The Market Cafe and Lounge — Restaurant in Great Britain

I was recommended this cafe but had a dreadful experience and left feeling really upset. I ordered a jacket potato with chilli for me and an extra portion of baked beans for my 2 year old granddaughter to have with some of the shared potato. They said they could bring out the beans first so the baby could eat quicker. After a long wait of about 30 mins they brought out the potato but all of it was hard and uncooked and I had to return it. It was taken back to the kitchen, But they then ignored me and when I asked what was happening they said it was ‘coming’. After waiting longer I asked again and they said it was on its way. Another wait and eventually they said they had a ‘bad batch’ of potatoes and had tried another one but couldn’t get them to cook. What was upsetting was the way they reacted to this problem - which could have been dealt with easily- in that they ignored me and didn’t communicate what was happening and just continued to serve everyone else. I was left sitting for about an hour with a 2 year old. When I asked why they hadn’t let me know what was happening I was told they were busy with other customers. I eventually asked for a refund and left without eating anything. I was given a refund just for the potato so had to paid for the plain beans that my granddaughter had eaten on their own without any potato. Really poor customer service because they acted as if I was being really difficult when I’d waited an hour with a baby for a basic meal that they couldn’t cook and left without...

So I really want to wholeheartedly love this place because there are things about it that are excellent and it's a breath of fresh air in Kingswood. But the experience you have is very dependent on what you order and who is serving. The cakes and pastries are superlative and the coffee is very good and the prices for these are reasonable. The breakfasts let the place down - they are priced at the premium end of the high street and just don't match that price in their execution although the ingredients seem high quality; there's a tendency to overcook the meat items and the eggs. Last time I had what was described on the menu as "perfectly poached" eggs with avocado on toast. The avocado lacked seasoning and one egg yolk was completely solid whilst the other was slightly jammy at best. I ate it because by the time it arrived I'd been waiting over 20 minutes when it wasn't at all busy; when i mentioned it to the young lady on the till, her only response was "thank you for letting me know" with no attempt at an apology. Waiting times generally at breakfast are disproportionately long. The icing on the cake was popping in this evening at just gone 4pm to find them already closed despite the advertised closing time being 4:30pm. I had to go to a chain instead when I'd rather support a local business.

Basically, this place would be wonderful if it could just be consistent in quality and do better at customer service, especially...

Upstairs in Kingswood Indoor Market, this cafe has an immediate welcome! It's spacious so the tables aren't on top of each other and you can talk easily. There is background music but it's very subtle, great for me as I find many cafes are too noisy! There is a choice between sofas or tables with chairs or seats facing the window to watch the world go by. Everything is clean, including the toilets and it's bright and airy. The lady behind the counter was extremely pleasant and helpful. There is a book swap cupboard which was well stocked. The menu has a good range of food, reasonably priced plus there's a good selection of cakes at the counter. The only downside for me was as I'm not keen on cake, there were homemade cheese straws as the only savoury snack. However, I know I'm in the minority, preferring savoury to sweet. The Market Cafe runs a loyalty scheme. I would definitely...