How good is the cafe on the Rye?

[Phelan]

Check out the cafe on the Rye, it's great! Freshly cooked food, good service. A great place to relax with a coffee, cake and views of the rye.

[edanna]

It can be a bit like a creche in there, which will put off some ED residents less keen on kids (Yummy Mummy thread!) but I agree that it's good and pretty cheap - the scrambled egg on granary toast is particularly tasty and good value.

[Phelan]

Yeah, be nice if they had an adult only section as well! But mornings around 10am are pretty quiet and the best time to go in my opinion.

[citizenED]

I've loved it every time I've been. Great selection of food - nice service and terrific views of the rye.

[Ant]

I've only been once. It wsa truly awful. Not just that it was full of kids - after all I had mine with me too - but the service was very slow and the food was pricey and grim.

Of course on a less busy day it could be much better. It's a nice building with great views. I can see the potential for it being very pleasant indeed; it's just a shame my visit didn't live up to it.

[SteveT]

I had a cooked breakfast in there one morning which was pricey but good.

Absolute bedlam and not even half full either.

Just not restful enough for my taste.

[bon3yard]

To be fair most places in and around Dulwich resembles a creche these days but the one and only time I've been in there(for a pretty decent cup of coffee)it was bedlam. No reflection on the Cafe or on Dulwichs' mums, just how I found it.

[Mellors]

I am a mum of a toddler and I am sorry to say I avoid it too - its mental with everyone else's sprogs, and the service has always been too slow for words.

Its a shame as its a great facility and the food is really nice, but I just can't be bothered with the hassle.

[SimonM]

Much as I love it I now avoid Saturdays there :). But it has been really nice during the recent spell of sunny weather as the interior has been less crowded. Service can indeed be on the slow side - but since so much is made to order this is inevitable in busy periods.

[nutty]

They do absolutely fantastic ice-creams! Although the queue for them last weekend was huuuuuggggeeee

[BJL]

The cafe in Dulwich Park also gets very busy, but the staff there seem to be able to serve people a lot more quickly.

[jimbo1964]

I really like it. The cooked breakfast is great and good value at ?5.60 (inc fruit juice) which rivals most greasy spoons.

It can get slow at busy times because the people taking orders also make the frothy coffee which takes ages.

[DaveR]

I like it too - it's such a good location that I'm willing to put up with it being a bit slow. Not pricey by park cafe standards. I too have kids but avoid it when it is full of kids, unless the weather is good and you can sit outside.

[jctg]

Was in here a couple of months ago on a Sunday. The service was painfully slow. Only judging from this one visit, but I think the people who run it need to take some advice from established cafe owners as to how to run a cafe properly.

[Spangles30]

Had to wait over 30 mins for a sarnie. It didn't come as I was 'fifth' after enquiring where it was. In the end had to leave as didn't have the time to hang around - and got a refund. Think the owners may have underestimated how popular this cafe would be since there's no competition near by. Nice cafe apart from slow service.....rather over run by mums and youngsters since the 1 0 clock club closed down though...

[nunheadmum]

I love the cafe and think it's a godsend - yes, I'm afraid I am one of the 'mums with toddler'. (I wish there was some way that we could enjoy it AND have an option for those looking to enjoy a quiet kiddie free break.) They have a lovely range of stuff and the staff are lovely too.

But I have to agree that the time it takes to get served is the one low-point. I don't mind so much a wait for the food when it's busy but even getting a coffee takes ages if there's anyone in the queue before you. I guess there must be a reason or they'd have dealt with it by now???

[Ant]

Looked like the kitchen was quite small. Maybe they can't fit enough staff in to make it go any quicker?

(This is pure conjecture based on a bit of peeved squinting while waiting for food btw.)

[Ganapati]

I think the problem is that they don't separate the coffee (lattes/cappucino) making from the order taking. Hence you are waiting until everybody's coffees are getting made just to place an order. The cooking time is not that bad. They should just separate ordering from coffee making like they do at the dreaded chains--which obviously know a thing or two about quick turnover.

[SimonM]

>>This is pure conjecture based on a bit of peeved squinting <<

I have to say I have not yet witnessed any of this in the cafe. Gawd, the place is busy enough as it is but once word gets around the queues'll reach Nunhead...:))

[woodie]

bit of bad rap about the queues might be good. then there will be slightly less of one?

[Bellenden Belle]

I was there on Saturday and it was chaos. At eleven o'clock they started making the rules up as they went along... literally - so suddenly they refused to take any orders for cooked food. Erm, is this a cafe or what? And there was a general air of panic amongst the staff - which is not a particularly reassuring experience.

Ganapati is spot-on about the coffee making/ taking orders problem - one extra body out front would make things run a whole lot smoother.

They do lovely breakfasts though - one of the best in the area.

[boosboss]

It's been good every time I've been in there, which admittedly is usually midweek and midmorning, but I did venture in last weekend and got a coffee straight away, inside was almost empty. I'm glad I wasn't waiting for icecream though.

I still think it's early days to judge the cafe too harshly! They'll be learning lots this year, so don't write them off because of one bad experience.:))

[kristymac1]

Are parents and kids not welcome anywhere in ED these days? Surely a park and a park cafe are ideal and preferable to the pub (since we always get slated for taking the bairns to the pub at 3 in the afternoon - God forbid!)

On a sunny day the PR cafe is great - if you go early 9/10ish there are no queues, plenty of seating inside and out and the staff are really pleasant.

[citizenED]

.....or later in the day around 4.30 - 5, even Kirstymac1. Was in there this afternoon with the little ones, for tea and cakes - it was lovely and quiet.

[AllforNun]

This cafe rocks!!!....now shut up and go away.

Thread closed.