Well Bread Artisan Bakery and Cafe in Isle of Wight

Oh my word! Having been pulled in by the kerb-appeal of all the delicious-looking delights in the window, my partner and I hoped to find something nice for lunch. How disappointed we were....... This verged on a blend of Fawlty Towers and a Karen's Diner. There are warning-galore, all written on paper bags stuck over the walls and on the display areas. "Do not touch, this is not self-service, don't fiddle with the toaster settings, children and knives don't mix, we are not trained fire-fighters, no toilets here.....", all headed up by a small, rather stroppy and officious tyrant of a woman! I wondered what we had stumbled upon so headed for Tripadvisor and all was revealed! The reviews don't lie! I then amused myself over a bowl of mediocre soup and unremarkable bread, by reading the words of previous customers. I CONCUR! We ate our lunch squashed onto a pew with other equally bemused/ confused/ amused diners and made a speedy exit - my partner more speedy than me as he didn't want to risk her wrath at the till, heaven-forbid he did something wrong! I'm still not quite sure what we experienced and I don't think I'll return. Go for a nosy if you have broad shoulders and fancy taking on Miss Trunchbull of the bakery world!

We bought three hog sausage rolls and thought the price was a little excessive, however wanted to see if the £4.75 (Small sausage rolls) was worth it or not? Well we didn’t think so! The taste was bland and nothing special. We didn’t like that there was not price on anything in there shop and presented a £10 to female shop assistant/ owner and was given a sarcastic remark, of you being optimistic! Which took us back! If you like an over priced, tasteless sausage roll, well this is the place for you?

The key point to make here is the lady owner is RUDE! There is something not right with her as the way she treats her customers is disrespectful and that is an understatement. We walked out and refused to buy anything. I cannot believe that she still has a business. What is wrong with her? Please avoid this awful establishment!

Take note of all the reviews on here. All reviews where people have explained how bad the bakery was are very true and helpful. Me and my father went in to the bakery to get some food for our family. My father picked himself up a brownie which was in a wrapper and which we were definitely buying. Once the lady which I wouldn’t call a lady due to her horrible service barked at my father and told him to put it down. Finally we had got everything and he couldn’t even pay in the store as he was forced to stand outside and pay through a window. This was an awful experience and we thought it had only happened to us until we read the other reviews and had a great laugh.

Day light robbery. Lured in by the attractive window display and large portioned bakery products. Unfortunately, you find yourself in an uncomfortable and unwelcoming atmosphere, barked at by the lady enforcing the endless rules and finally ripped off at the till as products aren't priced. An average sausage roll, a dry and bland loaf and a dry cookie totally £13. Poor quality products & poor service at ridiculous prices. We won't be returning again.

Absolutely dreadful service, the woman is a nightmare! I have no idea how this place is still in business, it certainly can't be from repeat custom! There are signs in front of the tray bake cakes saying "do not touch", fair enough, but the extra sign saying "stand WELL back" is a tad overkill. Why, are they made of dangerous toxins? The mind boggles. There was a stand containing numerous different cookies, on the stand there was a pile of paper bags and a pair of tongs. Assuming (how stupid of me...) that the tongs and bags were there so I could pick up a cookie and put it in a bag was a grave error in judgement.. The woman started screaming hysterically at me running from the back of the shop hollering " you!! Don't touch the tongs, it's not self service, put them down now!". After a full dressing down she asked aggressively "have you actually made your mind up yet!" at which point I was very close to telling her where she can put the cookies! Sadly there were kids to buy for, but then came the next drama, I wasn't allowed to give her my card to pay, or put it in the card machine. For some insane reason she made me go outside the shop into the street and she held the card reader up to the window from inside and shouted at me to blip my card on the other side of the window. Stood in the middle of the street. I actually thought this must be some kind of prank, but reading these reviews she has form! Then some other poor victims entered the shop and it wasn't long before they were hollered at too! It's absolutely nuts! And the cookies were bland and a bit stale. Enter here at your peril!

Wish I had read the reviews before entering but who Google's a bakery when looking for a simple sausage roll! Complete tourist ripoff, £4.75 for a very ordinary sausage roll. Spoilt my lovely morning in Cowes. Avoid this place

We bought a sultana scone as a take away. It cost £3.50 so was looking forward to eating at home. It was the driest scone I have ever had. Couldn’t eat without a mug of tea to help. It can’t have been made that day.

