Cafe Needles Eye — Restaurant in England

First time here for my birthday lunch. Booked a table in advance as recommended as it gets very busy. Arrived 5 mins early to be taken in and then shown to a table where 2 people were already sitting with food. The member of staff told me " oh it's social seating, but these 2 are just about ready to go". I wasn't really very happy with that but sat down thinking the people were actually finished their food, and the table would be free soon. The 2 people looked really uncomfortable and probably left earlier than they had planned, we felt really uncomfortable too. We had to all move off the table to let them out( bearing in mind there's no room to swing a cat). If the member of staff had just said your table will be ready in ten minutes we would've just waited outside.

So we had ordered drinks, but then I started thinking, what if someone else comes in, will they shove them on to our table with us, I really didn't want to do that? So we asked the question and was told no. But not sure it wouldn't have happened had we not asked. I wouldn't have ordered food if there was going to be others put on the table with us. If I book a table I expect that table is for my party only. Especially when there is no mention of "social seating" on the booking platform or their FB page or web page. That wasn't a great start.

We were on the table which backed on to the heated pass, I was melting with the heat from it and the bifold doors were wide open. Not a great place to have a table. It's quite cramped, noisy, and was full of stife from the kitchen.The place isn't big enough for the tables they've got in. They have 4 or 5 really long tables and 2 tables for 2 that I could see. Think they haven't thought it out too well. Would have been better off with smaller tables that could be pushed together for bigger parties.

No dogs allowed policy in the restaurant, so we didn't take ours. Then 2 people were sat on a table near the bifold doors with a dog! I think they had just opened up the doors so they could sit there with their dog.... But it was still technically inside the restaurant barking it's head off. It's either dogs allowed inside or not.

Food...I had the double smash burger it came with 2 onion rings and a small bowl of skinny fries. It was tasty, not particularly big, but think it was pricey for the amount of food. Even if they had bulked the plate out with some salad it would have made it look a bit more substantial for the money(£15/£16 I think). My husband had the pulled pork loaded fries. He wasn't too impressed. My daughter had the vegan burger which was advertised as a moving mountains burger which is supposed to taste like a beef burger(she added cheese as she's veggie not vegan), she didn't like that either it's was full of green stuff that was very over powered by coriander, this is definitely not a moving mountains burger, that came with fries too. I had a taste of both hers and the loaded fries and pleased I didn't get either. I had the best out of the 3 meals.

Staff.... Mostly good, all did what was asked of them, not very smiley, a couple a bit on the abrupt side. The waitress bringing the cutlery wasn't holding them by the handles so that needs addressing. The lad that brought out the food gave my daughter the meat burger and told her that's the vegan burger! I knew it wasn't I could see the bacon so took it off her. That's not good, you need to know what your actually serving especially if anyone has allergies or are vegan/veggie.

All in all not a great experience. I think I maybe would go for a coffee and sit outside if the weather was good. But don't think I'd return for a meal. Which is a shame as I had been looking forward to...

Place its self lovely cool vibe. Great location, great views, great staff, polite, friendly, efficient and attentive. For starters I had sweet chilli prawns x 3. As they were delicious and I am greedy I could have done with one more !!! Perhaps there could be an option to order and pay for an extra one ??? For mains I had the surf and turf, which consisted of two well sized pieces of chicken, two large prawns, proper sauted potatoes, spinach and a spicy tomato sauce. All was perfectly cooked, hot and delicious. For dessert they only had a selection of cakes available but the one I ordered was tasty. I also ordered several large Jamesons with Diet Coke. All arrived in good time with a smile. I actually wanted dark navy rum, but they didn’t serve it !!! I also asked for dry ginger ale, but it was not available !!! But not a major issue. So there I was sitting in a very comfy seat, with a great view with nice background music. Enjoying my drink and thinking about ordering several more, when I was very politely and very nicely asked if I would move outside as two young ladies wanted the table and they were cold !!! I said I did not realise there was a time limit on the table !!! And my face obviously said that I did not really want to move unless it was absolutely required. The guy politely, nicely asking me if I would move said it was ok for me to finish my drink !!! In the meantime he managed to seat the two young ladies somewhere else. So I carried on enjoying my pre booked evening. Then several minutes later a female server who had served me impeccably throughout my meal again said they needed the table for other customers !!! I again said I did not realise there was a time limit on the booking. She said there was and informed me it was 1 hour and 15 minutes !!! At that point I asked for my bill £70 and left her a tip. I then got up and made my way outside feeling somewhat disappointed about the ending of my experience !!! At no point during the 20 minutes it took me to make the face to face booking was I told there was a time limit on the table !!! Later as I left I was nicely, politely told that a time limit was mentioned when you book on line !!! I have just checked and it is not mentioned as far as I can tell !!! If I was made aware of the time limit on the table when I booked or at least when I sat down then I would have not been so irked when I was very politely requested if I would move. Because of this I gave The Needles Eye Cafe 4 and not 5 stars. I would strongly recommend a visit to the Needles Eye Cafe, but be aware of the indoor table time limits. I wish the whole team good luck for the future...

Our Cafè Needles Eye ltd visit.

By far the best cafe I've ever been to! The food was top quality, the staff were friendly and helpful.

Upon arriving we were offered drinks whilst we waited for a table, about 10 minutes. I love that they're busy as it shows their popularity. (1pm on a Friday).

I had their signature Needles Eye burger and the misses had Popcorn Chicken loaded fries.

Both meals were fantastic from the first bite to the last. Bursting with flavour, not over or under cooked, fresh ingredients and a generous sized serving.

I had a cold bottle of Peroni with a flat white coffee. Where we were sat, you could smell the coffee from inside and I loved that.

At one point there was a short rain shower, the staff quickly came and put the umbrella up for us.

Their were plenty of staff on hand. Two were helping to seat people, about 3-5 staff constantly serving food and quickly cleaning the tables and as I say, it was pretty busy. And the kitchen + bar had plenty of staff too. I think two of the owners were there too and that's nice to see.

Overall, after being to cafes all over Europe for the past 30 years, I'd say this was hands down the best cafe I've ever been to! Can't wait to visit again. Specially as it's just 5 minutes along the road from where I live.

Also, I love how they're dog friendly (on the outside terrace).

The only thing I'd have liked to see were menus for drinks and the 'dog meals', that I've heard they do. We asked but they didn't have any.

Thank you to all of the lovely staff. We will be back 👍

Edit: To add, as some know I have mental health issues, which often restrict my ability to goto places like this, but the nice staff and location of the cafe helped massively to calm my nerves. I also managed the walk, including the big flight of stairs...