Waitrose in Basingstoke and Deane

Tomato soup was tasty but not enough. The bread was good quality but the sachets of butter had melted and were not very pleasant. Service was haphazard and very slow as in all Waitrsose cafes.

So so slow. Always out of food. Serve frozen foods directly from Waitrose downstairs but wayyyy more expensive. Pricey. Food is never good - poor cooked and not nice Coffee beans don't taste nice. And again...SOOO SLOOWWWWWW.

The food here is lovely, the range is fairly good, and the staff are always so lovely and kind. It can be busy during peak hours but they are always apologetic and polite about it. I would 100% recommend.

I do find it can be quite noisy here and fairly expensive. Sometimes I find the service to be quite stand offish at times. Due to having autism I have invariably experienced sensory overload when eating and shopping hear.

We popped in for a light lunch today. The cafe is large and open with very high ceilings and hard furnishing which makes it a noisy space to be in. It is clean and modern and perfectly pleasant. The kitchen is open at one end and looks very clean and well organised. However the food we had was not quite on point. I had Welsh Rarebit and it was on a skinny slice of fairly ordinary bread, the topping was sloppy not light and fluffy and for my taste had too much mustard in it. My daughter had the persian salad but felt that adding rocket to it really confused the taste. The staff were helpful. Overall not something I would rush back to, not bad but not great either

Per un pranzo veloce abbiamo optato di mangiare qui dopo il caos degli uffici!!! Infatti visto le poche persone il servizio è stato più veloce!!! Abbastanza buono il piatto anche se ne ho assaggiato di migliori! Buonissimo il pane tostato servito con il burro. Un posto dove andare ogni tanto, clienti piacevoli e luogo pulito

Hubby and I decided to go out for breakfast today as it is my birthday. Ordered the full breakfast. It sadly appeared to be all about style over substance, soggy hash brown, sausages full of paste (yuk) cold bacon and one overcooked egg. Very very disappointing. Worse still it was served in a BOWL. I mean, come on waitrose. Concentrate on providing an enjoyable hot breakfast made up of quality ingredients and served on a plate please. Best bit of the breakfast was the toast.....

Used vouchers for a hot drink and cake. Took quite a while to be served. Orange and lemon polenta cake was dry and crumbly - definitely wouldn't chose it again. The pecan pastry was very good. Coffees ok but not very hot.

Went with friends from work for a birthday lunch. The platters with a glass of wine are good value for money. I had the new Prawn Cocktail which is served on a slate and it was delicious. We had good service and the gentlemen who served us was pleasant. It can be a bit chilly so make sure you take a jacket.

Had a nice bacon roll and coffee for brunch. Always pleasant here. Friends had a cheese scone each. We enjoyed half an hour of catch up conversation without feeling we were taking up space.

Let me start with the positives. Some of the staff, as inexperienced as some are, try hard and are polite. The girl behind the counter made a great iced flat white too. Yum. Now the negatives...-stale pain au chocolat-45 minute wait for bacon bap and small traditional breakfast-went up to the pass where our food had been sat for 10 minutes but apparently scrambled egg wasn't ready-eventually arrived at table with cold toast, next to no bacon in the bap, snotty eggs (yes, I asked for no runny whites when ordering) and butter that had turned to liquid from sitting on the pass for so long-no one around to put right so had to join line for the till again for a further 15 minutes (!) before being given a part (yes, only part!!) refund.Terrible on nearly every level and a waste of my time and money. Will never be coming back, Ever. I suggest you also avoid. I thought Waitrose was about quality..

This is my first time to visit John Lewis Basingstoke and I happen to stumble upon their cafe on their Waitrose side. I was confuse at first as I thought it was a John Lewis restaurant.

