Birling Gap National Trust Cafe

We stopped here for a late breakfast in the middle of our walk. The breakfast baps were really good and we enjoyed the coffee. The location is perfect with lovely views and the beach at Birling Gap to explore.

The individual who believes he is the manager of this restaurant is disgraceful. His behavior is extremely rude and lacking in any form of customer service. It appears he is on a power trip. The cafe should dismiss him if they wish to retain satisfied customers. The atmosphere he creates is highly negative and detrimental.

Rediculous prices for a cafe! A Cornish pasty was £5.30, sausage roll for £4.70. Seriously what’s that about??? Not enough staff to keep the queue running smoothly, once you’ve paid you wait another 10 minutes before you actually get your hot drinks so there ends up being a huge crowd at the end by the tills. Not a great experience. Ver carta

Ordered a coffee and chai with two cakes. It seemed to take ages although they were busy. When the order arrived one cake was missing and we had to reorder. The person we first mentioned this omission to simply disappeared. Had to also go back to the counter for milk in my coffee. Good job for the National Trust there’s no competition.

Although a delightful location, and great coffee and food, the staff were unfriendly, or even rude, unhelpful and totally spoilt a Christmas get together with family. Although the cafe shuts at 4, chairs were put on tables at 3.30, and drinks were given in paper cups. At 3 minutes to 4 we were told, not asked, to leave . A complete disappointment....and a review from someone who owned a very successful cafe and knew the importance of customer care. Come on NT, sort it out!

Well, it was good that you ordered at the cashier, and they deliver the cooking spoon numbers if you find a vacant table. But it was extremely crowded, and they tried to clear and clean the tables as quickly as possible. The food is the typical food you get at every sight of the National Trust. I tried a Cornish Pasty. It was ok. Just avoid seeing the toilets. Long queues inside or outside and no matter if you are male or female. No matter if you need to see a urinal only or a cabin. Ver carta

Came in for coffee and a bit of shelter from a sudden downpour. Having been charged £13 for 3 drinks, and waited some while to collect them, we looked around in vain for a table. Upon asking we were told quite dismissively that the cafe was closed and we would have to take out the drinks (into the pouring rain) at which point people’s orders were still being taken. Apparently we should have known the “closing” time by studying the website beforehand… People were still being admitted whilst one harassed staff member was trying to point out that the entrances that were clogging up were indeed emergency escape exits. Overpriced beverages and staff with all the charm of a verrucca.

You expect a certain kind of experience at a NT cafe- polite staff tasty food. Well we got one of these on our visit last week. The Cornish pasties were average but the chocolate scones and carrot cake were amazing. What was slightly odd is you had to take a number for your cake to be brought to you- well okay we confirmed we weren’t taking away so thought as it was an seasonably sunny day we’d sit outside. The manager came out with our tray slammed it down on the table with a “we don’t serve outside”. What? Are we supposed to guess this? And even if this was true the level of rudeness was unbelievable. I’d previously seen her be rude to the person in front of me in the queue. NT you need to...

There's been quite a considerable change since the last time we were here. Then, the cafe was at the other end of the building in an area which now looks like it is being demolished. Unfortunately, the present site is smaller than the former and I would think that, at busy times, it can get rather crowded. However, on the day we went it was relatively quiet so there was plenty of seating available. The food on offer is the usual National Trust range but the helpful staff checked their information so that my wife was able to chose a lunch which did not conflict with her Gluten Free diet. I had a very tasty pasty. In its new situation, there are no longer spectacular views but it's now just a... Ver carta