Forum Topic

New cafe in Walpole Park - any good?

On a sunny day we observed people sitting at tables have coffee and eating cake etc at the new cafe in the Rick's Yard area. We haven't tried it there yet - any reports about the new refreshments place - is it called Spencer's Cafe?

Gerry Tan ● 4127d8 Comments

It's a shame the council didn't bother to think about the design before they built the Rick Yard as we're now saddled with a building that was built at great expense but doesn't actually meet the needs of the people who use it - the cafe was a joke at the weekend, long queues and the people who work in it tripping over each other because there's not enough room to serve. The Cafe serving area has gone from a bigger area in which two people can work side by side to a smaller area that has less room so only one person can make coffees at a time - now that it's by the playground it is busier but can't cope with even the volume of people using it in the autumn - when summer comes it will just get worse.Combined with the fact the project is now 6 months late and still isn't even finished this is almost a perfect case study in why Ealing Council can't be trusted to do anything - the 8 year debacle with the cinema site is another and that's staring them in the face every time they go to work in Perceval House.

Chris Martin ● 4124d

and via twitter...We are delighted to announce that the new toilets near the Walpole Pk playground and Spencers Cafe are now open. What a relief!

Andy Vaughan ● 4124d

What makes you think that the same people moving from an old hut in the middle of a park to a custom built, brand new premises, would lower their hygiene rating?

Andy Vaughan ● 4124d

They havent received a hygiene rating yet as that rating was from the previous premises but as they have moved, they will need to be reassesed.

Asha Smith ● 4124d

Spencer's scores higher than Carluccios for food hygiene.The public toilets are not open yet (I don't know why) but there are toilets inside the building that staff use.

Andy Vaughan ● 4126d

I wouldnt eat here. The food is nothing special and I would be more concerned with hygiene issues.Are the toilets opened yet? if not, then where do the staff go?If i wanted tea and cake, i would go to Carluccios or there are hundreds of nice cafes in Ealing Broadway plus on a cold day, you can sit inside a warm place.I thought that was the idea of the new cafe to have an indoor seating area and proper food lke at Gunnersbury.

Asha Smith ● 4126d

Not sure how good it is but visually it looks a mess. Just a few tables and chairs, no colour, no style.  Is the best the people who designed it could come up with.

Keith Mason ● 4127d

it's ok but nothing more than that.It's still Spencer's Cafe - so the same people as the old coffee place but the council don't really seem to have thought about the design at all so they serving area is only marginally bigger than the portakabin and smaller than the original coffee shop in the park.Because the serving area is small they seem to be a bit limited with what they can stock. The coffee is ok but the cakes and sandwiches etc. are pretty poor by comparison with the likes of Paperback on South Ealing Road.Overall the combination of poor design and average food and cakes means that what should be a brilliant coffee shop in the newly restored park is average at best - there also seem to be less tables and chairs than before.  The staff are always friendly though!

Chris Martin ● 4127d