Bryson's of Keswick

Stopped in here for a light lunch during a shopping visit. Felt the cost was a bit on the high side. I don't mind paying more if the service, food or both are of an exceptional standard but sadly that was not the case here. The staff were professional and courteous, but lacked that genuine warmth and welcoming approach. Kind of made me feel just like a number being herded through and fed so the money could be extracted from my pocket as quickly as possible. The food and drink order arrived at the table in a reasonable time considering the busy service. There was nothing especially wrong with the food, just seemed a bit flat and average. Ham sandwich wasn't particularly deeply filled, and the salad garnish was the same shredded iceberg lettuce, tomatoes, and cucumber mixture that I've made myself many times before when I don't have the enthisiasm to prepare anything better. The premises were clean and bright with a nice buzz of activity about the place. If only the food had sparkled like the cutlery this could have been so much better.

Popped into Brysons for a cappuccino and a bite to eat. We had the Home made coliflower and Stilton soup with a bap very delicious 😋. Staff were welcoming, friendly and helpful.

First All the food looks amazing but seems like people who works the bakery not friendly at all not just one person I mean all of them. If you have no passion doing your job why you still there and make the bakery looks cold and awful? Second We ordered Custard Tart ：terrible taste even M&S’s much better than yours, cinnamon rolls: very nice, chocolate muffin: it was okay just like regular flavour, chocolate cake slices: so bad strange taste more like cake powder made, steak baked: very good hot and fresh, steak pie: very nice also has carrots inside. Third Your pastry chef needs improvement I don’t taste happy in your sweet cake. The price is Fairly good especially in this kind the tourist town however the service definitely the big problem in the future. Last Disabled and young kids unfriendly place. Only third floor has toilets. Terrible.

Lovely breakfast! Stopped here to get something to eat before our hike, and were so impressed! Also bought a tea cake to take home which was gorgeous.

Nice place to have tea and cake. My hot chocolate did not taste like one to my standard. The scone was ok but not to die for. Staff are friendly and attentive though.

We were recommended to come here when visiting Keswick so thought we'd give it a go. The Panini's, lemon loaf cake and hot chocolates were lovely. Good quality food. It costs extra for sandwiches and paninis to eat in so check the prices. Would also recommend a visit.

Remember this place from years ago before in it was this big.(& pricey) Prices for 2 coffees, sandwiches + cake was a bit expensive ,but then this is Keswick and a bit of a "posh" shop!! Toilets were an issue (again). Up 2 flights of steep stairs, (to perhaps a other coffee area seating) then up another 2flights after going through a glass door.. Gave up after 1.5 flights- not good for people with mobility problems and needing,. ..- need a lift putting in. Hence only 3 stars.

Fantastic Birthday Cake for our Daughter, thank you so much! Will definitely use again. Cannot give a mark for atmosphere as we used it as a shop.

Very nice traditional cake shop with a very nice traditional cafe upstairs. A good selection of food available both upstairs/ downstairs & outside seating. A little expensive compared to standard cafe but good service & quality food.

This is my first 1* rating on yelp. I have never given a 1* rating before because I always force myself to find at least ONE thing good about a place. Brysons is so bad I was not able to find anything good about it. I would rate it a zero if I could, but I can't. We went here on a sunny afternoon in need of food, reprieve from the heat, and a bathroom break. There were so many other tea shops around town we could have gone into, but this was the first place we saw and they were offering 2 pots of tea and 2 cream scones for 5 quid (not a bad deal, plus we were desperate for the loo). It turned out the special was only being offered in the bakery downstairs, where there was nowhere to sit, so we opted to head for their tea room upstairs, where everything was double the price. The tea room ambience was awful. It did not look like a proper tea room at all, and looked more like a candidate for a restaurant makeover. The carpet was worn and had a horrible green and red floral pattern. The tables and chairs were these 90's oak set that just looked naff. When we walked in, there were 3 servers milling around by the till but not one of them acknowledged our presence - this, despite the fact that there were only 2 other customers in a rather empty-looking tea room. I actually had to ask one of them if we should just seat ourselves or wait to be seated. We seated ourselves. Bad ambience, check. Uninterested staff, check. We should have walked away at this point, but didn't (our judgment was obviously clouded by our low blood sugar and bladders screaming to be emptied). We thought things could not get any worse, but we were wrong. 1. We were served by a man who just could not care less about his job, never mind his customers. He was SIGHING as he was taking our order. We asked for just 1 pot of Darjeeling tea to share as I was not going to have much tea. He flatly told us we had to order a pot of tea for 2. Fine. No sense in debating this. 2. When we asked for a Victoria Sponge cake, the sighing man said they had run out. WTF? This is a tea room staple, for crying out loud! There's a bakery downstairs - surely they can find some sponge cake, cream, and jam and slap it all together? Apparently not. All credit to him, he did point me to this almost empty display case that had 3 slices of pathetic looking cakes - lemon, carrot, and vanilla cream - none of which looked even remotely appetizing as they looked stale, cheaply made, and were covered in cling film. Ummmm...thanks, but me thinks not. 3. Since there were no cakes, we ordered an egg salad sarnie because we thought this was something they could not screw up. At over 5 quid, surely, it HAS to be decent. It just HAS to be, we told ourselves. Ah, how wrong we were (more on that later). 4. Our order was was served to us - scratch that - dropped off at our table by the most surly and sour-faced woman I have ever encountered (she may as well just have drop-kicked it) . She only gave us one place setting, so when we asked for a second place setting, she barked "you only ordered one sandwich!", and walked away in a huff. Lovely. 5. Now on to the 5 quid sandwich. It was the worst egg salad sandwich I've ever had. The thin white bread was stale and was probably bought at ASDA on sale at 2 loaves for 50p. It was of such low quality, I do not know how a restaurant could even use it. The egg salad filling was so thin, we could hardly taste it. Oh, and the side of coleslaw it came with tasted like an ASDA special as well, and was WARM, like it had been sitting at room temperature for about 1/2 an hour. 6. The tea - for which they have the nerve to charge 4 quid - consisted of one medium-sized pot with 2 Twinings Darjeeling tea bags (yes,they could not even be bothered to use proper tea leaves). 7. The clincher? When we were ready to pay for the bad food and service, NOT ONE member of staff was around to take our money. We waited by the till for over 5 minutes, and still, no one came, so we left our money on the counter. Since the smallest note we had was a 10 Pound note, we ended up leaving a tip. We should have just walked away without paying, but we believe in karma, so we did the decent thing. Bryson's is a total let-down for a place that calls itself a "Tea Room and Craft Baker". So, to anyone reading this, please heed my warning and give Brysons a miss. When you see it, just walk on by and pretend you did not see it. Do not be fooled by it. Do not be tempted by it. Just keep walking and do not even give it a second glance.

