John Lewis The Place To Eat - Camden

Shopping in Westfield, Stratford and went to JL for coffee and breakfast. No chance. Only things to eat on offer were cheese or hard baked scone with burnt currants, a croissant or a pan au raisin, no cooked breakfast at all, no toast. We returned...our coffee which was like coloured water JL will not be getting my custom again anytime soon.

I visited The Place to Eat at Westfield on consecutive Saturdays in June and July. I should have been put off by my experience when my request for a simple pre-wrapped egg sandwich resulted in a long wait for one to be found....It was abut and there were only sandwiches in the cabinet. Then the woman queueing in front of me unfortunately spilled her coffee everywhere and this apparently needed assistants to clean it up, while I waited for my coffee to be made. The next Saturday I was in the store so decided to have a cup of tea (I was given a tea bag and a pot of hot water why couldn't they put the tea bag in the pot and please don't blame this on Covid I also had a (rather over-baked) scone with clotted cream and jam. Once again, an assistant had to go off in search of clotted cream for myself and another customer none in the fridge. On both occasions I found the staff to be very slow and seemingly untrained although pleasant enough. The young asst at the entrance was more absorbed in her mobile than checking customers were scanning contact details! There were many uncleared tables which makes the place look untidy and uninviting. I feel that JL standards have declined a lot at least in this branch. I won't be returning.

Unfortunately I follow a gluten free diet but find most places are efficient and clued up with proper labelling when out eating . The system at John Lewis is archaic,time consuming,and unsatisfactory! If you want to purchase a cake in the cafe an assistant who...isn't busy has to be found who calls for somebody else to fetch an allergies book who now asks which cake is required then ploughs through book to find said cake. If this cake does contain gluten another has to be requested and so on and so forth until waiting friends and coffee are bored and cold. These cakes are not hand made on the premises so surely a label can be made and put on the label that says seek advice? Or stuck to cake lid. In this day and age when retail stores want to encourage your trade this inefficient service is outdated and a poor showing and does the opposite.

Went here yesterday after saying previously that I never wanted to go again. (The last time I went a woman spilt half a cup of coffee over me trying to use the coffee maker I want to be loyal to John Lewis and frankly, I...do a lot of shopping there and consequently spend a lot of money in the store. However, my partner and I went there yesterday for a cream tea. We had to wait ten minutes for cream as they had run out. In addition, I hate that it is all self-service now. We made our pots of tea, the water wasn’t as hot as I would like and I had to go through several cups before I found two without stains. The condiments/cutlery are not with the cups/coffee machine nor where you pay so you have to go to three different stations. This all while you are carrying loads of shopping! To be honest, if I wanted to make my own tea or coffee, I can do that at home. Frankly, I will be going back to Marks and Spencer from here on in where they make your drink for you and actually I prefer the food.

The cafe in John Lewis is on the top floor and located in the kids’ department. It is very large with a range of seating. It is ALWAYS possible to get a table. The acoustics are good and the food is fine. The sandwiches seem...a bit expensive to me but the pizza is good value. They do kids’ lunch boxes too. Everything is clean and calm. Kids are welcome and due to good acoustics and space it doesn’t matter if the little ones are a tad noisy! It’s also a good place to take your laptop and work. Fine to sit there all day with a coffee. It’s not the most romantic place, I mean it’s a department store cafe but it is soooooo much more relaxed and quiet than the other restaurants in and around Westfield. I absolutely refuse to queue for Wagamama for example!