Cliff Railway Cafe — Restaurant in England

Went with family and straight away, the atmosphere was horrible, felt rushed and like we were in the way/causing a fuss simply by arriving at the café with a group of 5, as most tables could not seat a group of our size: it felt like it was almost our fault for the chaos for simply...coming to the cafe in a group bigger than 4. One waitress, a younger girl, was lovely, but the rest were completely unapproachable and snappy almost with many customers around the cafe, not just our group: don't think a single greeting or smile was exchanged throughout our time in the cafe, except from the younger waitress, who at least made the visit bearable. You can quite easily talk to your group/the people at your table, as it's mostly quiet in the restaurant, however that may be because of how uncomfortable the (mostly) stern-faced staff make you feel during the meal, and while you're waiting for your food to arrive: the atmosphere makes casual conversation feel quite out of place and unwelcome, you almost feel too awkward to chat.

When the meal arrived, (3 people had ordered ham, egg, and chips) the ham had many grey/green segments, on each of the 3 plates, as if the ham had been left out/not stored properly, to the point where 2 people in the group simply didn't touch it at all, and left it completely untouched on the plates, due to fears about getting sick from ingesting it. The chips were clearly frozen, which was surprising with the better, fresher quality of chips in similar cafes around Torquay/Devon. The drinks were good, however it's practically impossible to mess up a canned drink or a hot chocolate, so there are no complaints there 🤷‍♀️ considering the food was relatively expensive when considering the portion sizes and quality, it tasted quite cheap, and I simply can't move past the green/grey ham, that is unacceptable in my opinion, as it could make a customer sick. One member of my group stated that the bread tasted like cheap supermarket-brand bread, nothing special or even good, however i myself did not eat any bread, and so I cannot comment on that myself.

although not the staff's fault, the crowds of people coming in, walking past tables to go to the bathroom, was a little uncomfortable, and put a few members of the group off their meals due to people constantly coming and going near our table: perhaps having some sort of rule, where people must make a purchase to use the toilets, would benefit the cafe, and the customers already seated inside with their meals. We were told upon entering that the downstairs was unavailable, however we noticed groups of people going downstairs throughout our meal, which we found odd (however, I do believe there was a single toilet downstairs, so perhaps people were lining up downstairs to use the facilities, rather than using the toilet upstairs.)

Having a cafe ran in such a way, in such a lovely area is quite disappointing and feels almost predatory: as if the staff know that tourists, new to the area, will come to the cafe, regardless of the countless bad reviews, simply for the views from the cafe, and so perhaps the staff believe they don't need to put on a smile and exceed expectations with their service, instead doing the bare minimum. Will not be returning, as quite frankly, it was a bad experience all around.

(After visiting the restaurant, and before writing this review, I decided to look through the rest of the reviews, and I find the replies, from the owners to the low-rated reviews, quite shocking: being snarky and sarcastic in response to real criticisms from customers will only make the cafe lose business: it's unprofessional and rude, to put it simply. Responding to criticism is perfectly fine, but there's a professional, better way to do so, than to be rude to the people funding your business, simply because feelings were hurt over a...

Ive never been so disappointed in a cafe.the moment of walking in things started to go wrong .we was a party of 5 no table was large enough upstairs and we was told downstairs was not to be used .ive never seen such a fuss over letting people either add a chair to a 4 seater or let us use 2 tables. Eventually after alot of fuss we get a table together.we make are order and drink come quick .when the food comes at first glance all most things seems ok .the cheesy chips had grated cheese just placed ontop not melted .not the worst just a but would have preferred it like that .however we also orderd 3 ham and eggs(not gammon cuz wording of course is everything and more inportant then survice) .the HAM was a large thin peace folded over itself when you unfolded it what we found was enough to turn your stomach .the HAM was actually turning green (not your typical vibrent green that wierd grey green it goes if you leave it out for too long) .big patches on the meat that you couldn't miss .i couldn't believe this was surved .the fact that each peace was folded and non was visible until opened surgest that it was spotted .as the odds of all 3 coincidentally to not visible on first glance is very slim .the chips are frozen and over done . the bread is a standard loaf .tuna mayo is sodden that it drips on you . The fried eggs was wrong in so many ways it was almost an art to get it so bad .they managed to make parts so brown and crispy and also manage to keep some of the white snotty a trick ive yet to figure out how its possible . plus the older generation of ladies needs to take notice of the yunge lady they had working with them as she was so sunny and polite .unlike them that every interaction we had with them made you feel as though you was putting them out.this cafe has you pay for your food before you even see it .we though it was to prevent dine and ditch .yet after having the food perhaps its to avoid the customers after surviving it and not have to get feed back because for the whole meal noone checked in with us or tried to clear the plates that had an awful lot untouched food still on them .due to the warm pack like nature of the delightful staff that had been upto this point who would feel comfortable to complain...

Went for lunch with my husband and little one. Ordered and they came for payment straight away what is not a problem. I asked for the price and she came already with a card machine asking for nearly 37£… I said I wanted to pay in cash and would like the receipt. She went back and told the price was wrong and it was 30.15£ … asked other waitress for menu and reluctant to give it to me to check the prices ( I knew what I ordered was not 37£). When she came she gave me a quick excuse of a price mistake but if I payed in card and receipt would have been 37£. My food was ok but my husband salad was awful. Lettuce was not washed and very dirty. When challenged she didn’t even apologised properly just avoided the conversation and in a rush. I asked for a refund for the salad as my husband didn’t finished half of it and she was rude and reluctant to refund saying she will as a gesture of good wheel but not a common thing they do and you could see her rude expression like we were on the wrong. I DO NOT RECOMMEND this...