Wow! From the huge car park with large enough spaces to allow you to open your doors as far as you need to, to the aisles in both John Lewis and Waitrose being wide enough to get my double buggy and shopping trolleys down at the same time, this cafe is one of the most spacious I have ever visited. Plenty of high-chairs, lots of room to park pushchairs and trolleys and all the usual delicious food you would expect in a Waitrose cafe. Lifts, travel actors and stairs to go between the floors, large very clean toilets and so bright and cheerful everywhere in the shops. Worth the 20 minute drive to get here just for the car park!

Purchased a few bits from the homeware in John Lewis. Very good.

Met a friend in Waitrose and we thought we would have breakfast while there. It’s been a while since I last ate there and I found the menu a little too fancy. To be honest I really fancied poached egg on toast, not something they had on offer at the time. Fortunately I had a chance to speak to the cook as she popped out to query a previous order. She advised that poached eggs were a simple order, I just needed to order toast and 2 eggs. This isn’t written on the menu but the counter staff were ok with my request and a few minutes later my simple breakfast arrived. I’ll be doing that again.

I so wanted to be able to refute all the negative reviews I'd read about this cafe. Well my experience wasn't as bad as many, but two pots of tea plus cake were served on the tray without cups or saucers (on the shelf out of reach of customers, in case you were wondering). By the time we'd spotted the omission and gone back (to wait in the queue again!) to get them, the tea was cold.

Setting and cleanliness fine but staff seemed inexperienced and lacked any customer service qualities. Flat white were rather cool but were reheated. Not a very strong taste though.

Tricky to get things perfect for every customer in this day an age. Im sure Basingstoke is a touch place to recruit for lower paid jobs like these as rents are rediculously high in Basingstoke. Well done to the dedicated staff who try their best. Large investment in training would help as they do on the continent but then again they view the job as a career rather than youngsters that we have here who are just passin through..

Just for fun as it was getting close to Christmas I thought I’d give it a go. It was hot and it tasted of sprouts so nothing to complain about really.

Sunday lunchtime, waited probably 7 or 8 minutes to be told they didn't have any fish finger wraps and would we like anything else. We asked for another option to be told they didn't have that either! It was like the Monty Python Cheese Shop sketch..

So very disappointing. We ordered a sausage bap, and a Childs meal, the sausage bap was sat under the light for at least 25 minutes while they finished cooking the Childs meal, the two of them took 45 minutes . . . It’s not the staffs fault, there is no management, and if there was it was terrible. I do not recommend. Don’t waste your time or money.

Very poor service waited for ages to get served, tables not cleared, very noisy sometimes with mums with small children and babies whom some do not clear up for themselves and leave mess under the tables

We went to John Lewis for some shopping and planned to take our kids for dinner at Waitrose cafe, my wife ordered kids meal and came back to our table, few minutes later, I went to order some hot snack, the lady at the counter almost took the order but was interrupted by her another colleague , I was told they dont have enough staff and cannot serve hot food and she then asked me “ is that your wife who ordered host snack , I am sorry we will refund”. I said to her this is the second time happened to us and she said it’s typical Thursday and we don’t have staff.

Lunchtime visit, long wait for food (20 minutes plus), which was surprising given it was only toasties and filled wraps. Very small portions and over priced. Limp salad! Very disappointing! Living on its reputation rather than providing good food!

The staff in this store are very unhelpful and unfriendly. The store is often poorly stocked with everyday basic items missing from shelves. If you ask a member of staff where something is you'll most likely be greeted with a grunt or a sigh as you've probably distracted them from something way more important they were doing. All in all not a pleasant shopping experience. You can get much better service from Tesco and they usually have their stores stocked well and a better range.

Awful experience today when meeting a friend who was on his lunch break.

Most average breakfast ever. Only came here because there is literally no where else to get brekkie in Basingstoke on a Sunday. Dead but still took ages for microwaved poached egg, mushroom and tomatoes with cold toast to turn up. Service still slow. Lots of gaumless unmotivated kids running the place. Welcome to the new generation.

The store is good, but the Cafe slow despite the best efforts of pleasant staff. I ordered the fish pie which was £7.50 - it was small and unappetizing, really poor value for money particularly as it appeared they had heated up a pack from shop downstairs which would have cost half that much. Would not recommend.