Dreadful! Overpriced cheese roll that gave me indigestion. The woman who served us was extremely rude. Was trying to support a local business but wish I hadn’t bothered. AVOID

We have chosen this place as we thought it was independent. My partner had a overpriced and not tasty roll. I tried to pick up a slice of pizza with the tongs provided and it literally crumbled. The woman serving shouted at me that it was not self service. I apologised and she went on saying that I damaged the slice of pizza. I replied that I was going to buy it anyway. I was further shouted at that the slice was not for sale but just for display and I damaged it. I left without buying anything. Where do you find a customer willing to buy whatever they have 'damaged' and clearly inedible and still be shouted at? Madam should rethink her career?

I ordered a cheese and tomato cob. Huge roll slathered with thigh margarine, 1 thin slice of cheese from a packet - cheese curled at the end, and some roughly cut tomato slices. Inedible. £6-50. The lady did not wash her hands between servuce by coffee and cake to other customers and taking my cash to put in the till. Whole thing very off putting. Everything looks fresh but I watched the last take cakes out of plastic packets and sprinkle them with icing sugar rather than getting the fresh ones in the tray. She got my roll from a cool box or something and not from the rack of apparently fresh ones. It appears to be something which it isn’t and the roll was inedible. I didn’t have the nerve to suggest the lady washed her hands but I wish I had.

What a fabulous find. I followed the wonderful bakery smell in Cowes High Street to a shop with artisan breads, cakes, scones, meat pasties etc Great selection. Eat in or take away. Lovely man said the shop had been there for 12 years .. we will definitely be going back 🧁☕️🍞🥖🥯

The worst bacon sandwich I have ever tasted the roll was full of butter the bacon didn't taste of anything.My daughter was sick after earing this will never visit there again especially after paying 6.50 per roll

Stopped by for some takeaway cake while in Cowes. Picked up two pieces, cherry almond and coffee and walnut, to split between us. All the cakes were traybake style, and the portions were big. The pieces we got looked okay (although one was burnt), but unfortunately, when we tried them, they really weren't nice at all. I hate wasting food, but we had to throw most of it away in the end. The coffee and walnut cake didn't taste of coffee at all (I think the icing may even have been vanilla?) and the texture was quite odd - very dense, stodgy, and the bottom third felt soggy and underbaked. The cherry almond was even worse. To me it tasted like almond extract had been poured over the icing, and the smell was nauseating. Really disappointing, as it was supposed to be a nice treat, and I don't understand how they got it so wrong for something like a traybake that should be relatively straightforward. One other point to make, as others have mentioned the service - although we only ordered for takeaway, the service was fine, if a little brusque. However, given the quality of the food, it's not somewhere we would visit again.

Fantastic find on Cowes High Street, a real treat, and change from usual coffee chains that are all the same. If you want something authentic this is the ideal place. Lovely couple running the cafe/ very welcoming, funny and real. Just what you need in 2023. Great food and coffee - highly recommend

The food we had was pretty good to be honest, Cornish pasty, bacon roll, muffins, hot chocolate and coffee. But the place is very strange, hand written signs everywhere, some explaining what the food is, others just rude! DO NOT TOUCH, and eat all you can toast, if you eat the bread… you will have to pay! There is a very big one, explaining how to open the shop in the morning, turn on lights, fly zapper, coffee machine, ovens and so on,…. Customers don’t need to see this! There are two huge tables and bench’s in the shop, one at the back totally filled with products (freshly baked) but nothing covered. The other one is for customers to sit at if they eat in, there were trays of uncovered cooked bacon on the end. The hot drinks come from a machine, and not that great, all the freshly cooked food that was being freshly baked smelled amazing and was very tasty, I really would love a get my teeth into redesigning the place , I would start with trip to ikea to get the storage boxes this place need, put the products on display nicely and redesign the layout, so eat in customers feel comfortable. I am sure this place makes an absolute killing, but it could be so much more, it needs a whole new fresh look from the customers view.

