Esquires Coffee Egham — Restaurant in Borough of Runnymede

The place looks and smells lovely inside and I looked forward today to eating and having a cuppa with my husband. The young staff are very nice and polite, I only wish I could say the same for the owner/manager. You help yourself to a table & order at the counter. Drink orders are shouted out once they are ready for you to collect. A shame as it’s a busy place so hard to relax or have a conversation when this is going on. Food is brought to your table. My husband ordered a sausage bap which took about 15/20 minutes. I ordered 2 poached eggs on sourdough toast. This took considerably longer by then my husband had finished eating and we’d had our drinks. The toast had no butter at all & with 2 of the smallest poached eggs I’ve ever seen. One was not much bigger than a quails egg & this was overcooked & hard, the other was undercooked & snotty. I took it back & politely explained why I was returning it. The manager looked annoyed & said ‘you won’t find anywhere that butters your toast or provides butter for it’ I disagreed but he carried on saying the same thing. A young staff member said they would make it again for me. 20 mins later my food arrived & again one egg was completely hard & absolutely tiny. Although this time they had placed loads of butter pats on my plate. I returned it again but said ‘I will eat it but I just wanted to show you there is still a problem’ I didn’t want anything for me, I just wanted them to be aware. The manager then picked up the hard egg in his bare hand & looked at it before plopping it back onto my plate, saying ‘they are eggs. Eggs come in different sizes so some will be overcooked and some won’t ’ shrugging his shoulders. I replied that I wouldn’t be able to eat it now he’d handled it & he rolled his eyes & said he’d refund me in full. I was then stood at the till with him & he went on to serve 2 more customers & just ignored me.I was then handed the money for my food albeit £1 short. I asked for his name & he said ‘I’m the owner so if you are thinking of complaining then email and it’ll be me that picks it up so….’ & smirked at me. I said it’s reviews that can make or break a place and he shrugged & said ‘I don’t care, I already have 4.8...

It is not often that you are served by the owner in a coffee shop, these days. I believe that this is lacking in todays trend of chains. It is always the owners that have the passion and are the ones that take the time to ensure you have a great experience. Today was no exception, Haroon was professional, passionate and made our visit a positive experience.

Haven't been back in a while, busy visiting Athens, Belgrade, Dubrovnik and Trebinje. So what stood out today. The barrista.

He remembered my coffee even though most barristas struggle to make what I ask. Single shot black americano, cup two thirds full and an ice cube. Take away cup no ice. I never said I was an easy cuatomer.

Well done once again, you are ahead of the chain gang of Starbucks, Costas etc.

Oh and I made him have a photograph even though he was shy.

Great coffee, outside seating, a large selection of cakes and sandwiches. Breakfast options available.

Highly...

Walked in just before 9am, 3 staff behind the counter, looked at us but didn't even bother to say 'hi, I'll be with you in a minute'. I don't appreciate being ignored and standing there like a lemon, so walked out!

The food looked appetising; shame we didn't get to try it.

Update: 1st Feb 2024.

Went back for brunch. We were welcomed and told to take a seat. However, there was no table service, so this was a litte strange?

My partner ordered Full English Breakfast. When it arrived, it was honestly the most sorry looking breakfast I've seen in my life. The scrambled eggs were overcooked, the bacon completely nuked and inedible, one solitary tiny mushroom that was undercooked, lots of bread that wasn't buttered. The staff did not check if everything was ok with our food.

The coffee tasted good, but I'm afraid I would not order cooked food from this...