The Winding House cafe — Restaurant in England

Edited June 29, 2023 (after response from owner): Thank you for responding to our recent review. The comments I now make and those already posted are motivated by a desire to help you improve your business. As you can see from my first review, we were very impressed with your service at that time. Unfortunately, this time, not so much. We did NOT receive an email response from you when we filled in the online form. We checked our junk email folder repeatedly. Also if, as you have stated, you have had to reduce your opening times, this should be reflected on your website and in your premises window. Since you have not done this and we had no other information to go on, we turned up on a Tuesday, a day you should have been open according to the website, to a closed tearoom and we had to post the review we did. We are not locals and knew nothing of the situation with the railway. We still don't. It wasn't on our list of things to do. We can't be expected to know about everything going on affecting your business. With better website information, we wouldn't have had to write the review we did. We sincerely hope our comments will be taken on-board so that we can visit another time and experience the good service we once enjoyed.

Edited June 20, 2023 So disappointed! According to the website, it's still open, so we filled out the online form for an afternoon tea. No reply received. Phoned and left a message. No reply. Arrived, and it's closed! Very poor customer service.

From an earlier review: Cannot recommend this tearoom enough! We had an afternoon tea for two. Two choices of sandwich fillings, two cakes, two scones with butter, clotted cream and jam, and two drinks. Portions are very generous. We couldn't eat anything more after all that! Service was excellent. Can't wait to go again. And the views from the...

Came here for afternoon tea with my parents yesterday. What a lovely place to relax and enjoy each other’s company!

The afternoon tea was £15 per person, and needed to be pre-booked in advance (which was very straightforward on the website/email).

The tea room was lovely and warm on a cold day outside! The only thing I would caution around is that the stairs to get to the tea room are an old spiral staircase - most the easiest if you have mobility issues. However, there’s not much the tea room can do about this as the building is old and part of the railway next door.

The staff were exceptional. Kind, attentive (but not overly so), and very happy to take care of us.

The tea itself was wonderful and very good value for money. There was so much provided we had to take the chocolate cake home! All the sandwiches were well made, and the scones were homemade and very tasty. We were asked if we had any allergies (which is always good to see!) and we’re presented with a substantial list of tea options.

There was absolutely no rush for us to leave, and the atmosphere was very relaxed. We will definitely be back - thank you for a...

Oh dear, if you need an example of a cafe relying on their location for footfall then this is it.

The quirky little venue starts with a winding staircase to what looks like a lovely tea room. Then if you go further down you can sit on a patio area beside Bridgnorth's famous cliff railway and watch the world go by.... well the train at least you can't admire the view as the wall's too high. 🤨

All that would be ok if it weren't for the extremely poor cappuccino we had, it was tasteless and very small. The patio was shabby and there's very few places outside in the shade.

Not impressed at all with this place and it's a shame because it could be great.

In fairness we didn't sample the cakes or food so maybe they redeem themselves on that score. But come on, a decent coffee, is that asking too...