The kindest way I can describe this place is quirky. However it’s expensive and poor value, £6.50 for a pastrami sandwich with a single slice of pastrami and emmental. Hygiene is suspect and the service is unlikely to win any hospitality awards. Also unsure how they can describe themselves as artisan when I watched the baker empty out a huge blue plastic bag of croissants straight from of the freezer onto a baking sheet. There are lots of lovely independent cafes and bakeries in Cowes, you might be better to try one of them instead.

Asked about the breakfast eat all you can toast and was told I had to pre booked and it had to be minimum of 4 people! Rude woman and the place looked dirty. I like to support the local trade when on the island but I would avoid this place. I ended up further down the road in a friendly cafe that served me 2 coffees and 2 rounds of toast and marmalade for just over £10. You don’t deserve to be in business, and with all your cakes/pastries and bread uncovered it would be interesting to see the hygiene rating for this place.

You will find this at the end of High Street in West Cowes. Walked in on a cold wet day for soup and bread. Shared a bench and long table with other customers. There was another table covered in “stuff” and not available yet people were stopping by! I expect this what it was like in medieval times…or may be middle earth!! ! Lots of ambience and atmosphere and a genuine proprietor and food. but also a mess and chaotic ….part of the charm… ? but I think a bit of organisation and thought and maybe tidiness and without losing its soul this could be a real gem The soup ( wild mushroom home made) was good The bread was good and lots of butter! Lots of choice. Just needs a touch here and there and some tidiness

Ordered coffee and cake to sit outside. Was lovely, really enjoyed the experience. Then we saw margarita pizza on the board outside. Went inside to order. When it came out it had onions, peppers and mushrooms on. My autistic son was brave and tried it when topping peeled off but whole thing tasted of onion. He then vomited. When I took inside to say we can’t eat it, the lady said “it says the topping here” - which was a tiny sign among 50 others. She saw me some inside and order without looking at this tiny sign that was no where near the till. When I showed her the board outside saying margarita, she said “yea we’re a bit more upmarket here”. So, I was insulted, kiddos crying and sick, and I had to pay an extra £7 for the mistake. Am so annoyed I paid and will never return.

Bacon cob was unbelievably nice. The bread is heaven. Also great coffee and friendly staff. Will return next time I am on the island!

Found what I thought was a gem of a shop. Had cakes, and cookies galore. Lovely feel, and so pleased that in an early afternoon we could treat ourselves. I headed to a table which was laden with large cherry, and almond slices. Individually wrapped, and chose a piece. As I picked it up, what I believe was an angry lady shouted at me not to touch the food. This was a negative for me straight away, as it made the rest of the experience unpleasant. In her defence there were signs over the open cookies which told the customer not to touch. However as I had homed in on the table to the right, these were pre-wrapped, and no chance of cross contamination, if that was the problem. I am not one for randomly touching food with my bare hands, as I think it unhygienic to do so. As the food was really tempting both my Wife and I continued to make our choices, and let this lady pick our items. Now what I felt was hypocritical, was the fact that although wearing gloves, the lady handled money from the till, then without changing them picked up my unwrapped cookie in her gloved hand. My Wife, and I spent a fair bit on these cakes, and were made to feel awkward. On the positive side The cookies were amazing. just one small issue was a short hair which my 10 year old Son found baked in his cookie. We hope to return for the cookies at least. However we will be more vigilant, and hope to avoid the cold welcome we experienced this time. Hence the reason for the star rating for this review. It is a reflection of the attitude of this member of staff.

Visited twice once for breakfast once for tea coffee and cakes ! Fabulous breakfast delivered in pans delicious farm bacon fresh cooked poached eggs lovely brown toasted rustic toast (unlimited) with a whole block of farm butter ! The cakes are so fresh and everything is natural baked on the premises! Excellent and friendly hard working owners running the place ! We will return it’s a must try !!

I can understand why people see the hosts as surly or see the customer service as poor BUT my experience is overlook the lack of finesse on the servers. The smells brought me in and the food I had was excellent. Scones are big enough...

Visited on Saturday after cycling from Newport. Very disappointed and very expensive. Drinks were okay but the scones were awful, dry, not fresh in fact stale. Three hot drinks, one fruit juice, two scones and one cookie £27. Very expensive for stale cake. Will be...

We fancied cake and a coffee to have down at the seaside. We asked one of the clothing stores a few doors down for suggestions and she said to go to M&S. We should have taken the hint from her suggestion. There is a good...

