Coach House Cafe — Restaurant in London

very disappointing after expecting a more of a bistro café dinning experience I received what I would call more of a transport café experience but paid for a bistro experience ..... On arriving at a little after 2pm to find the sunday lunches had run out this was disappointment number one... once we had found our table which was still waiting to be cleared a young girl came along and cleared and wiped our table with what I can only describe as a well use cloth which left behind the aroma of a well used cloth.. we explained this was our first visit to the Coach house café but the young lady failed to tell us that we had to make our way to the counter and queue up to place our order so we sat there waiting patiently for our order to be taken before I asked if some could and was then told to take ourselves to the counter so now we had to carry our personal belongs with us to the counter hoping our table would still be there on our return..... having placed our order we given a tray to carry our tea and cappuccino along with cutlery and serviettes on however the tray was wet and sticky and full of crumbs ... not happy and certainly not relaxed... The tea came in one of those stupid leaky teapots with matching milk jug where most of it end up on the table as they are impossible to pour and the cup and saucer combo of that you always find in the transport cafes..... having been a long distant truck driver this was always a pet hate of mine. I asked my friend how is your Cappuccino to which she replied average and Luke warm .... No condiments on the table everything in sachets silly tiny sachets of pepper and salt again transport café style but not reflected in the price once our food arrived of bangers and mash... I was enquiring if I may have some more little sachets of pepper, mustard etc to which she barked its self-service and vaguely pointed towards the front I said don't bother as I did not want to keep getting up and down from my table leaving my food to get cold... The Homemade sausages were over cooked shrivelled and dry and my mash potato was full of lumps of congealed powdered instant mash, luckily for my friend it would seem she had real mash potato so why I could not of had the choice to choose something else or agreeing to have powered instant mash I don't know... I work hard and long hours when I go out to eat I expect to have good food with good service I found none of these to be present at the Coach house a real shame as the place is set in lovely surroundings and looks as if you are going to have a lovely relaxing time.... all the up and down from the table not relaxing!!!!! cheap condiments no waiter service just reminded me of a motorway café where I have had better bangers and mash... I will not be returning again for more of the same ......what a let down and as I have said it certainly is not cheap café prices where most of the time I a least get a waiter and a decent cup of tea with condiments on...

This review is to get the attention. We were a customer for 15 years but we stopped as the previous management was no longer great. We then revisited this year after remembering that there were new management and we love the gardens. The new people seem nice so we visited again and again but here comes the trouble. The steak baugette was so delicious the first time when I went with a friend for lunch, so I took my husband the following day to enjoy it again. I spoke so highly but we’re disappointed when the steak was chewy, and not enough steak as the first time either. I assured my husband that maybe it was bad luck but to give it another go. So today we went again, the filling was TINY, I mean only 3 tiny thin pieces of steak strips and it was just all bread. The meat was not only so chewy almost inedible, but also only 3 tiny pieces! And those 3 tiny pieces went into a tissue and wasted. We were extremely disappointed and will never order anything besides a drink, cake or ice cream again if we do go weather permitting. On a positive note, the young lady at the counter with glasses is lovely and even my toddler smiles when she sees her.

Please...

Visited coach House cafe on 29th March 2023.. the cafe itself is ok but evidently according to croydon council parks and gardens the toilets situated outside of the cafe belong to the coach House cafe and not croydon council parks and gardens ...I contacted the council to raise the issue yesterday...?....Unfortunately we had the misfortune of needing to use the convenience on leaving the cafe like most people and quite frankly they are a disgrace!....filthy dirty dilapidated building...full of cobwebs and dirty rubbish...toilets..only 1 working ..dirty...toilet roll up on a high shelf ...the sink was rusting and dirty no hand wash ... the whole place is a disgrace and if it does belong to the cafe it needs to be sorted out !! .there was a queue of ladies waiting.. but everyone said the same thing....disgusting ..coach House cafe you need to sort this out as it is a massive negative on how many star ratings you receive from your customers....won't be going back in the near...