Pencil Cottage — Restaurant in England

Cute cafe in Shanklin old town. The food and all the people we encountered were lovely but cringe service was slow. We went on a mild mid October afternoon, the place was at 25-30% capacity. I queued for 30 mins to order and then had to wait a further 30 mins for 2 scones to come out. There was a sign saying, Peak of the season, food is freshly prepared, waiting time estimated to be 30 mins. As it wasn’t peak of the season or even partially busy i didn’t expect it to take half an hour to serve a couple of scones - my bad, I was warned. While we were waiting in the queue the lady at the front had completed her order and was waiting for the coffees to be prepared by another member of staff she said to the lady serving, who was also stood waiting for the coffees, “Do you want me to move to the side do you can continue serving?”. The lady serving said no, we don’t prepare multiple orders at once as you just get yourself in a mess. I’ve never known a hospitality establishment have that as a rule, I’ve only ever seen it in establishments that don’t have the training and skills to handle multiple orders at once. A few reviews have commented on the price we had a standard and a savoury cream tea, it came to £17 including drinks; I don’t Rond that too bad. As I’ve said, it was lovely but I wouldn’t come in August, you’ll be waiting...

The sign outside stated "dog friendly" a bowl of water and biscuits for your dog. As it was pouring of rain we went inside and found a table only to be told ,no dogs inside, although it was indicated that we could sit outside in the rain on soaking wet chairs and tables. We left and went to The Old Smithy at Godshill where we, and our very well behaved little dog, we're welcomed inside and had a gorgeous meal. I suggest the Pencil Cafe changes its signage to partially dog friendly, not very dog friendly or only dog friendly when the sun shines? As for any future visits here....I think I'll draw a line under the...

We popped in for food and decided on the high tea, Although we were asked which sandwiches we would like and a choice of slice of cake, the overall presentation and size of the sandwiches provided was a little underwhelming for the price. Although the fruit scone was nice and enough jam and clotted cream was provided it just didn't feel like it was worth the money. When you have a high tea, it would have been nice to have a proper China tea pot and the cups to be different from what a cream tea providers as you were paying more. The overall summary, food was nice but it could feel a little more special...