There were 4 of us in our group including one child. Luckily there was only 3 of us eating and chose not to have drinks. With just 2 bacon sandwiches and a brownie it came to over £17!! Very pricey. The sandwiches were lovely however...

Dont go to this bakery, 8 items £38.00 ! 4 pasties, 3 pieces cake and a pastry. Horrendous price but worst still the food was disgusting . Cold pasties ...if we wanted them hot it was a 10 min wait. Couldn't eat the cakes ..they...

Catastrophic customer service, massively over priced and very stale. 3 cookies, 1 flapjack, 3 scones and 2 coffees = £33.50 WOW, do yourself a favour and don't waste your money Please take note every bad review on here is very much justified. How this person...

The food was good but the service wasn’t the friendliest. On our first visit we didn’t stay as I felt a little intimidated and unwelcome. We stopped by later for lunch and enjoyed the food but the atmosphere wasn’t great. It says there’s seating inside...

On a day out in Cowes decided to have a cake or cookie so saw Well Bread , went in and noticed a selection of cakes out on slabs . Also grubby grease proof paper signs all over . The owner was immediately in our...

Truly awful bakery for two reasons. 1. Hugely inflated prices 2. The general cold demeanour of the woman serving I had an “upper Chelsea bun” and it was comfortably the worst cake I’ve eaten when you consider the price. Could have got something better almost...

Hadden 2x paddenstoelen soep besteld. Was 5,50 per persoon. Bij afreken opeens 13 pond. We kregen brood bij de soep...

We arrived hungry after a days walking on the Isle of Wight Coastal Path. We both had a gigantic scone each with our tea. The scone was a meal in itself and the quality was as good as the quantity. If we lived locally we'd...

Absolutely dreadful, we will never visit again! The lady who served us (think she might be the owner otherwise surely she would have been sacked by now) was so unwelcoming and rude. And so it continued… Once we had decided on a filled cob each,...

We bought 2 large hot cross buns with a cross Of icing in the top looked lovely, but the price was a bit of a shock £8 for 2, and when we got them home we couldn’t toast them due to icing so just put...

My wife and I went in today for x2 hot Ross buns and was charged a jaw dropping £8 for the two. They were stale dry and very disappointing. This shop should come with a government warning for overcharging …won’t be coming back to another...

Probably should have been 3/5 but I was so astonished by how pleasant the server was I forgot that the cost of the croissants minimum spend on a card at £8.00 seems outrageous but 4 croissants at £2.50 each soon dealt with that. This is...

I had been here before, in the days when it was open for sit-down food and I remembered the bread was pretty good. Back in Cowes after a long period away I thought it would be good to buy some sourdough and support a local...

This was a terrible experience. Only wanted a light lunch as visiting wonderful restaurant in west of island later last Wednesday. Looks are deceiving. Entered and bought pasty, sausage roll and orange juice for £13.95 over priced and rubbish really not appetising at all Shouted...

Looks like a charming artisan bakery, until you enter to be confronted by jaw droppingly rude and hostile staff. As I came in, a woman barked at me 'you've got to be wearing a mask!' When I asked if I could pay by contactless, she...

If only I had looked at Trip Advisor while queuing for 20 minutes to get inside. What a disappointment! I have actually signed up for an account specifically to review this place and warn others about it. The window dressing of the shop is great...

Having encountered the rudest woman on the island this Bank Holiday Monday, I fully endorse the comments made already. Manners cost nothing, nor does common decency, but this person's attitude towards customers has to be seen to be believed. I walked out of the shop...

Don’t be fooled the cakes and other produce in the window look amazing. I purchased 4 sausage rolls then asked how much they were as noticed there was a £10 min spend on card only to be told they were £5 each I had already...

Popped by to see if we could grab a freshly baked baguette for lunch after long walk along the seafront with family. I stayed outside with the kids whilst my sister went in. Asked if they had baguette to which the response was.....does it look...

Rudest server ever, wouldn’t describe what fillings they had for sandwiches “Look at the board”! No welcome or thank you for ordering. Need some service training

First the cakes and bread here are lovely. However the owner must be the rudest person in Cowes (if not on the Island). Think she’s been to the Basil Fawlty charm school. If people skills are not here thing (which I can understand) maybe she...

