Lovely coffee, friendly service, perfectly baked pastries. We lingered to read the paper, no pressure to order more although we did as one delicious croissant wasn't enough...

The best pot of tea in Reading Town Centre. Good for coffee too. A range of light snacks available. This branch is often quieter than the branch near St. Mary's Minster.

I always avoid large chains, I try to support independent coffee shops when I go decide to have a sit down outside of the house. On this occasion I was in Reading as I am working away. I look through the window and see this...place is empty, one table out of 10 - 15 are taken. I buy my coffee and sit-down to do some physical paperwork, I need my laptop to complete said paperwork. Barista says 'you can't sit there, you can sit at the bar'. The space at the bar is tiny so I explain I need to physically write things down. He says 'you can sit at the bar, not at the table'. I look around, every table is empty bar one. Absolutely rubbish customer service. If i was going to take up too much space and prevent them receiving custom I wouldn't have gone in anyway, I went in because it was empty. I left my coffee and went elsewhere.More

I’m not really given to write negative reviews but this speciality coffee business really deserves one. We’ve been coming here regularly when in Reading and like chalk and cheese the flat white we had on Sunday was perfect. Today I got a cup choc a...block full of insipid coffee, although I use that term advisedly. We told the ‘barista’ and he kindly made another cup, although not before telling me I must have been tasting the foam. That’s a laugh, there wasn’t any. The replacement came, marginally less pissy than the first one. I left it. Everything is about consistency and of the coffee can’t be perfect from one visit to the next then we will be finding somewhere else for our morning coffee.More

I wouldn't normally write a review for my daily cup of coffee, however my first experience at coffee under pressure was definitely worth it, great customer service the Tahini chocolates roll definitely worth trying my coffee was SO good these guys really put the care...and passion into there work. 💯 better than the usual high street chains For sure my regular spot:)More

Today I was meeting friends for a coffee and decided to give CUP a try as I prefer to support local business. As a manager of a large independent cafe myself I'm always on the look out for new ideas. I arrived 10 mins before...my friends and sat outside in the sun. Unfortunately because it was windy the barriers around the small outside area were flapping about like crazy, hitting me in the face and generally causing discomfort it was the same at every table ( they were missing the pole that goes through the bottom of the cloth that would prevent this happening) So I drew the offending section of cloth back and looped it round the poke to stop it flapping. Within 2 minutes a barrista came marching out and said 'madam you can't tie the sign up like that' he was rather aggressive and spoke to me like a child, he then proceeded to return the cloth part to its previous state of flapping about, all whilst I sat there getting hit again. I said why don't you put the pole in the bottom part. ' it's worse' he remarked. I got up and said ill go elsewhere then, he responded OK fine. I'm absolutely appalled that a member of your staff was firstly unable to see this was causing a problem for customers and secondly that he was petty enough to come out and return the barrier to its prior state thus causing the original problem to return. There was nobody sat outside at all when I left, which is hardly surprising given that nobody wants to get whacked in the face whilst drinking their coffee. I really think a better response would have been to say ' sorry this barrier is causing an issue, let me move it out the way for you' This guys customer service skills are non existsnt and he is losing you business. I met my three friends at Nero, where we sat for 2 hours and had lunch and several drinks, all without being treated like a child by rude staff.More

Maya Angelou “people will forget what you said, but people will never forget how you made them feel.” The baristas wasn’t very nice about social distancing and I felt humiliated so I left before buying anything.

Great coffee shop!! Was served by the lovely Roisin who was super friendly ☺️ Would definitely recommend.

The best coffee in town I love coming here every morning to get my coffee & such a good service and atmosphere ❤️❤️Lovely staff !!!

Stopped off for a quick coffee and hot chocolate in between trains. Quick friendly service and very COVID safe. Can't really comment on the selection of pastries as we didn't have food but all looked delicious - especially the spinach and feta pie and sausage...rolls. Support independent coffee shops :-)More

Had eggs on toast and coffee here for Sunday breakfast. To my surprise, the coffee was seriously superb. An Americano with milk, I think. It ticked all my boxes: large; hot (using hot milk); full flavoured; mellow (no bitter notes). Interesting taste tones were discernible,...unusual for a mellow coffee. For me, it was the joint-best coffee I've had in Reading--and I've had a lot of coffees in Reading. (My other favourite is from Côte Brasserie. Côte's coffee is smokily intense and served in a small cup, as in France. This coffee at C.U.P. was a gentler hit--what I'd call a comfort coffee. Awesome.) Let there be no mistake, by my standards, the paragraph above is a rave. * The poached eggs were done perfectly, which is actually rare. The eggs were good quality and cooked just so, with no hardness or slime. They came on a tasty, extra-large slice of warm granary-style bread. I wouldn't call it toasted, as such--I prefer eggs on proper toast, to be honest. Not sure if that was a mistake or just the style of the house. Still an enjoyable breakfast. * This is a tiny cafe but has a cool vibe. Interesting decor, though to my jaded eyes the artistically shabby wall looked as if the plasterer had been drunk. The lady with dyed reddish-pink hair who served me was welcoming and a credit to C.U.P., Blagrave St. I hope the business and the staff find a way to survive the present COVID-19 challenge.More

I've been to the CUP quite a few times. The baristas do a great job and you can find sweet and savoury snacks to go with your beverage. Greek cheese pie is really nice :)