Three Cottages Cafe

As someone who was born and raised in Meanwood, I enjoy returning occasionally. The park always brings back happy memories. We visited the Three Cottages Cafe with high hopes having read the good reviews. We went a couple of years ago on a bitterly cold day and appreciated some delicious soup and a hot chocolate. Sadly today, the soup was off the menu. The ham and cheese toastie was nice but nothing special considering the price. For the 5 of us, the bill was £53. The eating area was outdoors, which was nice on this sunny day. Service was good, but could have been a bit friendlier. I'm very happy to support local businesses and I really wanted this lunch to be something special. Unfortunately, I was left disappointed. The single toilet is in need of some TLC but large enough for a wheelchair and has a changing table. The small car park is free. Disabled access is good.

It's the first stop on the Meanwood Valley trail. A stop for 2nd breakfast and a brew. The business has been expanded since our last visit. They've installed a bar, you can have breakfast, lunch or dinner with wine or beer if you want to. My wife and I shared a fish finger butty and chips, yummy. I'm only sorry we don't live walking distance away, We'd happily turn up for dinner!

Lovely cafe and bar next to Meanwood Park, with an impressive array of very delicious looking bakes and cakes (brownies, blondies, pastries, etc). Good range of drinks, including some lager beers (Birra Moretti) and it was nice that they offer table service, and staff were very prompt. Lunch time menu as well offering salads, soups and other dishes. Lovely to visit on a sunny afternoon, and there is some indoor seating as well. Sadly the cafe had completely run out of ice cream when we arrived. Overall it was a lovely experience, except their one toilet was pretty dire. The toilet is disabled-friendly, has a baby changing table, and is unisex. There were endless queues for the loo, and I was disappointed to find it wasn’t well maintained or checked on - the sink was blocked, there was water (or other fluids) all over the floor, and there were no hand towels.

I live locally and end up here a lot - the space is lovely the menu is ace but the service has got to be some of the most hit and miss I’ve ever experienced - on occasion it’s great (there’s one manager who obviously has all the staff totally on it), but a lot of the time you wait ages to have your order taken, ages more for food (if it’s busy a long long time). Their outdoor/indoor system is confusing. A bunch of times they haven’t had half the things on the menu, a couple of times no food at all but no sign out front saying so then you sit down without knowing etc etc. This has the potential to be the best lunch option in Meanwood so I hope they sort these things out.

Response to the owner: Sorry to hear about the robbery. It was clear that your staff were doing their absolute best to keep everyone happy. Thanks for your response. Original review: Lovely food and drink but shame about the service. There is no system in place. On weekends you are asked to place your takeaway orders at the ice cream booth and then the person taking the order will write it down and physically take the order inside to be made. The till was not working today (mothers day) so the lady had to calculate our order on her phone. There's usually a 10-15min wait for a hot drink (regardless of what day it is). The sausage rolls are nice so maybe it's worth the wait and the faff. They have plenty of staff and lots of room but desperately in need of a better system to expedite taking orders and making orders. There's no automatic door for accessibility. Please oil the hinges on the door, it's very loud.