Motte & Bailey Cafe

Someone from this business manages this listing.

#6 of 44 Restaurants in Arundel££ - £££, Cafe, British, Vegetarian friendly

+44 1903 883813+ Add website

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Hours

Sun

8:30 - 16:00

Mon

8:30 - 16:00

Tue

8:30 - 16:00

Wed

8:30 - 16:0018:00 - 22:00

Thu

8:30 - 16:0018:00 - 22:00

Fri

8:30 - 16:0018:00 - 22:00

Sat

8:30 - 17:0018:00 - 22:00

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What is Travellers’ Choice?

Tripadvisor gives a Travellers’ Choice award to accommodations, attractions and restaurants that consistently earn great reviews from travellers and are ranked within the top 10% of properties on Tripadvisor.

Ratings and reviews

4.5

503 reviews

#6 of 44 Restaurants in Arundel

Travellers' Choice 2024

RATINGS

Food

Service

Value

Atmosphere

Details

Someone from this business manages this listing.

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PRICE RANGE

£6.00 – £20.00

CUISINES

Cafe, British, Contemporary

Special Diets

Vegetarian friendly, Vegan options, Gluten free options

meals, features

Location and contact

49 High Street, Arundel BN18 9AG England

+44 1903 883813

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Does this restaurant allow dogs or considered pet friendly?

Yes

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About

Welcome and thank you for visiting the Motte & Bailey Cafe Trip Advisor page. Motte & Bailey Cafe is a traditional Cafe nestled in the heart of beautiful, historic Arundel. We open at 8.30am every day to make and serve a delicious selection of breakfasts, brunches, lunches, as well as a variety of teas, coffees, sandwiches, cakes and cream teas. Most of our ingredients are local and all are fresh. We get in early every day to bake our own scones fresh every day! On Wednesday, Thursday, Friday and Saturday evening from 6pm we transform into a delicious Moroccan and Spanish inspired Tapas restaurant! On these nights our highly trained chef serves a stunning selection of fresh dishes to eat in or have as a takeaway. We also have a fabulous selection of wonderful wines, cocktails and sherries to complement our dishes! We can promise you wonderful food and a lively (candlelit) atmosphere. We hope to meet you soon!

PRICE RANGE

£6.00 – £20.00

CUISINES

Cafe, British, Contemporary

Special Diets

Vegetarian friendly, Vegan options, Gluten free options

Meals

Breakfast, Lunch, Dinner, Brunch, Drinks

FEATURES

Takeout, Reservations, Seating, Street Parking, Free off-street parking, Highchairs Available, Wheelchair Accessible, Serves Alcohol, Wine and Beer, Mastercard, Visa, Free Wifi, Accepts Credit Cards, Table Service, Dog Friendly

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4.5

503 reviews

Excellent

336

Very good

123

Average

Poor

Terrible

Rocket_19712003

Essex65 contributions

Thursday 20th December

Feb 2020 • couples

Staying in Arundel for a wedding wanted somewhere near to our hotel for a bite to eat. This is a little gem with excellent tapas. We had 7 dishes, 2 deserts, half a carafe of Sangria one beer £56 - extremely good value and good is really delicious. The waiting staff were very attentive, would definitely be back try it you won’t be disappointed

Written 20 February 2020

This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.

Chelsea B

West Sussex647 contributions

Gluten-Free Options, But Be Prepared to Weirdly Pay Extra for the Bread

May 2021 • couples

After researching for good gluten-free lunch options in Arundel, I finally came across Motte & Bailey, and my husband and I decided to give it a go. We had a brief wait outside until a table cleared, and once we were inside at our table, service was quick and efficient. Track and Trace via the app or via paper for COVID was handled before ordering. Staff were knowledgeable about GF and food allergies. All sandwiches could be made gluten-free as well as the brunch choices with GF bread available, so there is a lot to choose from which is wonderful and just what I look for in a restaurant. My cheese and onion chutney sandwich was delicious along with the purple coleslaw! Prices were a little higher than typical for a sandwich especially since they charge extra for GF bread (which bluntly is a huge Celiac pet peeve of mine and a superfluous fee that isn’t common anymore, so when I do encounter it, it knocks a star off for me. It just feels like an annoying penalty for not being able to eat wheat.). We would come again as ordering was easy, I felt safe eating here, and the food was delicious, but really hoping management does away with the silly GF bread charge of 35p. Just roll it into the price of the meal if it’s that significant to the profit margin! Heck, a GF loaf is no more than £3 at all major UK grocery stores, so penalizing your Celiac customers is simply unnecessary.

