Foxes Cafe Lounge — Restaurant in Carlisle

It saddens me to write this review. I went the whole of the pandemic excited to go back to Foxes Café as everytime I'd been before I'd had brilliant food, service and vibes. However, yesterday me and my two friends went for a goodbye lunch as I was leaving town and disappointed was an understatement. We were told when we went in it'd be a 20 minute wait for food, we were totally chill with that as we wanted to eat there. Once we sat down it took an extra 5 mins to get a menu at our table. I could understand that it was busy and that it had been exhausting for the staff. Our drinks came pretty quickly and were great. One of my mates wanted soup which they had ran out of, which was also chill. So we all ordered the iconic Foxes Big Breakfast. It took 30-40 minutes for the food to arrive at our table, which was a little annoying but as I knew what brill food awaited, I wasn't too fussed. The food eventually arrived and well... All three of our plates had cold sausage, cold eggs, an undercooked hash brown, and a not fully cooked black pudding. The beans, bacon and mushroom were the best things on the plate. As one of my mates is a chef in a restaurant I knew I wasn't making things up. As it had taken so long to get the food we couldn't be bothered saying to the staff. Who I'm sure would've fixed the issues. However I feel like whoever worked in the kitchen could've put our plates in the oven to keep the food warm whilst waiting for other things to cook. My stomach felt awful after eating there. And my friends who were in tight budgets were upset. I hope this was just a bad day for the café and that...

I was actually really disappointed with this establishment. The menu is clearly listed online as having Gluten free adaptable food, but upon asking staff, I was reluctantly informed that the kitchen was a cross contamination danger zone, right down to the the same toaster being used for gluten containing food....just the other side of the toaster! Which is ridiculous!! I ended up not getting any, food and sitting watching my family eat (who had already ordered) while I had a glass of water. This cafe is definitely NOT gluten free, some food items maybe, but they are contaminated during the preparation/cooking process. If you have Coeliac disease, like myself, avoid at all costs.

edit

After the below comment was left by the cafe to my review, claiming to still be gluten free, I also forgot to mention that in the small print at the bottom of their menus it literally warns of 'low gluten'. An establishment is not gluten free if they are warning of 'low gluten' contamination. As I said above, a cross contamination danger zone. For anything to be gluten free it has to register 20 ppm or less of gluten after the proper testing. Going off the cafes low gluten warning, I doubt they have had their food tested, or maybe did and failed. Still, definitely not gluten free. As for the the staff member in question, he stated infront of both myself and my husband the gluten free bread is toasted 'in a separate side of the toaster', they were literally his words. Offering gluten free adaptable food, is claiming that the gluten free dish is safe to eat. If you can't guarantee that, you shouldn't...

Walked into Foxes Coffee Lounge the other day, fully expecting a vulpine jamboree – tails twitching, sly eyes gleaming, maybe a couple of foxes serving cappuccinos with their little paws. But no. Not a single fox. Not even a laminated picture of Basil Brush. Boom boom? More like gloom gloom.

Instead, I was greeted by humans. HUMANS! Making coffee. And to be fair, they do it rather well. The cappuccino arrived frothy enough to use as a shaving cream, which is handy if you’re a man in a hurry or a lady with an unruly barnet. The cakes were so tasty I nearly adopted one and sent it to school.

The décor is very “cosy Cumbrian chic” – soft seats that make you feel like you’ve been politely swallowed by an armchair, and lighting that says, “Shh… relax… order another brownie.”

But still… the name. Foxes. Where are they? I half expected to see a sly ginger rascal sauntering across the floor with an espresso martini balanced on its snout. Nothing. Just me and a latte, staring into the middle distance, wondering if I should dress as a fox next time to balance things out.

Overall: 5 stars for coffee, 0 stars for foxes. Would visit again – but will...