We visited this bakery years ago on a trip to Cowes, sitting at shared tables with big bowls of jam and butter to share … it was lovely. Clearly times are different now … but seriously!!!? We sought the shop out, and stopped for lunch,...

I was waiting in the queue to buy what looked like lovely large scones. When I got to the front, the lady owner started taking all the signage in from outside. I asked if I could buy some scones and she said NO and shut...

We were treated with the most terrible attitude from the lady in this shop that we walked back out without buying anything. Appalling customer service. Would NOT recommend

The rudest proprietor in Cowes - simply doesn’t deserve to be in business with that attitude. And apparently well known amongst locals as being brash and extraordinarily rude. For context - her Covid sign fell on my foot which has a stress fracture on it....

This place looks good from the outside and describes itself as artisan. Some nice looking pastries and bread in the window tempted us in to get some lunch yesterday. We had the filled Cobb rolls. The proprietor hoiked these out from a tray and made...

This is the second time we’ve visited; the first being 12 months ago. We went back after a disappointing first visit as it’s always good to give a second chance. We were enticed by the words ‘artisan bakery’ as well as the trays in the...

Looks fabulous and rustic from the exterior. Wonderfully presented! Drew us in completely! Went in to be greeted by a stony faced woman. Ordered takeaway, 1 pastrami and gherkin roll, 1 Chelsea bun, 2 sausage rolls and 2 teas.. came to £22.00!!!!!! Sausage rolls were stodgy and tasteless. Had 2 bites and threw the rest in the bin. Chelsea bun was stodgy and fell apart with the fruit falling everywhere.. gave up and threw it away. The roll was edible but smothered in margarine and not butter. Tea’s were milk and water. Huge disappointment and felt totally ripped off. The lady needs a course in customer services!

Purchased two pasties and a coffee and portion of walnut cake. Asked for the pasties to be heated and she said it would take about 10 minutes I tried to strike up a friendly conversation with the lady whilst waiting and was met with such an attitude I was amazed at how rude she was. I paid £14 which was way overpriced for the food. To be fair it tasted ok, but I won’t be going back due to the service. She needs to go on a customer appreciation course. At least Basil Fawlty was funny!!

12 of us turned up at 9am Saturday morning having cycled 15 miles off the Ferry from Lymington. Many bacon cobbs ( some shared as they are massive), tasty bacon and cheese croissants and teas and coffees later Anita thanked us for our custom. Yes she's a little curt, but we were served really quickly and that's the second year our group have stopped there and will do so again.

The title sums it up. Lady serving so just so rude and abrupt. The bacon cob was soggy, bacon fatty, the cakes thin and tasteless. This with coffee for 2 and a pasty was £25.Why do people who are miserable want to run a customer facing business?

Welcome to the Royston Vasey of bakeries. Perfect for dieters. Service without passion, personality or hospitality. Tasteless, undercooked and stodgy Chelsea bun, mouldy coffee and walnut cake and didn’t bother with the cherry cake as appetite completely destroyed. Can’t say I have high expectations of the artisan multiseed loaf.

I have been a regular visitor to this place since moving to the Island. The food is ok. The setting is good. But enough is enough....the lady owner needs to learn to smile. She is rude and unwelcoming. I won’t be visiting again and I suggest you look elsewhere also.

Unfortunately I have to agree with so many other reviews on the Customer Service here, shocking! I feel I am an inconvenience being in the shop, thought maybe the first time it was just an unfortunate day but 3 visits now with the same service, i guess the bakery cannot be seeing these comments. Wont be visiting again.

Everything looks nice, huge sizes, however certainly quantity over quality. Dry tasteless cakes, awful tepid coffee and the owner certainly lived up to her reputation! The lady serving bellowed at a customer for leaning their bike up against the shop, barked orders at the other staff and I was referential to as ‘a stupid women’ under her breath on leaving the bakery. An almost comical experience but one we won’t be repeating.

Unbelievably rude and unwelcoming. The owner needs to sell up and cheer up! Life is too short to clearly be so unhappy in the job you do.

