Waterside Coffee House & Bar — Restaurant in North Devon

Well, this place is a really great find, and the food does look amazing , but not tried any yet. We arrived at 9.30 yesterday, and were told quite abruptly that we were way too early....not exactly a warm welcome ... Still, we thought we would go again and give it another try today... there were at least 12 empty tables outside and no one inside, when we went to see if it was table service, I was asked if I had booked, I said no, the waitress with a mask just covering her mouth, said we couldn't sit in the sea view seats, and we couldn't have anything to eat.... she told us to sit by the door, cus she said they were fully booked for all the tables.. so we just ordered drinks and ice creams and some water for the dog ( she forgot the water) ... after we ordered it all, we were told they don't take cash? Should have told us that first! We were there for about an hour and a half in total, with two couples arriving to sit outside and one couple to eat inside,.. So no one came to sit on any of the three tables we had requested ... We were not made at all welcome... two staff had masks that didn't cover their noses, and the other had no mask!!! My sister has had a pub for 25 years, and we had a hotel for 10 years and we know and fully understand how to welcome people.., so in future I'd like to suggest, if people arrive early on a quiet day, you could say, I'm sorry, we don't open until 10, but you're more than welcome to take a seat until we do And.... Yes of course you can have the seats with a view , but we might have to ask you to move, if that's ok with you, please take the seat of your choice, .... and just to let you know, you come to this door to order your food, and i m sorry , but it's card payment only, from behind a mask that covers your nose and mouth Also the hand sanitiser was out of reach of anyone sat outside .. maybe it's a secret club that only likes online bookings ... We really hope a warmer welcome for all of your customers will be your modus operandii...

Today I visited the Waterside Cafe with a friend. I'd been several times before as I live nearby but I won't be returning after today.

I was shouted at by the chef as I dared to request a mozzarella and pesto panini without tomato. Maybe I'm misguided, but I didn't see this as an outrageous request. The chef however took it as some kind of personal attack and he aggressively informed me that he will not accommodate this request, suggested I order the pesto pasta instead and when I refused he told me to take my business elsewhere. The other customers in the cafe looked gobsmacked also. My friend promptly got a refund and we popped down the road to the Braunton Inn where nobody shouted at us.

When initially making my request to the waitress she suggested I just take the tomatoes out rather than her have to ask the chef not to put them in in the first place. If I had realised the ordeal it would have caused I might have considered this instead! Clearly she knew what was coming so it can’t be the first time he’s flipped his lid. Hopefully the nice girls that work there don’t get bullied, and it’s just the customers that get spoken to that way.

Real shame as I liked it there initially. As a small business you really ought to be careful how you treat your...

Seconds from the Tarka trail, this is a nice place to stop for breakfast or lunch. Gluten free options are available too.

There's enough choice for food and drink. I had a cheese burger, not expecting much, but was pleasantly surprised with how well it tasted. Would happily have again. The fries too were great as well, essentially fried peeled potatoes rather than frozen chips. Sweet potato fries were also spot-on. And the food portions were sizeable.

However, the 'large' chocolate shake was smaller than hoped and tasted like a bottle shake from a store. They do offer a few different flavours and there's also a horrific looking drink with an iced donut on top. In my younger days, I'd have been all over it.

Bonus points for bike parking spots, free water and cups outside, an outdoors football table and plenty of outdoor seating.

Service was a little slow, but we visited at lunch on a Saturday so hardly surprising. Remember to take your table number with you when you go to order.

Overall, surprised by how well the food tasted and would happily visit again for a lunch. The breakfast menu also looked...