We had planned to have an afternoon tea at this lovely little café while visiting Newbury. We…read moredecided to go for a quick lunch, a couple days before the planned afternoon tea. Well, it was a good thing we did, since we didn't get to go back for afternoon tea... Just as the name suggests, it is located right by the canal. It was very picturesque, peaceful and relaxing. They also have seating upstairs, and had histories on the canal, with photos posted all around the wall. Their cakes looked amazing, but I decided not to order any dessert on this day. Yes I know, a big mistake! Our friend ordered Heavenly Hot Chocolate, and it looked so pretty! We went with Teashop House Blend Tea, and Earl Grey. The young boy who brought the teas (I hear this is a family-run business) was trying to very careful not to mix them up. But the funny thing was, he totally mixed the tea up! LOL. We didn't realize until half way through... I thought the House Blend tea tasted so much like Earl Grey. For lunch, we had Ham, Cheese & Chutney Sandwich and Eggs Benedict. They were both tasty, nice portion, and filling. Our friend went with something healthier, and ordered one of their vegan sandwiches. It is nice to have that option if you want or need vegan dish. We had a nice quick lunch here. It was adorable and cozy. The food was good, not amazing, but good. I think the sweets might be better than the actual food...I will never know, unless I go back! Lesson learned: don't never expect your plan to go just the way you planned them...and have your dessert first!

I love this cafe It's a wonderful location; you can sit along the canal watching the swans, the…read morebaked goodies are delicious, the staff friendly and the cafe itself is quaint with beautiful painted china dotted around

Nice spacious layout with lots of different seating arrangements to suit all. Baby friendly with a…read morechanging area. Only gripe was that my hot chocolate was not quite hot enough.

Keep eye out for Dr Who - a Tardis experience. With an unprepossessing frontage, this Costa would…read moreseem pokey and dark inside, but actually opens out into light and airy lounge areas running away from you into the distance - the Doc bound to be lurking in there somewhere. As usual, good, consistent standard of coffee (with £1.75 for an Americano and side jug of hot milk not bad price really, obviously keeping to a strict 1 a day to keep Alzheimer's away). What was I saying. Oh yeah, outside, down the tight staircase, excellent little veranda area right on the river/canal bank - ducky amusement watching the little fowls chasing each other up and down the water way, with nice bridge view setting. Back inside, the windows running down the whole length of the cafe let in light to give a cosy warm view of the canal side for those days when a cold wind might otherwise blow up your trouser leg. Excellent example of the chain - highly recommended.

Costa? More like Costa lot. I'm not going to sugar coat this, I will tell you my honest opinions. I…read morenormally drink Starbucks because it is far superior but due to the smaller store I frequently find myself eating the forbidden fruit. The coffee in Costa seems to be extremely bitter and un enjoyable. I ordered a Croque- Monsieur not only was it cold, but two hours later I find myself glued to the toilet with unbearable diarrhoea, a problem I have never experienced with Starbucks. And finally the baristas. Where do I begin with them? They are the dullest people I've ever had to converse with. Not only do they speak, they do not even smile. Honestly I would never return if I didn't have to.

Friendly staff and a nice quiet seating area at the rear. A clean but small coffee shop compared to…read morethe others in town. This not a franchise so your Starbucks card is accepted here. Some outside seating by the front door and the "free" wifi is provided by BT so beware of the cost.

Great imaginitive layout with spacious quiet room to the rear. Service as quick as can be, and not…read moreas noisy as most Neros.