The Cake'ole Bradford — Restaurant in Bradford

Stay away if you or anyone in your group is neurodivergent in any way!! My son, who is non verbal, autistic and has limited understanding was in crisis while we were in town at the same time the memorial for the Bradford city fire was on (we wasn’t aware this was on or we would have avoided town all together) It’s part of his routine to play in the water while in town and he went into crisis as fountains weren’t on. We’d noticed the pride flags at the cake hole and believed therefore they would be compassionate and understand needs for equality and diversity. On entering the premises we were stopped from walking through the cafe, the girl working there raised her arms and told us to wait at the door to be seated (should be noted the cafe was almost empty) which is potentially triggering fur our little boy. We tried to explain we just wanted a takeaway and approached the till. We saw packets of crisps and quavers behind the counter and asked could we buy a bag, to be told they cannot be sold separately. If this is the case perhaps not have them on display as our son didn’t understand why he couldn’t have the quavers. They said we could only purchase plated sandwiches. It was clear our son was distressed and was struggling to regulate himself, we explained and asked fur done understanding and compassion, perhaps in the circumstances they could make an exception? Someone who we presumed to be a manager came over, again we tried to explain and asked for some understanding. Blank faced refusals from both staff. We felt pressured to buy something, bought a bottle of water and, feeling shamed and misunderstood, we left the premises. If as much understanding and compassion could be shown to people trying to manage neurodivergence as they clearly do to the lgbtq+ community the distress could’ve dissipated easily. Clearly the autistic community are unwelcome...

I had family over from out of town and they desperately wanted to visit The Cake'ole, so I took them. However, we were very disappointed. The service was painfully slow considering we only ordered 3 panini's and one breakfast consisting of scrambled eggs, beans and toast. The Cake'ole did not have a wide range of cakes as one would assume it would given it's name. The menu itself was not particularly impressive, unfortunately. Their could have been more vegetarian options and it would have been nice to have the option of halal meat also. Just a suggestion. I had visited the place previously with friends and we shared the cake platter which was lovely and had hot chocolates. The variety on the cake platter was much more interesting and fun to be honest! Some of these cakes were not available on my later visit. I'm assuming that they keep changing the flavours etc. The place itself is interesting but a little hit and miss. Absolutely love the clocks that run along one wall, don't know about the fake trees though. Staff are lovely, cannot fault them, other than the slow preparation time, the staff were helpful...

Drew and his team (Teigan & Hazel) were brilliant. We got treated with royalty, the tea (thier own blend) was exceptionally! To top it off drinking from China cups was a great experience. Drew gave us some much time, we had a good banter and his hospitality was second to none!....the atmosphere was lovely (could have been slightly warmer in the cafe with comfy seats) but this doesn't take away thr ambience in the cafe. Drew made it very special for me and my husband he was very chirpy, fab personality and smiles all round....you can tell Drew loves his job! ....what a great Manager he is. Really enjoyed my cake! The cafe have a broad selection of cakes/desserts! Impressive!....we shall return again from Manchester....this is a hidden gem for sure.

Thanks Drew for making our tea experience special.

Best...