Grasshopper Cafe — Restaurant in High Peak

This post may come across as bitter, it's not meant to. It contains a review, albeit short, but is more about awareness of our life above Grasshopper & the attitude of the owners of the cafe & flat.

Decisions have been made & nothing that’s happened can be recognised as illegal or officially contested with any guarantee of success. For me, it’s more to do with the way my girlfriend & I were treated. I'm not even aiming to promote the idea of boycotting the cafe, please do go there & keep the staff in work. I am only aiming to allow anyone who takes the time to read this some perspective & insight.

Grasshopper Cafe has the best coffee in Hope, in my opinion (sorry Adventure Cafe, Courtyard Cafe and Hope Chest Deli, just my opinion), but, for me, the food is good, but overpriced. The staff are fantastic, despite a relatively regular turnover for some of the younger faces. Staff there really lift the character and reputation of the business.

However & more importantly, I have directly experienced the proprietors to be deceptive, dismissive, duplicitous & unsympathetic. The original basis I’ve been told for them wanting to sell their business & flat are more than plausible, but I feel the treatment of my girlfriend & I was distinctly far from reasonable.

We rented the flat above Grasshopper for around a year & a half. When we began our tenancy, we were assured that any problems we had would be dealt with quickly & efficiently: ‘Any problems, come & see us.’ We had problems from the start & each was deflected or dismissed in turn. We were told, repeatedly, that problems had been dealt with ‘as quickly as possible’. This "haste" was exemplified through: • The flat not being cleaned properly before we moved in (which we left spotless after we left, with zero gratitude) • Delayed repairs to guttering, resulting in the kitchen flooding. Twice. • A broken toilet seat when we moved in that we had to replace ourselves • A filthy and damaged oven, which we cleaned & fixed • Having to chase repeatedly for our deposit back • A leak in the ceiling in the front room that after 9 months' neglect became a large hole, which took a further 3 months to finally fix

Following this and more, on the 31st of January 2025, we received two copies of a Section 21 eviction notice through the post in a hand addressed jiffy bag, both countersigned by the business owners, giving us 2 months to move out of the flat. This was upsetting for both of us as we had planned to stay in Hope for at least another year & like to think that we had good relationships with quite a few of the residents, especially since we both worked locally. Given the scarcity of rental properties in the area, we were forced to look elsewhere, which threw other things into turmoil given the relatively short 8 week period. We had no contingency for this scenario & no prior notice or indication was given on this eviction, at all. In fact, we had previously been assured wholeheartedly that they would make sure our tenancy stayed in place, "no matter what", even if they managed to sell. It was instead cited that ‘a vacant flat might be more inviting to prospective buyers’ via text. That is the sole reason we've been given for our eviction. We were dealt with like unwanted squatters, with absolutely no justification.

I’m not asking anyone that reads this for anything, nor am I expecting anything from this. I acknowledge that what is 'fair' or 'reasonable' can be down to interpretation, perception, or experience & that, in essence, nothing illegal has taken place. I have not lied at all or exaggerated any part of the experiences shared here & these were not isolated.

A Hope resident said to me: ‘You don’t really think of someone as being unkind unless you see it for yourself, but I’d rather know than not.’

And that is honestly why I’m posting this.

Thank you for taking the time...

A lovely cafe after a busy morning in the rain walking the peak district path. A great range of menu to choice from hot and cold food, to hot and cold drinks, deserts and cakes. Very traditional decor with stone floors and great spacious sitting arrangement. Warm and friendly staff who explained the menu and options very well. I choose the Mustardy Mushroom with sourdough bread and a mocha coffee. The cafe accept card and were also selling many other home produced products from coffee, drinks and others items. The cafe was very light and warm with comfortable seating after a wet day walking. Food didn’t take that long. Dish i ordered was warm, fresh, smelt and tasted delicious. I have never tried this dish before and wasn’t disappointed it tasted great lots of flavour from the mustard and spice and mushroom cooked to perfection. Compliments to the chef. Thank you again look forward to my next visit. Would highlight recommend this cafe if you are...

The Grasshopper is a lovely spot with everything you'd like to find in a cosy, welcoming cafe. When it was the Woodbine, the joke was that you went there in spite of the service and the food. Now its the Grasshopper you can expect a whole lot more. The Cafe has been very tastefully renovated and it feels warm and very welcoming. There is a great cycle parking area in the rear of the cafe. Once inside the first thing you notice is the warmth not only from the log burner but the Owners. The food is very well displayed, great value and above all tastes fantastic. Teas, coffee, etc are all beautifully resented with excellent service. A good range of cakes, light meals and much more. The nicest of all is the service from people who actually care about what they are doing and the experience...