The Best Cafes in Swanage, Dorset, United Kingdom (2025)

Love cake? Then this is the place! But not just for cake. The lunch menu is all as good as it sounds. The quality of the service and the food is oozing with care and love for the ingredients. I wish I could make bacon and scrambled egg as good as they do!

My partner couldn’t stop talking about love cake! We come here every time we visit swanage. The cakes are insane! The slices are very generous. Coffee is good too. Staff are very friendly, it can get busy but we aim to go there around 10 and there’s always a table! We got the cinnamon bun and the Guinness cake. But we’d also recommend the cheesecake which I’ve had before but unfortunately they’ve ran out when we visited this time.

Wonderful cafe with fantastic selection of cakes. Great service. Highly recommend. We had the cake selection board which is really good as you can choose 3 slices of different cakes to try.

Here for breakfast. Nice cafe with seating upstairs and downstairs. The upstairs gets a bit cramped and hard to get to the paying desk if full, downstairs was more spacious so we grabbed a table downstairs. Was looked after soon as we got through the door by helpful staff. The food was great and nicely presented, I had vegan avocado on toast. They have soya milk etc for vegans but sadly no vegan cake on today. Previous reviews show that they usually have it so just my bad luck hehe. Toilets downstairs. Place would be a bit hard to navigate if you had mobility issues. Overall, a lovely cafe.

Very excited that we managed to go in for brunch on opening day. Such gorgeous vibes, lovely decor. We sat in doors near the front but I didn’t get to see out the back. I had oat flat white & the cinnamon bun which was delicious. With opening day there are a couple things that need ironing out (had to ask for cutlery & they didn’t have sweeteners)but they were busy & it was all served with smile so really cannot fault the team. Definitely will be coming again!!

My wife and I were visiting Swanage for the weekend and we stumbled across this amazing little cafe in the town centre. We both chose ‘eggs and shrooms on toast’ for our breakfast and it was delicious! Lovely fresh flavours, nice and hot, and really well presented. The coffees were also great. We got service with a smile and the prices were reasonable. Definitely worth a visit, if you’re in the area.

Visited yesterday morning with my husband - we were on our mini-moon in Swanage and looking for somewhere nice to have breakfast. We were so happy to have found this place. It felt warm and welcoming and the food was delicious! It was so hard to choose as the menu was so good! We had the full English, BT Monsieur and treated ourselves to a share of French toast. What a feast. The staff were lovely and attentive too. Would definitely recommend.

What a fabulous addition to Swanage. Burnt Toast is a gorgeous coffee shop and breakfast/lunch stop. We popped in for coffee and ended up staying for breakfast as the menu looked so good. The Full English breakfast was delicious with top quality sausage and bacon, and super tasty mushrooms 😊. The coffee was perfect too. The place has been decorated beautifully, it has such a cosy and chilled vibe. And it’s deceivingly big, with a whole second seating section around the back. A great place to catch up with friends too as they have a selection of cakes and a drinks licence 🍹🍰. Looking forward to many a coffee stops here 😊☕️.

This is my go to cafe in Swanage! Ben and Sophie are so lovely and always serve with a smile, i always love bringing people to studio south because it’s such a chilled out and lovely atmosphere, the bonus being that their hot chocolates are the best in town! And the cakes are mwah 😘 👌 I highly recommend this lovely little cafe, it’s in the heart of Swanage and is just perfect. (Also dog friendly!!!) Well done Ben & Sophie, you are both amazing! 💕

This was a super cosy cafe which had a lovely atmosphere to it. Our drinks were all good and the cake’s were delicious, there was a great selection to choose from! The staff were also very friendly, we will definitely be back!

Amazing place! Art materials, great coffee, lovely food and the dog was welcome too! I wish I lived closer as this would be my weekend hang out place! We will definitely be back!

Recently discovered Java which was recommended to me. It’s fantastic, just off the main high street if you don’t know Swanage it can be difficult to find ( it was for me originally) the place has a real buzz out it and gets very busy The cakes are the best around ( I’ve only tried the cakes) they are just way better than the mass brought offer in most coffee shops I believe most are vegan and GF not something that bothers me, but is a big plus for many. Service is always warm and friendly. Coffee is excellent served in an array of decorative China! Without doubt the best in Swanage by far

I was there for breakfast on a Saturday morning. It had a separate vegan breakfast menu which was great. I chose the grilled mushrooms, tomatoes, spicy beans and avocado on toast. It was delicious. I also had two flat white coffees and a slice of chocolate cake with orange peel. The place itself was beginning to get busy. The staff were very pleasant too. Nice ambience. A bit difficult to find. A little expensive but worth it.

Visiting this cafe was the food highlight of our little holiday. We stumbled across it from their sign on the high street and thought we'd venture down to see what it was about and so glad we did. Service was great, food was amazing. The lovely guy even gave my daughter her own little soup bowl like ours. Really friendly atmosphere, coffee tasted great. We aren't vegetarian or vegan but would visit this cafe again when we travel to Swanage.

Exquisite food. Iced coffee was great, Cappuccino a bit on the small side. I liked the no laptop rule (well signed).