Met friends for breakfast thinking Waitrose cafe would be a good venue...alas epic fail.

I have had regular home deliveries from Waitrose for many years but since the Basingstoke store opened my deliveries were picked from that store as it was closer. I have gone elsewhere for my online shop as they have very little in stock. I have cancelled a delivery today as there were 15 substituted items! That’s nearly 20% of the order!

The coffee is really nice but the staff are too busy carrying out admin or cleaning.Today there were 6 people behind the counter and only one serving.This is not new as its always like this with the staff more interested in keeping the scone count up or wandering off to fetch half a dozen plates, which arent needed, whilst there is a queue of 12 people.When I got served a latte after ordering a cappochino the girl started to argue with me.I quote "I heard latte" and "well I know what I heard"...unbelievable. Shoddy, poorly trained and basically indifferent to the point of being rude.They clearly would rather be elsewhere. No managment and no motivation. Suggest they all sit in Cafe Nero during a busy time to see how serving in a coffee shop should be done.

We thought it would be a great to go for a cold traditional breakfast, Luke warm toast, service slower than slow thing going backwards and with management not giving a stuff what’s happening. So we came here!! As a former partner myself I am so disappointed,

I think the cafe on the first floor is a big disappointment. The operations model is just all wrong. It takes ages to get served and all the people on the tills make the drinks for each customer which slows everything down. Why not one or two people take the order and have people at the back cracking out the hot drinks? The staff are lacklustre too, need some proper training and rocket fuel in general. The food itself is just average, not much attention to detail and not great value. I thought they'd have the edge over other supermarket cafes but they don't, which is a real shame. Pull your socks up please, John Lewis and Waitrose are great in general, the cafe lets the side down, unfortunately.

Had a great breakfast at Waitrose. Sausage and egg rolls were really tasty and really nice coffee.

I came in for brunch and decided on the Sourdough avocado toast and bacon.. Sounded great..tasted awful! No presentation skills and bacon had all fat on it!! Avocado was spread on and it was cold!

20 minutes to get served and then 40 minutes wait for a cold burger with cardboard like bacon! Staff (partners as they are called) also complaining that they can't cope!

This restaurant is difunctional, not up to the usual John Lewis standards. Food mediocre, staff do not seem to be aware of customer service.

Il posto è molto carino, si trova al piano superiore del centro commerciale con annessi parcheggi ampi; peccato il servizio sia molto lento nonostante tutto il personale a disposizione! Non sono organizzati soprattutto all’ora di pranzo quando hanno maggiore affluenza. Prezzi normali per la zona, cibi non male per essere una tavola calda!

Visited whilst shopping in John Lewis. Good flat white. Mediocre portion of cake which looked better than it tasted- pistachio and cranberry. Clean and airy setting.

Queued for best part of 20 minutes for a cup of tea and piece of cake. Tea was fine but the banana and walnut loaf very disappointing.

Arrived soon after mid day. Waited about seven minutes. No attention. Person behind bar appeared to be counting coins from a bank bag. Said be with you in a minute- he was not. Shortly afterwards somebody else appeared and asked if anyone wanted tea coffee or water. We said wanted a glass of wine and a non alcoholic drink. Reply was we would have to get from bar. By that time there was nobody there. Shortly afterwards somebody else appeared who seemed to be in charge. He collected our drinks order which arrived within a reasonable time. He then spent a time behind the bar discussing his Christmas and New Year.

Had lunch here prior to doing some shopping in John Lewis. My bean and avocado tortilla was delicious as was the chicken bacon and avocado sandwich my partner had. Coffee was first rate. If I have to make a criticism is that whilst waiting for the food we had drunk our coffee. Yes I could have queued and got another one but did not have time. Wonder if a token could be given at the point of sale to allow a coffee to be drunk AFTER the meal? Otherwise a lovely lunch

Stopped off in the Cafe - excellent staff especially Liz. Well done keep it up the team don’t stop working, get grief from impatient people, I think you do a great job offer, a nice environment, and are always happy to help. And the egg roll was great. Thanks again

3rd review. This place is still AWFUL.