Written 19 May 2021

jacalyaj

Bognor Regis78 contributions

Breakfast in Arundel A*

Jan 2020 • couples

We’ve been after a different breakfast venue for sometime now and after reading other reviews set off to Arundel this Sunday morning. The cafe was busy but not full. Met at the door and shown to vacant table immediately with a smile and a welcome. I ordered eggs benedict being a favourite of mine and feel it’s a benchmark meal for myself. My husband that the m&b breakfast. Together with 2 pots of tea of choice. Food arrived quickly and was tasty and filling. Ambience of the cafe was very pleasant. All members of staff were very friendly. We enquired about meeting with our (large) family group and was advised that parties over 10 were seated downstairs. We had a look and was not disappointed. Pleased to note we could book too. All in all a lovely Sunday morning spent. Will return!

Written 12 January 2020

DellboySussex

Brighton75 contributions

First timer

Feb 2020 • none

We went to this cafe today with friends for coffee. Having looked in here previous it appeared to always be full and so we have given it a miss. Today our friends recommended this cafe as they had been there previously. It was very full and noisy however we stuck with it. The staff were clearly stressed and under pressure so there was not much interaction with the waitress when she took our order. My husband is dairy intolerant and always has soya cappachino whenever we go out for coffee. When we got home, to our amazement we noticed we had been charged a separate extra charge for having soya instead of milk in the capuchino. Unfortunately, we will not be going back as we feel penalised because of an allergy.

Written 26 February 2020

jess-lostatsea

Brighton and Hove11 contributions

Uncomfortable service experience

Feb 2020 • none

I really love both the food and the atmosphere at Motte & Bailey cafe, however when I recently visited for a breakfast meeting on Friday morning I did not have the best experience. The waitress who served me made me feel very awkward and uncomfortable about my food and drink choices, with the second instance leaving me feeling very upset. It is a real shame because it ruined the visit for me and I won't be in any rush to go back.

Written 22 February 2020

Rod O

Steyning5 contributions

Great place to meet and eat

Feb 2020 • none

After a very cold morning taking photographs down on the river, myself and a couple of friends went into the M&B for a well earned breakfast. I had the full english, whilst my friends had poached eggs on smashed avocado, scrambled eggs on toast and mushrooms on toast. The food was amazing, well cooked and presented and the service was very friendly and efficient. I would thoroughly recommend this establishment to anyone thinking of having a tea, coffee, or a meal in Arundel. Convenient for the High St. and nearby car parking.

Written 11 February 2020

James

West Sussex282 contributions

Brilliant lunch in Arundel

Dec 2019 • none

If you’re looking for a place to eat out for lunch in Arundel, this is the place to go. On arrival, almost every table on the ground floor was full (with a few more tables in the basement). We were lucky enough to take the last table. There was a constant flow of people in the restaurant, with no one waiting for more than a few minutes to get a table. On particularly busy days it is probably worth booking a table. There was a good amount of choice on the menu, with options suiting almost any taste. Everything we ordered was delicious, and we stayed for dessert, too! The chocolate brownie ice cream was particularly nice. Service was quick, and all the staff were friendly and attentive. There was a great atmosphere in the restaurant. The restaurant was kept clean and tidy. Everything added up to making a great experience.

Written 16 January 2020

Tiggy W

Worthing381 contributions

Great breakfast

Mar 2020 • none

4 of us returned for another good breakfast, 3 having the eggs royal which was delicious, it is served on a crusty piece of bread not the usual muffins. One of these was served on a nice gluten free bread, all of us enjoyed our meal. My other friend has avocado and scrambled egg on toast which she enjoyed. Only criticism was the meals although tasty could have been slightly warmer. I will look forward to another visit.

Written 17 March 2020

Shirley M

Lawford231 contributions

Excellent Breakfast, Excellent Staff

Jul 2020 • none

Stopped of here on our way to Littlehampton, was a delight it was. Hands sanitised at the doorway then shown to our table. Given a menu and orders taken . Lovely pot of tea with enough for 2 cups and the same with the herbal tea. The food was cooked fresh and good sized portion, hubby had the cooked breakfast and I had some of the best eggs benedict I've ever eaten. Friendly staff and very good value , will recommend and will return.

