Zinc Home & Gift — Restaurant in Derbyshire Dales

We love Zinc. It has 2 parts, 1 is a small gift, nic-nak shop and the other is a delightful cafe area.The staff are friendly, the cafe service is generally very prompt unless it's a very busy lunch and then things get a bit slower as youd expect.

They serve a breakfast menu until around 11.30 at which point it switches to their lunch menu for the remainder of the day. Choices are good on both menus, we tend to ignore the white laminated menu on the tables and look at the blackboard where the main meals can be found.

Prices for breakfast are very good, we can have coffee and porridge with honey and a fruit compote for two people for around £12 (if my memory is correct!) Lunches tend to be a bit more expensive and for two people often comes to around £20 ish which is comparable to the other cafes in and around crown plaza in matlock. The food is prepared fresh to order and is well presented, hot and very tasty. We've been plenty of times and never had a bad meal here.

There are generally enough seats and tables around, with more outside in the private garden if the weather is favourable. The small square tables soon become cramped though with a couple of drinks and plates if there are two of you.

You just go in, find a table, make a note of its number and order at the counter when you're ready. Standard affair really.

The cafe has a single toilet that appears to be well maintained, clean and has everything youd need. There is also a small baby changing area just outside the toilet if you have a little one in need of a nappy change. As it is directly outside the toilet it can be a bit awkward if people are trying to get past though.

As I'm mentioning babies, there are two wooden high chairs stored near this area too. My only criticism here is that the straps have become worn and some have snapped. Probably just needs a bit of care to bring them back to standard.

When you're done shopping or eating, there is often a decent range of cakes to choose from if you've still got room too!!

In terms of accessibility, the floor is flat and even, there are no steps to navigate and there is enough room for wheelchairs and push chairs around the tables if needed. The staff are more than willing to help rearrange to suit your needs if they can. The main entrance door often sticks shut so a good hard shove is often needed to get it open, not ideal if you're on your own with a wheelchair I would imagine though.

Access around the shop area is trickier though if you have a push chair or wheelchair as the displays are so close together you would not get through easily.

Overall we love eating here for both breakfast and lunch. It's a tad expensive but no more so than the others in the immediate vicinity but the food and service are...

The zinc café/gift emporium is set in an old re purposed stationery shop and very reminiscent of days gone by , the zinc's atmosphere is tranquil and relaxed with a boutique style approach to your shopping experience and also has a very good selection of cards and souvenirs that are very unique and of a very high quality and are at reasonable cost for a tourist area . The zinc dinning experience is truly a pleasure and portion sizes are generous and presentation of meals is of a very good standard . The zinc is a great place for a good cup of coffee !! which is a high quality blend and medium bodied with a good depth of flavour , that compliments the food here on offer , and is the ideal after dinner drink with a slice of one of the very special fresh baked specialty cakes they have here in abundance ! . I myself have tried most and prefer the cherry Bakewell which seems to have a great following with the locals and visitors alike . The zinc's tea is also very good and is served in your own tea pot and is the more traditional leaf tea and should please the more serious tea lover . The zinc's savory selection and baguettes are very good value and my RECOMMENDATION is the bacon brie and cranberry served with a light salad and a side of crisps , and is an ideal warm up snack when it's a cold day . The zinc's staff are friendly and welcoming and always make the zinc dinning experience a special treat . So if you like a good cup of tea or a good quality coffee with tasty snacks and freshly baked cakes and good levels of service the zinc could be the...

Zinc is a cafe that also sells good quality cards and gifts, this means that the tables are well spaced and the setting is very pleasant. There is an outside courtyard and additional seating outside the front. The drinks are really good - I have a weakness for a soya coconut latte, but the basic coffee is very good quality. The meals there tend to be of the sandwich, scone, soup variety and again are really good (I really need to come up with a different word!) - again the cheese scone with Stilton is really nice.

It does get busy but you can book in advance and they'll reserve a table - with no time limit that I can see which was lovely as we were meeting friends we hadn't seen for a long time.

The final cherry on the cake is that the staff are lovely with really good service.

Oh yes, it's...