The Best Cafes in Alton, Derbyshire, United Kingdom (2025)

A great little stop-off for lunch! The Cottage Kitchen has a really cosy, country feel with a nice selection of homemade options on the menu. Everything we ordered was fresh and tasty. It’s a bit of a shame that dogs aren’t allowed inside, but luckily the weather was good enough and we were able to sit out the front. Definitely worth a visit if you’re in the area and fancy a relaxed bite to eat.

The Cottage Kitchen Country Café is a delightful spot known for its friendly staff and freshly cooked, homestyle food. All the dishes we had were superb, hit, freshly cooked and definitely not a typical cafe quality- these are definitely restaurant level dishes in terms of taste. The relaxed atmosphere makes it an ideal place to unwind, whether you're enjoying a meal or just stopping by for their impressive selection of high-quality cakes. It's a must-visit for anyone seeking a cozy and satisfying café experience.

A brilliant road side restaurant. Plenty of parking. Inside and outside seating. Good pleasant service and a very reasonable choice on breakfast and lunch menus open from 8.30am. Prices are reasonable and food is very tasty

Vibe is good 🤣 staff are nice which is very difficult to find one in UK nowadays

We have been twice to Cafe in the Park now for a very filling afternoon tea. It's no frills with well filled sandwiches, crisps and salad, a huge slab of cake and a big scone. Unlimited hot drinks too. Perfect if you don't fancy finger sandwiches. Staff are lovely and well attentive. Will be back again soon!

Had tea and cake here recently. As usual, the service was friendly, and the food and drink were excellent. I have visited many times and would highly recommend it. Called in again in August and had this lovely coffee and pecan cake. Added some Valentine cake photos for February 2024. 13th October 2024 had tea and apple pie delicious! November 2024 and the café is decorated for Christmas, seasonal cakes await, and 'spicy parsnip soup'. The staff are as friendly as ever, a warm atmosphere awaits....

Enjoyed a delicious latte on the porch area in a peaceful park with local people going about their day, taking in the sites. I didn't have food but the cakes looked amazing! Friendly staff plenty of food options.

Lovely setting and well maintained in the inside. Food and coffee are amazing. One point to consider; the sign about your card-charges. Take it down, these charges are a tax deduction against your income, plus all your bank charges. Maybe you should get rid of card payments all together if it’s causing an issue. At the end of the day, it’s the cost of doing business and these charges are already worked into your costs.

Popped in today.12/01/24.what a lovely place.great choice off coffee and cakes.the scones are amazing. Happy staff.and not to pricey. 10/10

A strange ambience here but I’m not apposed to it. Clearly going for an upmarket boutique hotel type styling and while it seems odd for the area I quite like it Coffee was strong and decent. Cakes looked good although I didn’t try any. Staff were not rude but also not overly friendly. I’d definitely go back

Great coffee and beautiful atmosphere! The team are great and friendly, felt very at home. The decor and vibe was gorgeous! Can’t wait to go back!

I had no idea this place existed, but it's a real winner. Beautiful decor, great tasting coffee, and a price that was very reasonable. All in all a really lovely experience. I just hope it thrives and can find it's place in the market. There are a lot of newly built houses nearby so cross fingers!

Omg, left my car for MOT. Walked into town for breakfast. I came across this little gem. The best full breakfast I have had in a long time. For £9.95 including coffee and tea. The quality of ingredients were of high standard. Lovely sausages, bacon crispy like I ordered. Warm fluffy white toast. I really could not fault it. Definitely give this place a try. You will not be disappointed.

Great little independent cafe in Alton, does the trick for a breakfast, snack or just a hot drink and a catch-up with a friend. One off thing is the pricing on the breakfasts, such small differences in price versus what's on offer. Given Spoons is down the road, lowering the pricing of the smaller breakfast to stay marginally competitive might be worth a shout.

A little café hideaway with some beautiful canvas art on the walls and warplane nostalgia too. You'd swear you were sitting in a military bunker waiting for the order to fly. Great food as well.

