https://www.facebook.com/pages/The-Swan-Street-Cafe
@swanstreetcafe
West Malling is a quintessential picture-book town in the lovely Kent countryside. The high street has a couple of pubs, some antique shops, a few galleries, a smattering of little boutiques, all of which make for a pleasant stroll.
Swan Street café is tucked in a side street off the main road. It’s an attractive café from the street, with stylish black chairs set out on the footpath under a chic black awning.
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The well-put-together décor continues inside – large windows that capture the sun, chunky wooden tables and chairs, funky bright yellow lights.
The cake selection was disappointingly small on my visit, as was the slice of banana cinnamon cake I was served. My cake was tasty, but I would have liked the slice to be a little larger… I am greedy like that.
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Ben ordered a brownie which never arrived… he decided on balance that this was probably a good thing for his cycling diet, so didn’t pursue it. He settled for an espresso ("OK but not great") that was served with a big spoon in a big cup. Placed on its big plate, next to my big teapot and my big mug, my cake looked small.
The ratio of tea-pot size to milk-jug size didn’t quite work, but it was not taxing to get a top-up of milk.
On the whole, I found the service a little lack-lustre. Too many people behind the counter not doing enough and not doing the little they were doing fast enough either.
It was a shame that the counter was left cluttered with used milk jugs, cleaning products and screwed up paper towels. There’s a reason why chemicals are visually separated from food in supermarkets, and the same rules apply to eating establishments.
I can’t say it was a bad experience at Swan Street Café, but it was merely a tad disappointing given the strong first impression.
But as a close friend of mine said to me “Cafes aren’t like Pokémon… you don’t have to love them all”.
CakeMyDayLondon Rating
