Hot Numbers Coffee — Restaurant in Cambridge

Been here a couple of times in recent weeks after a few months break, and it feels like the quality has gone downhill a lot. I even made a face today when I took my first sip of coffee 😬 and I'm really not a fussy coffee drinker. It doesn't help that the price has shot up - one thing if the drink was excellent, as I know it has been going up everywhere in Cambridge - but that doesn't seem to be the case here anymore.

Another reason for the 3 star review is that although I still love the decor and the music, I used to also visit for the atmosphere - but there's something off about it these past few visits. I understand there's a new laptop policy which makes loads of sense for busy times, but I've witnessed people being told they need to move to the laptop table when literally every other table is empty. The cafe has a cosier and more inviting vibe when there actually are people sitting on a few different tables rather than most of the room being empty. There's also the aspect of friends coming in together to socially work, and it would seem reasonable to me if they could sit together at a smaller table, while still encouraging solo people on laptops to be on the laptop tables.

Either way, it's one thing to have a policy and to ask people (nicely! not like the laptop police!) to move when the cafe is full (even half full, hey even a third full), but it comes across as pedantic to insist on it when there's no one else there, and especially when it is the last hour of the day. Or, as other reviewers have said, to make such a thing about it being "not allowed" for a patron to pull out a laptop while waiting for their coffee/food to arrive - they aren't taking up more space or time than any other paying customer at that point. In general, it feels like an attitude thing on the side of the staff which I find really off-putting. The service here has never been outstanding, but I've also never really had cause to complain before (whereas I haven't been keen on the Trumpington Street branch after hearing staff complaining about one another at the tills there - and used to be glad that the Gwydir St branch was different).

But as I do care about how I "feel" in a place (and of course the coffee quality/price ratio has to be acceptable), sadly this Hot Numbers has now dropped out of my list of cafes I like to frequent either by myself, or...

Had a very disappointing recent visit to Hot Numbers Gwydir Street branch. We have been frequent customers at the cafe since it opened twenty years or so ago, and it has normally been our favorite place to come for a bacon sandwich. But it seems that over time the problems here have mounted, and now there are many better choices on Mill Road and elsewhere in Cambridge.

We came to the cafe just before three, planning on a late lunch. Immediately we were told that there was a very limited menu because of no bread, which was a little disappointing but we settled on some pancakes and a sausage roll as a good alternative, with two coffees. By this point it was close to three, and as we were about to pay the other staff member (I think the cafe manager) came over to announce that the kitchen closed at three. We tried to protest that had we not discussed the things not available we would have ordered well before three. It's also strange that if it was five to three, things would've been fine but the kitchen can't work a minute longer. The guy started to argue with us, repeating again and again that it was company policy to close the kitchen at three. Instead of being apologetic, he became increasingly confrontational and when we expressed unhappiness announced "I don't like your attitude" and stormed off.

The limited menu was not a big problem, and the closed kitchen was okay too, but this kind of attitude from staff is really atrocious. This in general seems to reflect an overall gradually sliding standards at both outlets of Hot Numbers. The Trumpington St branch has always been a bit variable, but the Gwydir one used to be great. Often when we visit these days, though, all the table are reserved, cluttered with finished plates and cups that haven't been cleared, and the kitchen has run out of most items.

I contacted HN via email and passed on my review and concerns. Still no response 2 months later (21/08/25). Seems they also no longer really take customer...

No laptops here at weekends. Even if you have ordered food and coffee, and are waiting a long time for them to turn up. Am I hogging a table? No. Is it rational? No. Is there a sign? sure, at the till, which is invisible to me from where I am sat and was when I was at the till too (I still cannot find it! ah wait, it is hidden behind a wicker basket! FFS no wonder nobody sees it!). They could put a sign on the door, or at each table (there are already four signs - half adverts - on my table, using much space!). A little clarity goes a long way.

madness, and a long term customer lost. Goodbye hot Numbers, take your sociopathic attitude and jobsworths elsewhere, and develop some rational thinking instead of blanket treating your loyal customers like they are morons and a waste of space. Even the manager couldn't justify the rule when I was waiting for food and the table was just empty. It's not as if I, or the (smallest) table, have anything else to do while we are waiting, and I'm not here for any longer than without the laptop. The email I was going to write, about how nice this place is to a friend in the hope they would join me, doesn't get written... is hot blunders happy about that? Instead I have written this review. Cathartic!

So, the consumables, well the coffee was OK... i like pour overs but it clearly sat in a queue before getting to me as it wasn't very warm, it was also (for the money) tiny. The Turkish eggs are not what they were: the toast was chewy, barely toasted, and the eggs looked like stretch marks ... cooked just right though, and the chilli was good.

I with I'd gone to The Cambridge Blue or The Kingston, or one of the myriad of cafes on Mill Road. Definitely not ordering from...