Quite a small menu, but there are some good choices. It’s nice to sit outside, very relaxing, especially if the weather is nice. I had the breakfast wrap, it was a lot bigger than i expected, quite a belly buster.

Beautifully decorated coffee shop and a lovely oat latte too ☕️

When we visited Ashbourne, we needed to warm up before we went shopping. Unfortunately it was cold in the cafe, only a few small heaters which weren’t very good. We decided to treat ourselves to two amazing hot chocolates, the chocolate orange and the peanut butter hot chocolates. If we ever go back to Ashbourne, we’re definitely going to try their famous cakes.

We had the strawberry nutella and white choc pancakes with full english and hot chocolate before a long drive home. 10/10.

Lovely spot for a drink & light meal! We visited last year and enjoyed our experience with the friendly f'coffee team. We opted for the charcoal latte & butterfly pea latte which were absolutely delightful. The vegan avocado & roasted red pepper sandwich was spot on, however a bit sweet for my taste. Nice decor and atmosphere, very popular place (we were lucky to find an available table). All in all, would definitely return when in the area.

Due to the very wet weather we decided to have lunch instead. Never been upstairs before. Located a table. Probably best to book a table before going as it gets busy. I ordered the roast of the day which was turkey, my son had the gammon steak with chips. Ordered at the bar with your table number, brought back our drinks on trays. I really enjoyed my hot and Superb roast, my son enjoyed his thick gammon steak with a fried egg.

Came here with the clan. Access to the restaurant can be gained through the lift also which makes it wheelchair accessible. Service was slow but it was a nice day and a little busy. Staff were polite and there's a good range of food. Vegetarian options available. Parking nearby and toilets onsite make it an easy one stop for all. All in all a nice place to work up an appetite and get some food, or maybe walk off the meal as there are lovely walks around the lake. Enjoy your visit.

Fantastic, no other word for it. We both ordered from the specials menu, me having hunters chicken, and my partner roast of the day (turkey). Sat outside with unrivalled views, the hunters chicken came with fries and a side salad, everything was clearly made fresh, and generous in portion size. My partner's roast was turkey, with toasties and a side bowl of veg, and what was clearly a home made Yorkshire pudding. We both really enjoyed our meals, and the staff were very friendly, service was quick. Really good food, it exceed our expectations, and we both left very full and very happy, even deciding to opt for a pudding to top off a fantastic meal (what again looked home made, chocolate cheese cake and egg custard tart).

Always a pleasant experience here. The portion size and the taste of the king prawn and chorizo white wine sauce pasta was phenomenal! Amazing value and service. Thank you!

We had our wedding at The Departure Lounge Cafe and it was the best decision we made! Simon was so accommodating to all our wishes and needs for the day, we were able to create the day we had hoped for! Being able to have the venue three days prior then if day was really ideal, we were able to decorate and take our time setting up our wedding the way we wanted, Simon and his team did do a lot to help too! Our guests have not stopped talking about how amazing our day was from the food to the location to the atmosphere. We also got the cutest handmade gift, which was placed at our table setting. Thank you Simon and your team for helping create the best day ever!

Classic Car Sunday was great. Packed with all different cars - great atmosphere. Was BBQ type food and an ice cream van! Great afternoon!

From the moment that we chose this venue, Simon and his team helped us create the perfect outdoor wedding. The venue itself is absolutely stunning and this was helped by lovely weather on the day. Our guests were able to chose how they spent their time, either on the dance floor, by the bar, sat outside on the hay bales with fire pits or even playing rounders! The staff were so helpful throughout the day and the food was incredible! Being able to have the ceremony there was the icing on the cake for us. Everyone was able to be so relaxed led by Simon and his teams flexibility throughout the day. We could not have asked for a better day!

We held our wedding here in June 2024 and highly recommend it. Simon and his staff were amazing, helpful and very organised. We had the BBQ and the food was great with lots of options. The whole venue is very well priced and well worth it. You get total freedom with what you want to do and Simon is very quick to respond with any queries you have. All of our guests have been saying how great the venue and staff were on the day. I couldn't recommend this place high enough.