The Bakery — Restaurant in Tunbridge Wells

I live relatively close to the bicycle bakery, so when we moved in we were so excited to have a bakery on our doorstep. We tried them on multiple occasions and found the coffees to be sub-par and pastries to be burnt and dry. Despite this, we really wanted to support local business so we went back multiple times, even buying bread, which sadly again was burnt. The slow service and staff were also not great.

So recently my friend wanted to try them out, so I thought I'd give them one last go. It was a Saturday morning, so relatively busy, so I asked at the counter if it would cause a problem if my friend was bringing a pram. They said this was fine.

My friend arrived with her new born baby (who by the way slept for the duration). As soon as she sat down and maneuvered the pram next to our table, the manager/owner leapt over to us and said "can you move the pram so it is not obstructing the bread?" His tone was... weirdly aggressive, patronizing, and kind of shocking. We were both dumbfounded because it wasn't blocking the bread, but we shifted it further away anyway and nearby tables were accommodating to us to allow for the pram. My friend and I exchanged looks as if "why is that man being so rude to a new mum and baby?" Especially as I had checked it was OK to bring a pram.

Next he brought over my friends tea, he had to lean over the bottom part of the pram to pop the tea on the table, but stood there and said "I am NOT leaning over THAT pram". Again, we were dumbfounded at his tone which the table next to us noticed again. The message was 'you are not welcome here'. He was in no danger of hurting the baby but my friend awkwardly took the tea. My friend didn't even finish her tea, we just left as soon as possible. My friend left embarrassed of being a new mum and I was embarrassed for taking her there.

The week after, we thought we'd check the reviews and found an exact copy of our experience with a pram and more pinpointing the rude manager/owner. I even saw that he had written replies to customers on here abusing them further, that's just not good business.

Extremely sad to have to turn our backs on this business. Genuinely hoping that the owner examines what happened here and in the other various bad reviews, because with a few small but vital changes this...

My friend and I popped in here to get out the rain and were the only ones in here apart from a lovely couple sat on the table next to us. While you can't fault the quality of the food/coffee, the manager (I assume that's who he was as he was the one giving orders) has an extremely rude tone and needs training in how to talk to people. He was rude to my friend asking her to move her buggy from next to where we were sitting. Our 2 three year olds were pretty well behaved, just colouring etc but as we were getting ready to leave decided to get up and play under some stools. He came and told them off saying to get out from behind the stalls because 'it isn't a play area' - they were literally doing no harm and even the lady next to us said what he had said wasnt on. We were made to feel like we should not have been in there - this place may as well have a sign up that says 'no parents with young children allowed'. This is a real shame, as I was hoping to come here when my work moves offices (without kids) but I believe you should treat all your customers in a consistent way, regardless of whether they have kids or not, and so unfortunately, I wont...

I never feel at ease here. The atmosphere always feels incredibly tense, and I get the distinct impression the manager is watching your every move: ready to tell you your chair is too far out, you're too close to the door, you're too close to the bread, you are too close to the coat rack etc, etc, alongside his and the staff tone usage which have been consistently cold and intimidating - there are ways of talking and treating people.

Annoyingly, the food quality and coffee are incredible, but I often feel like the owner/ staff would prefer this place to be a members' club: unless you visit every day you aren't welcome and they will make damn sure in body language and tonality that you are aware you don't belong to the "club". It sounds insane but genuinely, that is the impression I get. I want to shout; "this is a cafe, you are not trying to cure a disease for the sake of mankind! Stop behaving in such a grandiose...