Very rude owner and poor service. Bread was very average, could only pay with cash unless over £10 hardly working to government advice on covid precautions

I live in Cowes and as a Birthday treat thought I would treat the family in Lockdown. Sadly the women who served me was rude and abrupt, had the feeling she did not want you in the shop. Even though the produce looks nice and on a large scale when we ate the scones they were stale, it seemed like they were days old and only fit for the bin, defiantly not fresh that day, as I visited around 11 o'clock. Very poor service for the cost of the produce, I would say go to Grace's further down the road.

The lady who runs this shop was extremely rude to me, making it very obvious to me that I was being an inconvenience to her by being a patron in her shop. What makes matters worse was the sandwich I bought was slapped together like she thought it was a piece of trash and when I asked for it to be cut in half she complained and only cut across half of it saying I'd have to cut the rest myself!All this grief for a £5.00 sandwich which was dry and had barely any filling. I won't be returning my custom!

Terrible service. Rude and obnoxious! The food looks great but is not good quality. Made on mass and mostly stooge.

Unwelcoming, rude, and bakery produce of very poor quality! Specifically the brownie it was a bag of grease and inedible, disgusting really. Don’t waste your money good people KEEP OUT! My daughter and I are bakers and we couldn’t believe how such an arrogant, well assured owner could get such a basic bake wrong. The products initially look quite nice. We told her how talented she was and she said, “I’ve been told”. Not a good experience at all.

Unbelievably rude lady who appears to run the place - condescending and unwelcoming. The pastries were underdone too. I wouldn't bother writing a comment on this place but she was unnecessarily rude to my elderly parents, not on.

Unfortunately coffee maker from one of those machines and does not come particularly hot, so tea would be better. Bread and all delights on offer. Well worth a visit

Don't waste your time, I can not believe the sheer rudeness of the owner. She barked orders at us , then when I asked what type of milk was available the answer came back as "cow", when I then explained i had allergies I was met with "well there is always skinny cow". It saddens me to think I tried to support my local business, I left and went to COSTA, where I was warmly greeted and offered various alternatives for my milk allergy.

Ordered food to take away from the most unpleasant surly woman who really needs get some customer service training. The shop itself is attractive and has a truly amazing array of pastries and cakes. We bought lunch and the food didn't disappoint (and portions are vast)The food didn't leave a bad taste in our mouths but the customer service certainly. did. Rude unfriendly woman who clearly doesn't like people. I enjoyed the food but I wouldn't go back because of the service (heaven help you if you ask a question about the food) .Shame because the place has such a lot going for it.

We bought 2 cobs and a slice of cake. They were all so dry and stale that we couldn’t eat them and threw them in the bin. Probably the worst food we’ve ever bought. We’d have taken them back to the shop, but we’d driven on for a few miles before we ate them (or tried to) and didn’t want to drive back to Cowes. Avoid!

We got there at 2pm and was curtly told take away only. We asked for cob rolls and were told ‘Sold out we have pizza pasty and cake. ‘We ordered two pasties and had to wait for ten minutes while they cooked. We tried to sit and wait and were told not to sit down. The younger girl was clearly embarrassed the older woman rudeWe bought two pasties for £11 which were cooked on the outside and cold on the inside. Need a lesson in customer service. The older woman had no customer skills at all Would never go back

We called in on our way to Shanklin. The middle aged woman in the shop served me, then said 'Well go and stand over there and i' ll serve you! '. (gesturing towards the door) Hmmmmm, ok............The scones were appealingly huge, so I took one and I took a 50/50 loaf, which I was pleased to see as usually bakeries only seem to have white or wholemeal. I ate the scone, it was nice and fresh and we enjoyed the bread. I would call for another if ever in Cowes again.

terrible service, the staff are rude and unfriendly. The food is OK, but the staff are ride and I didn't see any evidence of hand washing / cleaning before touching food.

Don’t go - the cakes aren’t that great and the attitude was worse - appalling service !!! She was so rude no need for that - customers don’t need to be patronised

This artisan bakery on the main street of West Cowes is a cafe with a difference. A big board outside explained how the different meals throughout the day all fitted around the baking of bread; promised was a family atmosphere at the table with sharing and passing. Unfortunately this had not been updated to take account of COVID and people were hustled out of the shop, restricted in seating and generally quite stressed out by the whole business.However, the food was great.Everything was completely fresh, huge and delicious. Whether you want a freshly-filled cobb, pastie , pizza or a bowl of today's homemade soup, this is the place to come. Let's hope the restrictions are left a soon.

