Deer Barn Café — Restaurant in Charnwood

We have used this cafe for many years on our park walks, but I am dismayed at the awful service & coffee. Most of the staff are really young & inexperienced. We asked for 2 flat whites barista version, which should be decent & strong. The place is chaotic, the youngsters chatting & not cleaning tables & floors. Well they seemed to be asking each other who will make them. After 10 minutes 2 mugs of what looked like latte were put down. I ordered flat whites barista version & asked is that flat white & a girl said yes. I was dubious & right to be, after a sip by both of us we agreed they were latte. I took them back & politely explained that they are not flat whites. Two staff started to be insistent that they were right. I explained a flat white is a strong coffee with a little milk & foam. Fortunately a manageress came over & agreed with me. I asked that if they cannot do them right, then give me two flat whites from the bean to cup machine. They delivered them & the taste was a lot more authentic. They need staff who are properly barista trained. Anyone who has worked in chain or independent coffee shops would laugh at this set up. I ordered toasted teacake & that was fine. I am now wary of having coffee here. I also want to point out the sorry cake display & considering how busy weekend afternoons are, they need a lot more supply of cake & not have sorry looking plates covered in cling film with...

Unfortunately when we came yesterday Saturday 15/10/22 there was a lack of choice for those who require gluten free options. We looked at the menu and apart from the soup which my daughter didn't fancy, the only other options advertised were scones with jam and cream, flapjacks and brownies that were gf. My daughter said she would have the scone, when I placed the order and was told they hadn't had any that day, so in that case why was it still on the menu board? So I asked what other options that they had for a gf option, and was offed the flapjacks and brownies, but the lady serving me really didn't seem sure of what they had which was gf, because she never even offered the soup and bread. Now to my mind if you can offer gf bread with the soup then why can't you offer gf sandwiches as an alternative. On the park website it clearly states that you cater for gf dietary requirements, if people are out for the day and see that you state that you offer gf options then they have a right to make the assumption that you hold a reasonable selection of options. There are lots of people who have the need for gluten free options which is not a choice that they make it is because of a medical condition. So please can you take a look at your menu and try to improve what you are offering. It was a shame because the food we did have was nice and would have been happy to spend more on a...

The new Deer Barn referb looked good but because of the weather we sat outside. The picnic tables are a little tired but they do the job and there was some shade in the form of 2 large umbrellas but don't think they would be safe in stronger winds. I was disappointed with the the lack of outdoor shelter which is an issue in the colder months. It would be great if there was an indoor dog friendly area. It was however nice to see plenty of bowls of water out for the dogs to drink. The paving stones and rough terrain outside the cafe are not great particularly for the disabled or elderly. It was also very dusty. As far as the service in the cafe goes it was slow with queues building up. The staff however were very polite and respectful. I think there were looking for more staff. Didn't really like the site of the burger van at the entrance it might be better located in the car park. I'm sure the food and drink was fine but it just didn't look good. Despite some negative comments the landscape and weather was fantastic, we'll...