Spurriers House Cafe — Restaurant in Harlow

I have visited Spurriers cafe three times now over the past few months. On each occasion I was left underwhelmed with both the service and their coffee.

In these strange times I understand that many business have had to adapt, Spurriers have a one way system for customers that enables social distancing. That being said the wait is excruciating due to the super-slow service. This past weekend I waited for 40 minutes in a queue of no more than 6 orders. Two members of staff were serving, one taking the orders and then standing around and another making coffee one at a time on a three bay machine. I ordered two lattes and a flat white for myself and received three cups, one labelled FW, the contents however looked identical. A flat white should be significantly smaller than a latte, worryingly their menu includes a large flat white too which presumably is also just a large latte. Perhaps more training is required?

In the time I was in the queue I witnessed three families join and leave the queue with one man exclaiming to his children “shall we go and get an ice cream instead?”. Those three orders would have been a significant financial value to the business, and if this happens regularly the loss of potential income must be quite considerable.

The cafe offers a loyalty scheme, although as a customer this was not suggested to me. I only realised when a customer in front of me came back to ask for sugar and their stamps. I watched the card get stamped but still had to ask for a card when it came to my turn. Perhaps this scheme would do better with some more encouragement from customer facing staff.

I am passionate about supporting independent and local businesses and would always choose to visit somewhere like Spurriers out of principle. On my third visit I felt that the service had continued to worsen and the frustration of myself and other customers was tangible whilst waiting.

I really hope that management see’s this post and seeks to address some of my concerns, I would love to see this business do well and prosper in the summer with some more footfall when the restrictions are lifted, currently I fear they will not keep up and the disappointment will permeate into more scathing reviews from...

This is specifically for the "Pizza in the park" the cafe gets a 2 out of 5 (see below).

PIZZA the food of the gods, and finally Harlow has entered the world of quality pizza, bad things first. No they do not deliver. No they are not open late. Only one size.

Now the good stuff, a quality pizza, with good crust and just the right amount of chew and snap, the tomato is pretty decent (never underestimate the need for good tomato in a pizza) and the cheese is good, with enough to make the pizza feel covered but without becoming swamped. Cook time is pretty quick (there wasn't a queue when I went so this could be different if its busy)

What does this all mean in the end? Well I'm gonna say this is the best proper pizza in Harlow right now.

My review of the cafe a few years ago

I wish I could give this place a more positive review but sadly no. Ordered a vegi cheese burger and tea, asked if I could have a different bun and was offered a bap. Nice, then I asked if I which milk jug was soya but was informed I should have said earlier (Who knew?). So I pay extra for the milk. And then the food arrives, oh dear, my bap was a sponge burger bun. No great loss, but the great insult was the slice of plastic cheese slice on top...

The service was slow and lacked basic politeness. Staff came across as quite blunt and unbothered, which is surprising in such a calm, family-friendly environment. It felt like there was no care or kindness at all — a bit more empathy would really improve things. Now, the pricing… I was genuinely shocked to be charged £5 for the kids’ meal shown in the photo — two fish fingers and a handful of chips in a takeaway box. That’s incredibly poor value. To make things worse, a single scoop of ice cream was £4. Seriously? That’s overpriced by any standard, especially in a park café where families expect a more reasonable experience. The café’s location is lovely, but the service and prices don’t match the setting. If you’re looking for a friendly, good-value place to eat while enjoying the park, sadly, this isn’t it....