I have never been to a place so unorganised in all my life. The staff need retraining, waited 20 minutes for a coffee in a queue one young girl serving the rest chatting. The girl serving didn't want to be there clearly,when I finally got my coffee there was no sugar. Great. I asked for sugar, only to be told we only have sweeteners. Really great. You would of got no star rating for this review but unfortunately I have to put at least one. Pull your finger out Waitrose management.

Ate here for a snack lunch today. Chicken bacon and avocado sandwiches with tea and coffee. We were not aware having a Waitrose card enabled us to have free drinks in the restaurant, as well as in the machine in the shop. Finished paying then my husband was commenting on this. Lovely member of staff Liz advised us if he had a card his drink would be free as well. Insisted on giving us a refund for his drink. Such a lovely lady, helpful and friendly. Sandwiches were really good too and the tea and coffee were excellent. We will return.

Went for a nice family lunch in half term but it turned out nothing like that. We spent £40 and are now off home to eat lunch because we are all starving. Both boys picked up a ham and cheese sandwich but turns out you need to read the small print because they also had mustard and mayo in them so that was 2 Hungary boys. I had a the salmon sandwich which was with out doubt the worst sandwich I have eaten and then when hubby said it cost £5.25 I nearly fell off my chair. My hot chocolate was awful and I can't work out how you ruin making hot chocolate! I could go on and on but safe to say we will never go back!

Had breakfast here after a wonderful evening at a wedding. First visit to Basingstoke so we went to the first place we new about. What a disappointment. After a good 20 minuites wait our breakfast arrived. Mine regular his large. Leather bacon like warm. Fried egg dead on the bottom still snotty on top. Cold grilled tomato sausage yuck!! Toast cold butter runny he opened his for it to pour onto his shorts. Not the best experience of a cooked breakfast!!!!

Great coffee with your Waitrose card but never enough staff serving so it usually takes 20 minutes and they are always out of most of the breakfast items by mid morning so unfortunately it's usually a disappointing experience

Great store with friendly staff and efficient service we had the usual coffee in a good atmosphere. Plenty of food choice and all looked very delicious

After shopping at John Lewis we had few minutes to shop for one grocery item from Waitrose (our regular shopping spot for quality products). The store was going to close in ten minutes when approaching from the escalators (we were near the checking counter) - staff told us "no more shopping store is closed". We had to leave without that item and had to drive to Sainsbury's to buy that item.

Yet again ventured here... big mistake. I write this sat watching my sausage sandwich under the heat lamp.... is only taken 25 minutes.

The staff take soooo long to order food and make drinks. Staff amble behind the counter like they're on the edge of a black hole.

I have finally come to the conclusion after many visits that the Waitrose cafe has no managers in place and is surely run as a non-commercial venture. Why else would you let people wait in the queue for so long, not serve breakfast at 11.28 to us despite talking to customers ahead while time ticked by only to be told breakfast has finished, any food you actually manage to successfully order once produced after about 45 minutes will sadly sit and congeal under the heat lamps of despair! Any staff in the restaurant will be drifting aimlessly wiping tables oblivious to the actual customers waiting patiently too polite to complain. Gawd bless you Waitrose!

Have previously reviewed and it's a little better.

In theory this should be a great place.

The new Waitrose is a well laid out store, conveniently placed close to the centre of Basingstoke. It has good parking facilities, accessible from the back of the store. The range of products suits all pockets. Staff are friendly and helpful. Top your visit off with a visit to the cafe area. Range of drinks and food available.

