Secret Garden Cafe Bistro — Restaurant in Derbyshire Dales

We were in Bakewell today Had fish and chips from a lovely chippy and decided to have a tea and coffee It was just after 5pm and every cafe was closing or already closed We saw the sign for the Secret Garden cafe and it closes at 6 pm We went up and it looked lovely I stepped in the door and decided straight away that I wanted the Crunchy Cheesecake, my heart was set on it I should have took notice off the look on my wife's face..... The man behind the counter was saying something to the waitress and it did not sound nice, we stood, four staff and no one acknowledged us, I should have turned around and walked out, but the cheesecake shouted at me Eventually, after the man had stopped "telling the waitress off" she looked at us I asked for a pot of tea , an iced latte and a Crunchy cheesecake please and pointed at it and then had to walk over to it and point at it The man said to Waitress "we do not do iced latte if we are busy, but it's quiet so do it" But Iced latte was wrote on the board and it did not say "not available when busy" I had to say the order four times and once again go over and point at the cheesecake The man (the owner) kept telling the waitress to listen and make sure customers are looked after £13 and something it came to, I gave the money to the waitress, but the man sorted the change We sat outside and listened to the budgies and commented on how nice the courtyard was The drinks came Pot of tea in a tin teapot with the first cup already poured, nice enough tea Iced latte in tall glass, my said it was horrible No crunchy cheesecake, I thought the waitress must be going back for it I sat and waited No one went near the chiller cabinet for the crunchy cheesecake I went inside and stood, a woman in the corner did not even look my way, the waitress was in the other room mopping the floor I called through "hello" to her, she came out and just looked at me I asked if she was bringing the crunchy cheesecake? Yes you can have, she replied I have already asked for it (4 times) and paid for it.... "You want to order cheesecake? " She asked. I've already ordered it and paid for it "I bring you some" she said I went and sat down and it came, it was a big portion and nice We then heard the man (owner) having a right go at the waitress, basically telling her " she has done something wrong (I do not think it was because she forgot the cheesecake) and why are you smiling and laughing as I tell you this instead of being sad and apologising to me, you loose me money Tomorrow when I bring your wage I will throw it into the street and laugh when you pick it up " There was no customer interaction, no pleases, no thank you, no good byes I got a wonderful welcome of the little dog and a song from the budgies We did not say anything to complain as I believe no one would have understood us and I was a bit worried about the man and what reaction I would get, so we just left It was an experience, a bad one and we will not go back This is a very long review, but I'm telling it as it happened The crunchy cheesecake was nice though I honestly thought we were going to get chased after for not paying for the cheesecake, even...

I visited here a couple of years back for some food and despite sounding appetising on the menu, it was some of the worse food I’ve ever had and left over half of it. Visited Bakewell today with some friends and decided to go here for a drink as despite the unpleasant food previously, it’s a lovely courtyard area to sit and have a drink. However, what an error of judgement. My friend ordered first with the lady, an iced latte with normal milk with caramel syrup. I followed and ordered a peached iced tea for my friend who was at the table and myself an oat milk iced latte with caramel. The order arrived from the gentleman with the peached iced tea and an iced latte. I queried whether it was the oat milk one for his response to be extremely blunt saying we did not order an oat milk one. Before I had chance to say it may be my friends, he walked off with it. A few minutes later an oat milk one arrived in a much smaller glass. The other iced coffee was no where to be seen, then 10 minutes later the lady came out with a warm caramel latte. We explained that that’s not what we ordered, we ordered a normal milk iced latte. The woman was then extremely rude, stating we were changing and swapping our orders. This proceeded for a good minute or so with her being incredibly rude. My friend tried to resolve this by saying she’d have the drink, for the woman to snatch it off the table muttering to herself then mutter and mouth under her breath in the process. A very small iced coffee was then delivered. Unfortunately we paid upfront, otherwise we’d have been walking away and in hindsight, should have asked for a refund after the incredibly rude service we received. The food still looked bad, with what looked like Costco/shop bought priced cakes in the cabinet for sale at a much higher rate. Avoid this place and don’t be tempted to go just because it looks nice outside, awful food and even worse customer service. If that woman was the owner, she ought to be ashamed, or if she’s a member of staff, she should be having a firm word with or be getting sacked, which I highly doubt will be happening as all the staff, despite the young girl, were so incredibly rude. If you’re incapable of getting an order of 3 drinks right, I really don’t think taking orders in a cafe is a...

It’s probably best to keep the secret garden a secret… though based on the managers attitude that’s what he wants as well!

Honestly it’s a shame Google doesn’t allow zero stars, as one star is still massively overrating this establishment.

Upon arrival at ‘the secret garden’ we were amazed to find available seating in a cafe in the centre of busy Bakewell. However we were soon to find out why so many tables were available.

Upon entering we were left waiting for approximately five minutes while multiple members of staff walked past us without even acknowledging us, before the owner finally greeted us, a man who is honestly the most rude, abrasive and downright hostile individual that I have ever come across in any industry never mind hospitality, since when has ‘what’ (when asking what we wanted to order) and ‘tap it then’ (when requesting a contactless payment) appropriate ways to speak to customers… even Karen’s diner gives better customer service.

The disappointment continued when our food arrived, a chocolate brownie that was dry and had more of a cake texture, a tasteless Bakewell tart and two hot chocolates that tasted like the cheap ‘Treat’ chocolate syrup mixed with milk, safe to say we left the majority of it… not bad for 20 quid.

After this latest disappointment I decided to politely ask the owner how the hot chocolates are made, to which he did not answer, instead abruptly informing me that ‘everything is fresh as its been out all day’ (not very fresh then… really) before stating ‘no refunds’ even though I wasn’t asking for one (my guess is he gets asked for a lot of these).

Bakewell is a wonderful town with a number of extremely pleasant cafes, restaurants, bars, and bistros. Until today I have never had a bad experience in the town. With this in mind do yourself a favour and visit somewhere else, do your bit to allow the owner to keep the secret garden a secret, based on our experience it is what he...