Simply charming service! I came in and ordered a hot chocolate and a brownie and sat by the window having such a peaceful time. The brownie was so fresh and delicious and the hot chocolate was just right - not to rich or sweet. Then I was treated to a complimentary slice of plum cake! Which was also simply delicious! All the while people were coming in having a chat to the workers there who all seemed to know each other by name. A really lovely experience.

Upstairs tea room a little spartan. Continental breakfast was served but had ran out of croissants (in the morning ) and didn't deliver orange juice or coffee. The Mocha is made with water and tasted like a watered down hot chocolate. Menu had a lot of variety. Cumbrian sausage overcooked and hard. Very dry toast. Downstairs seemed like a better bet for food and a good selection of items.

Meh. If you're running late for tea, maybe keep looking. Had tea and scones with jam and clotted cream. The clotted cream was packaged and the scones were more production line than fresh. There are so many good places to go. This was average.

Situated on the main pedestrian area in Keswick. Brysons the bakery is a must. There is a bakery, tea shop and a coffee bar - with seating inside and out. They also do speciality cakes - one is currently occupying the front window and is spectacular. There is a huge array of cakes and pastries to choose from, with a hot counter for pies and pasties.The Lakeland Plum Bread is not to be missed. The spicy vegetable and normal vegetable pasties are a great snack, or addition for your packed lunch for the fells. I have not eaten in the tea rooms or cafe bar but the outside seating is always busy when the weather permits

The cheese bread and pork and apple pies are wow - as is all of the food there. It can be expensive, but is well worth it for the quality you get, but no more expensive than other bakeries like this in the Lakes.

Decent coffee and hot cross buns this morning. Some items on the menu a bit dear breakfast at £8.50??, am sure it's good but I would not pay that. The cakes downstairs look great, there is obviously a good pastry chef here. They also have a branch in Bowness. Don't miss the Lakeland plum bread one of Cumbria's treasures. All in all a pleasant place to go.

I don't know if the shop in Bowness has its own, separate page but the products are the same so I'll review on here. Ok. The cakes are lovely and although expensive, they're good quality. The pies however are SHOCKING!!! From the outside, they look delicious....and actually, the pastry is quite nice. But the fillings are such a let down. I work in Bowness and usually take my own lunch, but occasionally I've just fancied a warm pie. Each time I purchase a Bryson's pie, I fool myself into thinking they can't be as bad as I remember (from each previous occasion where I've sworn to never make that mistake again). Today, for the second time (and definitely the last) I bought a steak and kidney pie. Well, I SAY steak and kidney - in actual fact it was just a thick, grainy gravy with lots of onions and a tiny bit of 'mince'. It tasted disgusting and I ended up throwing most of it away (after disecting it in search of the non-exsistent steak/kidney). I remember the meat and potato pies being nothing more than onions and gravy, hidden inside an inviting pastry facade. And it's not even NICE gravy. It's revolting. I can't understand how Brysons get away with this - it is misleading and dishonest! I would LOVE to know what percentage of their pies are actual meat!! Complete rip-off!