have a coffee & cake.

Great choice of food for all dietary requirements, friendly staff, good location and perfect coffee.

Lovely coffee shop! Great coffee and food plus a lovely garden

This was our first visit. We went as we had seen consistently good reviews. The staff were friendly although quite stressed. The garden didn't seem to be sign posted but was a nice area. The tea was very weak and we returned it. The food was very average and overpriced considering it was so basic. There was no service at all - we were told to keep checking back at the counter to see whether our food was ready. We eventually found it left on a table in a closed cardboard box. There was only wooden cutlery available and it was a challenge to cut the potato skins with them. Our experience may have been unusual, but we certainly wont be rushing back.

Always great food, and fantastic cakes! 🤩

Vegan menu New garden open today Live music great chilled atmosphere

Fabulous lunch in fabulous settings. Thoroughly recommend

Loads of vegan cakes and ice cream. Lots of milk substitutes. Two nice vegan wraps. Lovely garden with gazebos.

We visited the cafe on Monday. The service was excellent, very attentive and friendly. The sandwiches, scones and cakes were delightful. We will certainly return. Thank you ladies for a lovely relaxed experience.

Fantastic food and friendly staff and events in the evening.

Lovely coffee, cake and ice cream!

really enjoyed that little gem at the middle of the big cross road. Step in and enjoy the cozy mornig breakfast. some breakfast are more appealing than others. Just try them all :-)

Lovely relaxed atmosphere with friendly staff. The food was tasty and very fresh. We were lucky today because because there was a saxophonist playing along to some mellow jazz. Great!

Charming little cafe. Great choice of coffees, snacks, salads and cakes!

I wasn't keen on this place when they first opened but now the menu is nicer. Especially the home made lentil pie

🗣🗣 If you like snickers, get the snickers milkshake, it’s heaven! (Pictured) A quaint little place for lunch. Had a really nice afternoon tea here recently. The lady working was very friendly & helpful. I recommend! Came back today & had a lovely lunch - goats cheese & pepper sandwich, some wedges to share & a slice of rainbow vanilla cake. Different staff, all really nice again! Also, the cheese & onion toastie is is gooood!

Great atmosphere; good variety of homemade, freshly prepared food. An individual establishment that makes a change. Staff very pleasant, professional & helpful. Maisie & Lola were attentive & made us feel very welcome. Great menu & coffee was best I have had for a long time.

Lovely cafe , friendly and welcoming service and great food. Really enjoyed our visit. It felt as though we were on holiday for a few hours !

This cafe has the most welcoming host and absolutely delicious coffee. There is a wide selection of food including vegan and gluten free choices as well as cakes galore! Thoroughly recommend.

Warm Friendly and comfortable atmosphere, excellent homemade food and drinks overlooking a beautiful park, staff couldn’t be more helpful, highly recommend 😁

A wonderful cafe under new management with a brand new menu. Prices reasonable and food quality great. A superb place to stop for cyclists (great coffee). The owner is willing to accomodate large groups with storage space for bikes. Couldn't recommend more.

Delicious food and fantastic friendly service. Lovely chilled atmosphere, the perfect place to grab a quick bite, or something more substantial.

So disappointed. Went to try the food today at 14:45 and was told the kitchen wasn’t open regardless of the website saying lunch is served from 12 till 5. Was really excited to try this cafe but am now left hungry and disappointed. Perhaps sort out the times on google and your website so you don’t have to turn willing customers away.

I had a jacket and beans with vegan cheese, balsamic side salad and little pot of coldslaw. My friend had a sandwich with crisps. We had two cans of Diet Coke and it came to approx £16. £8 for the jacket potato seemed a tad on the pricey side but no complaints.The waitress bought a jug of water to the table without us having to ask.The milkshakes were very nice.We sat on the tables outside with the parasols up. A nice place for a ladies catch up lunch! Great for those who struggle with dairy or who prefer a vegan diet.

All I wanted was bacon & egg sandwich to warm me up after working in the rain all day . Found this place good reviews but the price is way over priced compared to a normal cafe .. I paid £8.40 for bacon & egg sandwich and a coke .. lovely staff but it’s a up market cafe but can’t justify 8.40 .. gonna have to do over time now

Very small cafe but the food was nice and the service from the friendly staff excellent. We all had a lovely time.

We were given a voucher for afternoon tea as a wedding present so booked up to go. The food was very nice and fresh and we thoroughly enjoyed it. Only down side was that we were sat at the back near the kitchen, it was a lovely sunny day so it would have been nice to have sat outside or nearer the door, the table was pre laid so didn’t want to make a fuss. The place was fairly empty apart from 2 ladies sat on the table next to us(which was only 10 inches away). This made it difficult to enjoy a nice time with my new husband as they were so loud. Apart from that we would return as long as able to choose our own table.

A very delicious lunch! I've tried quite a few of their sandwiches and breakfasts and I've never been disappointed! Fantastic!

Have been here a couple of times recently and the food is fresh and tasty and the menu has something for everyone including vegan, vegetarian and gluten free options. The breakfasts are very filling and well worth the money. I have bought take away lunches as well and Its always been Made to order, fresh and tasty. Great choice of milks for hot drinks. Great cakes, including vegan and gluten free choices. Well worth a visit. The only downside is there are only a few tables to sit at inside and the space is quite small. However there are quite a few tables outside where it's a bit more spacious , which is good for the summer months, but not so good for the colder weather. I live two and a half miles from this place but will make the effort to walk here and get a take away lunch when I need one!!!

Nice little cafe. Good selection of cakes

This has become my new Sunday morning go-to place. The service is great, the food is delicious and the new owners are lovely and friendly. I'm slowly working my way through the menu and I'm excited to see the changes they are making to make it even better. Kid and adult friendly, can't ask for anything more!

We had been in the area ahead of an event at the local school and found this cafe.Service was excellent and always polite. The food we had was of a good quality - perhaps the salad could of been crisper and not composed of so much lettuce.There was a good range of options on the menu and if you wanted something a little different you only had to ask. Within the cafe itself, it was comfortable and clean.The only downsides to this cafe is the road noise from passing traffic - but that isn't something that is a fault of the cafe.I'd personally critique the toilet for not having an air hand dryer (and the lock being somewhat temperamental). The less observant might not spot that the toilets are around the back (it is signed).

Gorgeous place to sit on a sunny day. Delicious milkshakes and great menu. Will be going back.

Great place for coffee, wonderful staff

The food is delicious and all freshly prepared. Staff are friendly and helpful. I'd definitely recommend eating here

Very friendly, beautifully presented scrumptious afternoon tea, would highly recommend.

Went for afternoon tea, a gift from my daughter. Lovely sandwiches and cakes and helpful, friendly staff. Would recommend, especially as a good choice for vegetarians.

Such a nice little cafe but honestly the Americano coffee I had was undrinkable and my friend agreed. It was weak and tasted of ground acorns. Sorry.