I only had an ice cream but it was a delicious Devon cream ice cream. Great location right at the quiet sandy beach. Staff were pleasant and helpful- a lovely chilled atmosphere 👌

Went to Old Harry Rocks, after the walk we stopped off at Joe's cafe South beach with lovely peaceful beach views, ordered 2 cheese burgers and an Americano and a latte £24, food and service was good, I could have had another coffee as it was small and morish, home made onion relish was yummy too 😍 would recommend after a lovely walk xxx

So lovely! They put it on the sign that they serve decent coffee but honestly it was one of the best cups of coffee we had in a while!!! The views are spectacular and the service was great. Felt like a rare gem find!

Nice sandwiches, ice creams and drinks. Surprisingly really good coffee. Always stop off there on the way to Old Harry.

For hot chocolates and coffee on a cold windy afternoon! Great variety and good preparations. Seating is limited but cozy. Friendly place

I had great service on both visits - the chocolates are that good, I went back again today! I also had a gorgeous cheddar cheese and chive warm scone with melted butter on it. Totally divine. I tried a variety of the chocolates (all made in house) and my top favourites were the Cherry Bakewell, Afternoon Cream Tea, the Conker and Lime one, the Black Cherry one and all 3 of the truffles. Saying that, Timmy's chocolate orange one was lush as was the lemon one and the honeycomb one. The staff I dealt with were all so friendly and helpful and the service at the cafe was spot on - I felt. I can't wait to visit Swanage again already.

Highly recommend a visit to Chococo, great local made chocolate (including vegan options!). The coffee shop offers tea, coffee, the best hot chocolate and selection of cakes, scones and sandwiches.

This is my favorite chocolate shop. They have a fantastic selection of chocolates, coffee and cakes! Very reasonable prices and very very friendly staff. They have a HUGE selection of hand made chocolates made for every taste. They also have a large selection of chocolate related things, such as hot chocolate flakes, large chocolate slabs and amazing little chocolate dinosaurs. I would highly recommend this to anyone who'll listen. It's out of the way so is nice and quiet so you can have a little break from the world, while enjoying the finer things in life.

Great tasting coffee and the house blend is delicious. Good for take-away, sit-in and getting your ground coffee for home. I love great tasting coffee and Carve delivers! Happy to have my local supplier of delicious tasting coffee beans.

Have used these guys for the past 3 years for my coffee beans. Always very flavourful coffee - the flavour profiles described online are well matched. Great value. Unlike other specialist coffee roasters, these guys send coffee that has only been roasted very recently, and it gets delivered quickly. I’ve ordered elsewhere before and had coffee turn up at my door that is a month old. NOT THESE GUYS. Clear coffee enthusiasts with attention to detail. They know what they’re doing.

Amazing food and atmosphere. Very lovely place to go.

A Wonderful Shop/café, the people working here are truly Nice and friendly, and the atmosphere here is great. Truly a hidden gem. The food and the drinks are perfect, i loved it

Delightful little cafe tucked away at the back of Station Road.The food was absolutely delicious like your mum's best midweek dinner! I also had the avocado smoothie which was fresh and creamy.

Great coffe, amazing staff , clean Caffe and stunning fruits and veggie stand Although they didn't have vegan options in the menu, staff was kind enough to prepare vegan bagel for me that was incredibly delicious. Hope they'll add it to their menu I'm gonna be regular here Highly recommend

A wonderful café. Unpretentious, welcoming, great service and a fantastic menu at really good prices. Plenty that you’d find on the menu of an English café along with some superb Turkish meals too. We were so pleased to find this place.

If you're looking for a place with great food friendly staff and low prices this is the right one. You get what you see on the menu, it's great portions and just all in all a great place. Our meal today was an omelette and an avocado toast with poached eggs and hot chocolate which is also really really good here.

5* Food, service and great portion sizes. If you are sick of Fish and chips This is the place for you. Lady was very helpful, accommodating and friendly. Will definitely visit again.

Fantastic little cafe. Great food stands out above the rest. Big breakfasts with vegeterian, vegan and special alternatives. All day breakfast is a definite recommendation!

I ended up here because there was another coffee shop that was closed and....I'm glad it was closed. Me and my dad each had a jacket potato with cheese and beans with a large tea each. My wife had pancakes and syrup with flavored tea. It cost about 37 pounds and it was all good. I highly recommend this place.

I still love coming here, the service is always good, the staff always smiling, the food is good and there's always a nice vibe. Great place to stop for a coffee, snack (or mulled wine and mince pie if it's that time of year. And finally, because I often do, something that makes me smile. This is not about the place I'm reviewing! My 12 year old son tried coffee for the first time today "It tastes like dirt!" I told him it was just ground this morning. How I Mark I may mark differently to some other reviewers, some might see this as harsh, others may see it as fair. But here's how I look at it: 5 star - WOW. I want to go back and look forward to doing so. They delivered everything expected and more. The 'more' is normally about the service or attitude of the staff. 4 star - GOOD. They delivered everything I wanted and a bit more. I recommend them and would go back. 3 star - OK. They delivered what I expected, I would go back if I needed to, although don't currently plan on doing so. 2 star - Not very good. I didn't get what I expected and the service wasn't good. I don't recommend this place. I might get dragged back here, although will always try to avoid it 1 star - This was rubbish. Don't go there, I certainly won't go there again. I didn't get what I wanted, the people were unhelpful and I didn't enjoy it in any way.

Came here for the breakfast. Was absolutely delicious and very well priced. Staff were very polite and helpful.

Milk shakes are top quality and the scenery looks amazing. The way the food looks is breath taking. Pizza is amazing, I'd highly recommend.