Rude and unhelpful lady, inedible food and undrinkable coffee. I’m sure the locals give this place a wide birth :-/

Not sure that this is an artisan bakery....we have a proper one near where we live called Crumbs in Watton at Stone...now that’s a proper bakery......at Well Bread the bread is nothing of the sort....the loaf of bread we bought was stale with no flavour and the cakes were full of fake flavour......fake Almond essence in the cherry and almond, fake lemon in the lemon drizzle....surely if you have that much bad attitude and rudeness then your products must be world beating. The lady in there is soooo rude......and the products are poor....supermarkets do a better job!

Really liked this place, great cakes and coffee. Chocolate brownies were particularly amazing. Defo worth a visit. Can understand why it only gets 3 stars on TA?! That needs to change for sure!!

Came upon this by chance. Lovely coffee and lemon drizzle cake. Bought a loaf to take home and it was fantastic. Looking forward to a return visit in August. Mike & Maria Southampton

As regular visitors to Cowes and who like bread etc. this place is visually very appealing.However, the bread and scones I’ve bought on a few occasions have not been fresh, fresh enough to eat but certainly not baked that day. A bit disappointing really as the visuals promise much.Service is a bit terse, almost as if the customer is getting in the way.

My husband and I stopped for a quick lunch we brought a filled cob and pasty , wasn’t impressed! Especially as that’s all we brought and it was £10.50 ! Couldn’t eat all the cob was chewy and hard I’m glad I didn’t when I got home and was really unwell ! Won’t be going back

We visited ‘Well Bread’ in Cowes whilst looking for a coffee shop on a cold and damp Sunday morning, we like to use small independent coffee shops in preference to the large chains where possible. We had visited the town on an organised coach trip as part of a weekend away to the island and to be honest there was not a lot going on here.The interior of ‘Well Bread’ could not be described as a typical café, my first impression was of a café which had recently set up in a vacant shop unit, however it certainly has character. Patrons are seated on what appear to be former church pews at large wooden tables and most of the signage is ‘homemade’ giving it a quirky feel. The café is also a bakery and there are a good range of tempting cakes and other treats (including some very large scones), in the window presumably all made on the premises.With the advent of the ‘Covid-19’ virus event, the owners had made good provision to reduce the likelihood of infection by providing sanitising hand gel on the tables and cleaning the tables when customers vacated them. We all had a ‘skinny’ latte coffee and found the proprietors very friendly. The café was reasonably busy and there was also a regular flow of customers to the bakery counter. Customer toilets were available to the rear of the café.If you are in Cowes and looking for an alternative to the large chain cafes, then the ‘Well Bread’ is certainly worthy of consideration.

Lovely cakes baked on the premises and very good coffee. Not like the average cafe which buys in what they sell, Well Bread makes their cakes, scones and bread in their own kitchen. The owners are fastidious about hygiene too which is good to see.I had lunch (fresh baked pizza slice and coffee) on this visit and unusually for me, with a second cup of coffee.

Experience overshadowed by one member of staff who was disrespectful towards a vulnerable adult over dietary requirements. However, the experience was not all doom and gloom, a very pleasant gentleman ensured a positive service and for that we are grateful. The produce was authentic thank goodness which also helped the experience.

This is definitely a must to visit if you love good bread and other gorgeous delights. The cafe is a brilliant, canteen style with wooden tables and benches and with huge bowls of butter and jam on the tables to go with their delicious croissants. They also have the most amazing rolls, sandwiches, tray bakes etc. Helpful friendly staff, lovely food and drinks, can't beat it. My only advice would be if you want a good choice of breakfast items, get there fairly early, their stuff goes very quickly!!

What a great place to grab a coffee, warm, relaxed atmosphere, it’s like popping into a friends house intending to stop for five minutes and end up stopping for lunch. Very social French style set up, quality fresh local produce. Highly recommend.

Stopped off for lunch, had a ploughman’s, pasty and sandwiches. Delicious food and a lovely chat with two Yorkshire ladies.

Went in for a quick snack to be confronted by a £5 pasty expecting somthing great we dove in only to be confronted with terrible customer service and a disspointting pasty with maybe 10% steak and 90% onion. Do not bother with this bakery.