Good selection of lunch food but a long queue to pay. The bakery looks good as well with a large selection of cakes

We stopped off here on the way home and had a pleasant walk around JL then went into Waitrose to get something for dinner, it had been a long day and so we sat and had a glass of wine, the shop was not busy so not a lot of noise etc, the café/bar area is fresh, appealing, clean and light and the bar staff were very pleasant and engaging.

Very slow service, average flatbread & soft chunky chips - very disappointing! A lady in front of me asked for a number of vegetarian meals, all of which were not available, and it was only 12.15

With only one member of staff serving customers it took a long time to get a drink and a packet of biscuits. I think I could even have gone downstairs to the "Cafe bar" and got back with a coffee from there by the time I eventually got my hot drink

Popped in for a quick bite...there it was 'Fish Finger Wrap', it just had to be done - and it was worth it too. Light and airy location, a fav with families with small children - so its not the quietest place, but worth the visit if your in the area.

Waitrose Basingstoke cafe is lovely and big and clean, can't really fault it in that area.

Been here a couple of times it is what it is a cafe in a store waited in a small line of people for quite a long time we only had tea and cake which was nice people who were ordering hot food had quite a wait to get it

Fairly new shop, my first visit. Free parking for up to 2 hours (but you must take a ticket from the machine and display it in your car). Plenty of spaces, so just a few steps to the shop. Cafe is on the floor below.

Have you had one of those days, planned to the minute, and it just falls apart, well whilst hunting for a more reliable microwave, the last one lasted two days!! we popped into John Lewis and they refunded the old and we ordered the new, then there was an issue with the vouchers, so whilst they sorted it out we got a free coffee and cake, which was nice of them, we also ordered some lunch, they did announce a twenty minute wait whilst we were in the queue. We ordered a toasted sandwich and Brie and chicken on flat-bread. It was much less than the twenty minutes. For a lunch time snack it was good, atmosphere was busy but not hectic.

My wife an I visit here regularly. The range of food at the cafe is good, and consistently fresh. The service is excellent. The one thing that would make the tea cake even better would be to keep the Lurpak in the fridge before serving.

The staff serving here are very good and helpful but unfortunately that's as far as the good points go when it comes to eating breakfast.

Have been a couple of times. Firstly before Christmas. We were briefed of the long wait at the till. Food was OK.

Staff are polite and professional. When there is a queue the service can be a little slow but I don't mind that too much. The reason this cafe has been marked down is because of little, fixable details - I have visited a few occasions in the morning when no stirrers or brown sugar have been put out for my takeaway coffee. Several times I have been in and not been offered or given chocolate on a Cappucino. Recently I made a point of asking for it and was told this had been out of stock at the cafe for weeks. It's a supermarket, surely there is something on the shelf which would have done the job?! Small points but irritates me.

The store is great - light and airy. However the first floor restaurant leaves much to be desired. The service is very slow. I have been here a few times and each time the food wait time is 30+ minutes. This is a cafe not a restaurant. The store need to look at their resourcing and operating model.

We've just been there. Quarter to six and the toasties are already gone. Cake selection reduced to plain butter croissant, one chocolate swirl and a stale cupcake. And the ordering was just painful. What a disappointment.

Visited with my daughter and decided to have a light lunch in the Cafe. The Cafe is light and airy and is a pleasant place to be. The menu has a good choice of light meals and more substantial fare.Prices are reasonable. It was quiet when we went in but got busy as lunch time got nearer. The food was good, but if I'm being picky it did take longer than I would have thought necessary to produce a toasted sandwich and a wrap.

This review is for the Cafe on the first floor.

Visited the Cafe late on a Friday night and we realised we were cutting things fine but we had only just arrived in Basingstoke and my wife and I were looking for somewhere to eat. We then encountered the terrific Samir who was serving at the cafe. We explained that we were looking for something to eat and he then went to the kitchen to find out what was available. We went with the last bowl of soup for my wife with wonderful fresh bread and I had the last cod fishcake plus chips and green salad. The food was good but what made the experience was the service, it would have been so easy to say that the cafe was about to close but instead Samir went out of his way to ensure that we felt like valued customers, even finding something hot for a young family that arrived just after us. Well done to this young man.

