Marmadukes - The Sorting Office — Restaurant in Sheffield

Driven past Marmadukes quite a few times and wanted to try it. Particularly interested in the bread but discovered they do a lot more.

Went without a booking and was seated fairly quickly. I'd say this is a risky move as it was full so I would recommend booking. Staff were ever so friendly and helpful which really made you feel welcome. It was really pleasing to see the onsite bakery too.

The menu has a reasonable range of items to try. Some feedback would be that the 'ask staff' options were tricky as staff were very busy. I think the company would benefit from a specials board in a prominent position as the location of the current list is difficult to see from the majority of the cafe.

I had the eggs royale with the espresso hollandaise which really peaked my interest. Very well balanced and tasty. We also ordered a quarter sourdough with butter which was really good. My friend had a special deli sandwich but was particularly impressed with the raspberry dressed salad leaves which came with it.

The time from ordering to receiving food was not the quickest but understandable with how busy they were. The venue is quite loud so was tricky to have a conversation. I'd recommend adding some more soft furnishings to dampen the sound, particularly with the high ceilings.

The staff recommended the baked vanilla cheesecake for desert and my goodness it was a good choice. It was a rather large slice and had great texture and the base wasn't too dense. I would say that you could get away with shaving a third off the size of the slice as it was rather filling after a meal!

Drinks are the usual range but I tried a 'dulce verde' juice thinking it'd be made on site but was disappointed to find it came in a plastic bottle from Cambridge. Still was reasonable in flavour but was expecting house made.

Overall, a really pleasant experience and some really good food. Great service and good atmosphere. Would 100%...

Short version...great food terrible service overpriced. Longer version. The food is good here but you pay through the nose for it. Far too overpriced, they're charging a premium because they're going down the eco sustainable angle which hipsters are getting sucked into. Ethically sourced goods do not cost twice as much, they're using milk from the same place that supplies the supermarket, oh and all fruit juice is made from wonkey fruit, so you're not saving anything "going to landfill" . The service has been pretty bad the two times I've been here with long wait times to get a table, then to get orders taken and then to get our food, then to pay; don't expect a quick bite which can be a problem if you're parked in the carpark across the road limited to 45 mins. We were queuing out the door even though there were many empty tables. They eventually admitted that their WiFi and in turn their tablets were down so they couldn't take orders, when I suggested a paper and pen they claimed that would be too difficult and complicated.... I had to laugh when they eventually pointed to the table we could take and they handed me the menus to take with us even though I was pushing a wheelchair user. The Turkish eggs dish is delicious and well prepared, lots of flavours from plenty of fresh herbs and spices all covering beautifully runny yolks and fully cooked whites. The downside is you're still hungry after demolishing it, the portion is too small which is unacceptable with the price you pay. My cortado (coffee) was perfectly brewed. Credit where it's due, the people preparing the food and drink are killing it,everyone else managing and serving need to step up. I recommend the brownie, wasn't a fan of the blondie but that was just a bad...

Nice enough food, but the overall dining experience feels a little... I'm not sure what the best word to describe it is... hectic, maybe? Given its location, it has access to a large clientèle. So if you're a first time visitor rolling up on a Saturday morning on the spur of the moment, be prepared to wait, as the place is very popular and even with its maximised use of table space, we had a 25 minute loiter in the foyer as an appetiser. The food preparation area is on show, and the chefs and assistants are no slouches, thankfully. The food is nice, edibly and vidibly, though in creating these visual feasts, there's some compromise in soggyness here and there. Service was pleasant, but there was a minor issue with something on delivery, which got sorted out, but it's become all too commonplace and generally "accepted" in food service in the 21st century, so I can't single out Marmadukes, it's just the way of the World these days. Being a very busy and well utilised large rectangular space, it's quite noisy. The majority of tables on our visit seemed to be families or friend groups of 4(+ in some cases), so the conversation levels were lively. It reminded me of my school days, and I could picture my old headmaster leaping to his feet and slamming down his knife and fork, demanding quiet. So if you want to sit in the corner with a skinny latte, perusing the Guardian, take earplugs. Will give it another go soon and see if I come up with a different perspective, but it's certainly worth a visit if you're in the mood to dine out...