Called in here only as we were in a rush to catch a ferry. Didn't have time to eat in so we bought a scone and a piece of quiche. The cheese scone looked nice in the window; the quiche was not on display. The price was very expensive for what we got ... and it went downhill from there ! We sat on the waterfront anticipating an expensive, but tasty, lunch. Wrong !! The scone was not cooked properly and took a hell of a lot of eating as it kept sticking in my throat. However, the quiche is probably the worst thing that I have encountered for a long time. For five quid, I would have expected something great. The crust, if you could call it that, was thick and looked and felt like very wet cardboard. The topping was thin, tasteless, sloppy and was verging on being vile. Very, very disappointing. I can't see how this business survives to be honest.

Called in for a quick coffee and snack, what a fab place. Staff are friendly, and the scones and jam world class. Would recommend to anyone who likes genuine independent business’s. And is not fond of faceless chains......

Thought we would try coffee in cowes as we live in Ryde just for a change. What a absolute awful time we had. Firstly told my young dog to be quiet? Scones horrible and dry overpriced £3.50 each coffee £2.90 black Americano! Loaf of bread £5.00 Very tasteless and dry. Will not return the woman was rude to my son who is autistic so I think she needs to go on a customer service course.

We popped in for breakfast on Tuesday 9/9/19 and are glad we did. The place is a working bakery producing some of the most delicious bread I have ever tasted. The concept is straight forward yet quirky. The breakfast deal is a case of buying a never ending round of toast and then adding a frying pan of grub to eat with the toast. We went for poached eggs and once we had got heavily stuck in to the delicious toast, a pan full of eggs was duly delivered. Service was good. Quick and attentive and the lady was helpful explaining the concept. A lovely experience and one we will be repeating next time we are in Cowes. Disregard any criticism of prices; you are buying the best bread I have tasted in years, the prices are entirely appropriate.

Really thought that this place would be a bit different and that the food would be interesting. However as soon as we walked in we felt we were an inconvenience. The lady at the counter was so unwelcoming and we really should have got the hint and left there and then. There is so much written up on the walls that it’s hard to work out what exactly is available and I got such horrible looks for not having decided what I wanted immediately that I just ordered the same as my husband so as to get the order placed quickly, even though no one else was waiting. The drinks were expensive. The food was ok, but I just wished we had gone to Tiffins up the road where we usually go. They have tons of choice and are always friendly!

I have just returned from Cowes having spent a week there with my teenage Grandson. Fortunately we found Well Bread on the 2nd day we were there. We were so impressed we started each day with a fabulous breakfast of either bacon cobs which were packed with lovely thick rashers of bacon or toast. When you first get there you’re not sure how their system works but it is quickly explained. It’s not like other cafes you visit where you sit at the table, order your food, then eat your meal-this one is very different. If you want toast you are shown the toaster, where there are at least 2 different types of bread which are covered by a tea towel for hygiene reasons. A jar of homemade peanut butter, a jar of homemade marmalade and a large bowl of homemade jam is put on your table along with a generous helping of butter. You can have as much toast as you want which is delicious. Yes, the drinks are quite expensive but the size of the mug is huge, certainly as much as we could drink. I’m surprised by the negative comments about the staff as we found both Mark and his wife very friendly once we got chatting to them and they always asked what we were doing that day and made suggestions about where to go. I’m back home now and am really missing that fabulous breakfast and I bet my Grandson is too.

Terrific food and bread products... Very friendly staff too. Relaxed and fun atmosphere. Highly recommended!

Why oh why doesn't the owner get herself a job she likes. She looks at customers with complete disgust. Unhelpful, rude, and over priced food.

There's a much better bakery down the street opposite the redjet. These people are unhelpful and off-hand. Now it turns out they have a sign saying no dogs or disabled people. Draw your own conclusions.

What an awful unfriendly place. We ordered two large scones one cheese one fruit. They were so dry they seemed to be stale! My mum asked if they were fresh to be told they were. When I started to eat the fruit one I was sure they weren't fresh, so asked someone else. She says they dry out in the window-nice to know for anyone buying them. Mind they were the only ones they had! she said I shouldn't have got if from there,I didn't The staff got it for us! She replaced it with a fresh warm one which was a little better. The cheese one was also very dry it's also a £1 more to eat inside, didn't think it was too hygienic either!