Cafe Ambio Whinlatter Forest — Restaurant in England

I rarely write reviews. But felt compelled. Far too expensive for sadly disappointing mediocre food. Such a shame. I'm local and have been visiting for many years. Much prefer previous café. The 'salad' that accompanied cheese & chutney sandwich was awful; soaked in very vinegary dressing with 3 thin slices of pickled cucumber and something else pickled that I couldn't identify. Not a tomato, pepper, sweetcorn, grain in sight? My hot chocolate, which was in a cup rather than a decent sized mug, cost £5.10. It would have cost another 50p for a flake. We sat near the queue and watched 2 families and 2 couples read the menu, make a comment on how expensive it was and leave. After our disappointing sandwiches we fancied a piece of cake.... £4.10 for a slice of traybake. Just not prepared to pay so much. We went next door and bought a big bar of chocolate for £3! I do understand that cost of food etc has increased and I understand it is a business with overheads that need to be covered. Unfortunately, I also see a café that is purely catering for tourists; getting away with charging exorbitant prices in the knowledge that it has a captive audience with those who seek shelter and nourishment after their time enjoying Whinlatter Forest itself. Factoring in the parking charge.... it cost us approx £40 for our weekend dog walk. How on earth can families on average to low incomes afford to visit...

Awful on all fronts. Much worse than under the previous ownership/management.

Overpriced - £3.95 for a black americano is extortionate. Everything else at least 10% overpriced. Seems that they are trying to be "up market" and failing miserably.

Comedy moment wanting a cheese scone as on menu but the fuss to get this without soup was a shocking example of lack of customer focus. It took cafe assistant to speak with another staff member and also the chef before I was "allowed" a standalone scone. In the end it wasn't worth it - tasteless, brick hard, with no taste whatsoever of cheese.

My partner's soup was never home made. No sign of chunky vegetables, only soggy pieces of carrot. More likely out of a tin.

This cafe needs a wake-up call and a bit of customer training for their front desk staff. Just because there is no competition doesn't mean you should rip off...

I've know good customer service when I see it, and I strongly believe first impressions count. You go to order food and drink and the following is visible. One girl on a till and six other behind the counter discussing last nights tv. One lass is making drinks so slowly that a sloth managed to overtake her. In the mean time the queue had got to twelve deep. Not one of the six staff members doing nothing, stepped up and started serving. In total it took 14 minutes from order two coffees and two bits of cake to turn up. Then their is the bill £17.00. Over priced is an understatement. The interior of the cafe is also hugely dated. I came away feeling deeply disappointed and certainly wouldn't go back or recommend the place unless serious...