Fay's Bistro — Restaurant in England

There is nothing quite as good as visiting Fay's on a sunny afternoon with Homer, my dog, and sitting outside with him. Fay's is a fine Calne 'institution', and it is something that is very dear to my - and Homer's - heart. However, the time has come for me to voice my concern. Today was not a good day. You had 2 attempts at presenting me with edible porridge, and you failed. Either get it right, or take it off the menu. Porridge should not be under-cooked and chewy. To be fair, this is the first time that I've had cause to complain - at all other times the food has been excellent. It was a pity that you had run out of sausage rolls, but they are sooo good, that is understandable! I have several friends who have most positively moved away from Fay's, based mainly on prices, but I have no intention yet of joining them, and I am writing this with no angst, but genuine concern for the long term continuation of my favorite go-to place. Final point, and this is the most disappointing one of all. All of the staff are lovely and pleasant. However, far too often staff come outside too infrequently to serve/attend waiting customers, and I have experienced this on many occasions. It is made much worse by the infuriating habit of staff, having attended a customer, deliberately ignoring waiting clients and rapidly returning inside - the only solution being to call out to them. I cannot recall ever seeing a waitress making a point of looking round outside, to see if they can provide a service for a waiting customer.

Being an ex silver-service waiter myself, many cobwebs ago, it is very difficult to understand why it is not possible to correct this. Professionally, it is a wait/er/ress's responsibility to attend to customer's. Is it a dictum from management? Is it a reluctance to employ extra staff? Who knows? None of us expect special treatment, but we do expect a reasonable and equal level of service, irrespective of whether we are inside or outside...

If I was moving to Calne this is the place I'd come, often, as it's full of friendly locals having a cuppa and a cake and a chat. And it's not just full of young mothers with their young kids, although there are plently of them, but a whole range of society: working men, retired people, middle aged women.

I had an Americano which is a simple black coffee but so easy to make badly. If you get one from Costa or a chain-cafe stype place they tend to taste bad because (I've been told) they buy the cheapest coffee as their margin comes from selling flavoured coffee where the quality of the actual coffee is irrelevant.

On the walls of this charming locale you can see paintings by local artists (see my photos) as well as appeals by local charities.

It's so much more than a cafe -- it's a genuine community hub and resource.

I will continue to support it whenever I pass through this lovely...

Visited Fay’s Bistro today the 3rd of October 2018,this is a lovely cafe set on the banks of the River Marden in Calne Wiltshire,it’s a great place to go to for a meal or a snack,or just a cup of tea coffee soft drink or ice cream with a great selection of cakes as well,you can sit outside on a lovely summers day and admire the river as it flows past,the food is well prepared it’s also a good portion,the tea cake as you can see in my photos is one of the biggest around,my tuna jacket potato with salad was yummy too,the staff are all very friendly and make you welcome.highly recommend.ps I do not no why my photos are duplicated I only posted one of each which can be seen in the main photo gallery.ps I would like to thank all of you who view my photos and reviews.if you like this please...