Waterfront Café | Bar | Bistro
Waterfront Café | Bar | Bistro things to do, attractions, restaurants, events info and trip planning
Description
Riverside venue open from breakfast and on summer evenings, serving cakes, sandwiches and specials.
attractions: , restaurants: No.25 Benson, The Village Plaice, The Crown Inn, The Three Horseshoes, McDonald's, Wild Bean Cafe
Ratings
Description
Riverside venue open from breakfast and on summer evenings, serving cakes, sandwiches and specials.
Posts
It is OK, but nothing special. It has recently expanded the outdoor seating area to what looks like 300 covers. Order your food at the bar, which might take 20 minutes of queuing when it is busy. Then sit at your table for 30-60 minutes waiting for your food, again depending on how busy they are. The food is OK. Not many vegetarian choices but the menu is predictable and uninspiring. The chips are pasty and flavourless. The salad garnish is minimal and lifeless. The Theakstons Best is really very nice indeed. When we left, we felt glad to be away from the crowd in there. There's nothing else for miles and the location is wonderful. Edit: Some time later, we have been back. This time it was not so crowded, we didn't have to queue to order, the drinks came almost immediately and the food soon after. Food was good. Really nice hummus sandwich on a rustic roll, although everything squeezed out at first bite. The vegetarian nachos looked excellent. I've upgraded the stars and we'll certainly return! Edit: a further visit and more disappointment, sorry to say. It was a grey and damp day so no outside seating. Inside it was not very pleasant. No ambience. The floor bounces every time someone walks past and there's a lot of people walking past. In fact, we chose to go home for lunch instead, the menu being uninspiring. I think it would be fine if we'd arrived by boat or in a bunch of motorbikes or bicycles out for the day. But, today, we just didn't like the atmosphere or the menu. The people that work there are lovely and the greatest asset to the place. I just wish the menu and the ambience were a bit better. But what can you do with such a big place?
Will HughesWill Hughes
20
Visited the cafe following a short stay in Oxfordshire with my wife. This was a few weeks after the relaxing of the third (and hopefully final) national lockdown. Anxieties around outdoor eating can still be present but not so at the cafe. Wide open space near the river. Appropriately separated dining tables from eachother. We were fortunate enough to arrive on a pleasant spring morning but also saw there were a number of heaters fixed to the building as well as "semi" outdoor tables to cater for those colder days. From a COVID-secure perspective, we felt very safe. The food was very pleasant as shown in the photo. I went for the avocado and poached eggs on sourdough whilst my partner had the eggs benedict which was lovely and freshly prepared. Paying and ordering at a table really is a novelty I hope remains after COVID becomes a distant memory. The Waterfront Cafe is a great place to start if you're looking to get out of the house after a long winter at "staying at home".
mani “Mani”mani “Mani”
20
Upon entering we were told to find a table and then remember the number when ordering at the cafe. Finding a clean table without lettuce or crumbs on was the first challenge. We ordered 2 milkshakes, 1 tempura prawns, 1 beef nachos, 1 goats cheese salad and 1 cheesy chips. The milkshakes arrived quickly- the strawberry one was nesquik powder with the powder sitting at the bottom waiting for me to mix it. The food took another 30 mins to arrive and looked lovely at first until we took a closer look. The cheesy chips were an absolute joke for £4.20...a small desert bowl of 12 chips, with cheese on top that looked like they had been microwaved. The tempura prawns were vile- undercooked large ones and chewy smaller ones. The nachos were average- beef chilli tastless and not fresh, 3-5 slices of jalapeños in the whole dish. The goats cheese salad was bad- not warm like stated. About 5 half walnuts, half a beetroot and 4 chunks of cucumber. Basically a bowl of leaves and again quite tastless- not what expected for £16.95! We asked for ketchup and Mayo- the Mayo bottle was filthy with fingerprints and black marks. We asked for water and were told they wouldn't be a minute... 20 minutes later no water so we left. We watched a server place a cup of tea on another table to free his hands whilst serving. But he hadn't been told the table was out of order and there were no signs. The table toppled over and the tea spilled everywhere. Had a customer sat down at the table they could have fallen and hurt themselves. £47 wasted and left very concerned that we may be ill since eating undercooked prawns. Such a shame when it's such a lovely location on the water.
Nicola OwenNicola Owen
00
Nice outdoor seating area and enclosed decking area both welcome dogs. There is a separate indoor area where you can sit but not take dogs. All tables are numbered and you order at the bar. Nice selection of cakes and two versions of the menu, a breakfast option served up to 11.30 and main menu from 8.30. Right on the river front adjacent to the boat yard. Small car park and if you do get a space you need to enter your registration number onto a terminal inside. The toilets were clean but did not have a good odour and we felt our table was a little sticky having said that there were staff cleaning tables and clearing so maybe we were just a bit unlucky. Lovely setting.
Bob SBob S
10
We headed over for a birthday lunch around 2 in the afternoon, hoping to miss the lunch rush. It was incredibly busy. Ordered food and drinks. 45 mins before the first 4 meals were brought out, another 15 for the last one. Food of varying temperatures from scolding hot to has this even been heated. Child's pizza for a 1 year old was rock hard and she couldn't eat it, curry chips just had curry powder poured over, not a sauce or seasoning in reality. Also felt dirty due to the stained menus and the cutlery that needed wiping. If we had just been in for a drink no problem but food service was below par. We won't be returning for food. Might risk drinks in good weather.
Claire SherlockClaire Sherlock
00
This was the perfect setting for afternoon tea by the river on such a lovely sunny day. The service was excellent, quick and friendly. We had three different slices of cake between us that included the Banoffe, Raspberry and rich fruit. All fresh, moist and very indulgent! The tea was piping hot and the beer for one was perfect chilled. The view of the wildlife on the river was spectacular. There was also the luxer moored boats for hire £1,500 for the week! Although it was a bank Holiday weekend there was ample free parking space available. I would definitely recommend this picturesque spot for lunch or afternoon tea anytime and look forward to our next visit
Lorraine JacksonLorraine Jackson
30
Nearby Restaurants Of Waterfront Café | Bar | Bistro
No.25 Benson
The Village Plaice
The Crown Inn
The Three Horseshoes
McDonald's
Wild Bean Cafe

No.25 Benson
4.9
(82)Click for details

The Village Plaice
4.1
(129)$
Click for details

The Crown Inn
4.3
(150)Click for details

The Three Horseshoes
4.1
(116)$$
Click for details