At the bakery cafe you can get a free cup of tea or coffee with a Waitrose loyalty card, so only have to pay for food. The service is excellent and the salted caramel cake is delicious.

brillant coffee and cakes ,and great breakfast, scrambled eggs and roasted vine tomatoes yummy. free parking for 2 hours and free coffee if you have a waitrose card.

Ideal for a quick lunchtime snack, comfortable, spacious, value for money and plenty of room to park, free as well. The area around the station has been developed and I've got to say it's been well done. It's clean, bright with some good shops.

I have been here many times since its opening and they tend to be very consistent with good quality of food and service. I particularly enjoy their breakfast. They have a small set menu of offerings in the cafe, but it's always well presented no matter what you order. A fabulous addition to the Basingstoke area.

Been 4 times to the restaurant , mixed experiences.

Ordered the "salt and cracked black pepper hot chicken sandwich". (It's three dry chicken nuggets in a dry unbuttered bun with lettuce and tomato.) I sat down with my cup of tea to wait for my food to arrive and after a while became aware of this constant grinding/whining noise. Of course once I had tuned in to this noise it was very difficult to tune it out especially as now and again the noise stopped and peace reigned only to be shattered a few moments later The Noise started again. It must drive the staff (sorry "partners") nuts (sorry "salt and cracked black pepper sprinkled ground nuts") Somebody at Waitrose needs to invest in a giant can of WD40.

I often go to Waitrose Café for breakfast. I love their porridge which comes with honey and fruit compote. I usually have tea which comes in a pot with enough for two cups. Using a myWaitrose card the total is £2.05 because the drink is free, so better value than Costa, Starbucks, Pret etc.

Excellent sharing platters and wine. Limited number of seats so plan lunch early. Very friendly staff and great Waitrose produce at a very reasonable price. Been twice since.

We arrive for shopping and decide to lunch at 1.15. "25 minute wait they say for hot food" says the pleasant assistant, sorry. So we order a spicy chicken wrap and cheese toastie for a rather heavy £12. What turns up is a good Toastie but with a leaf or 2 of so-called presentation and a wrap, hard at each end and not altogether hot. Yes there is a nice soothing sauce but this is smothered all over instead of a little jug and no garnish whatsoever! A white wrap, with white sauce on a white plate! Wow who trains these chefs!

We had a breakfast in the cafe at Waitrose/John Lewis this morning, we seemed to have arrived early enough as there was no queue. We ordered two full English Breakfast, Toast Tea and coffee £20. We waited 49 minutes before it was served.

Breakfast is excellent. Free range fare, loads of toast and a free tea or coffee for cardholders. Service second to none and a great experience overall.

We decided to have a quick snack at the wine bar and what a surprise. The quality of food and wine was excellent. The service was also outstanding what a great treat.

Serving the proud community of Basingstoke, situated 40 miles from London; 1 1/2 hours by train to London. Basingstoke is an old town, still glazed by old and tasteful thached roofed houses, with home gardens well groomed and decorated by lovely topiary - one famous one being the house with the peacock! Despite having the head and crown of the peacock stolen, the skilful owner of the Peacock Cottage patiently replanted a replacement, groomed it over the years to replace the lost head and crown!

For a supermarket Waitrose have excelled themselves. Came here for lunch with whole tribe, swift and welcoming service, tasty burger and chicken flatbread. Good choice on kids lunches and good coffee.

Shopping in Basingstoke's new Waitrose is great but when you want a break you can park your trolley and sit down at the Wine Bar situated in the drinks section. We had a lovely platter of smoked salmon, brie, prawns, mature cheddar, olive bread, dips, coleslaw to share between us for just £9.95 - and you can choose what you want on your platter from an extensive menu! Two glasses of prosecco and we were soon back on our feet to continue our shopping, oh and as we left popping a couple of bottles of wine in our trolley for later!