Written 26 July 2020

HelenSt11

Guildford34 contributions

The perfect plan for breakfast in Arundel

Sept 2020 • none

We decided to have breakfast here when we stayed in Arundel as it was highly recommended. On arrival it seemed popular but we managed to get a table straight away. The breakfast menu offers plenty of options, and they do a kids menu too (although our toddler had something from the regular menu). I had a vegan breakfast with gluten free toast, a delicious hot chocolate too. My husband had a full breakfast, only slight criticism was when his eggs came out they were fried and we realised the waitress hadn't asked him how he wanted his eggs, but equally our fault for not saying. Our toddler had the most delicious butter milk pancakes. Staff were friendly and also very good with getting people to put their masks on before they entered the cafe and to make sure hands were sanitised before being seated. I felt there was also enough space around the tables so you're not too close to others. It was an excellent quality breakfast, not cheap at all, good prices for what we received.

Written 25 September 2020

Matt

West Sussex10 contributions

Great Evening Tapas

Feb 2022 • none

We visited the Motte and Bailey Cafe as a family of 4 and were very impressed by our experience. The staff were friendly, attentive and efficient and the food was excellent. Whilst the menu is fairly limited, we enjoyed a range of dishes that adequately catered for our differing tastes, all of which were delicious. My only minor gripe is that the portion sizes were quite small, so makes for quite an expensive meal as it's hard to stop ordering more of what you enjoyed! All-in-all, well worth a visit and we shall be returning.

Written 20 February 2022

Jooooo

3 contributions

The most horrendous customer service with swearing re our order.

Jul 2022 • friends

I have always enjoyed dining at this café and particularly like the tapas in the evening but I’m afraid to say when ordering a tapas takeaway order on the phone, the staff were very unprofessional and constantly laughing down the phone. We were ordering for a large group of people therefore there was many dishes on the order. At the beginning of the phone call I was told a time it would be ready, and then following the big order the young lady on the phone went to confirm with the chef how long it was going to be, before coming back to me - who was waiting on the end of the phone - I heard the conversation between the young lady and the chef, (not that the chef and young lady were aware) and when she asked how long it’s going to be, the chef replies ‘ well it took them 10 f**king minutes to order and then they expect to be ready at 6:30pm’ (which is the time we originally quoted.) instead of perhaps suggesting a different time the young lady was laughing when she came back to me. I’m disgusted at the language I heard especially for a paying customer, the order would of been a large bill - but I cancelled it purely because I find it unacceptable that the chef in the background was talking in that inappropriate manner. They clearly don’t want the business and I won’t be spoken to or like that. As a result of this we took our business elsewhere, at least where it is appreciated and you are not talked about in such a disgusting manner.

Written 16 July 2022

futtock21

London17269 contributions

Fast running out of cakes and pastries

Aug 2021 • family

What attracted me and indeed many others to this cafe on a Saturday afternoon was its window display of cakes and pastries including the almond and pistachio twist and the slice of carrot cake we later ordered. Line all the others who followed us we were almost turned away by a waitress who informed us the kitchen (for lunch) had long closed. Only when we insisted we only wanted beverages and pastries were we ushered to a table. It’s a pleasant bright space with a large atmospheric fireplace complete with cut pieces of wood, a full vat, and, of course, the pastries of which they were rapidly running out. Service from young svelte and tanned waitresses was polite and efficient.

Written 22 August 2021

Foodlover123

Eastbourne115 contributions

Breakfast two days running

Aug 2020 • family

We have just returned from a mini break to Arundel and had such a lovely time. We chose to visit M&B cafe for breakfast due to the reviews and menu, as well as their registration in the government scheme. The food is delicious. On our first visit I had the Chai Latte and eggs Royale and my daughter had the American style pancakes. The flavour and presentation on both was perfect. On our second visit I had the full breakfast which was perfectly balanced. My only criticism is the service on our second visit this morning. The waitress/manager? was obviously busy and under pressure however there was no greeting, hardly any eye contact and we were made to feel more of an inconvenience rather than appreciated. She was completely the opposite to the young blonde waitress who was very attentive. It was a shame as the experience didn’t match the food.

Written 18 August 2020

Steve L

Luton31 contributions

Unexpected Delightful Meal

Sept 2020 • none

After spending considerable time trying to book a restaurant for an evening meal, unsuccessfully, we started to walk around to see what we could find. We came across the Motte & Baily Cafe which became a Tapas Bar in the evening. Despite not having booked the young waitress welcomed us and showed us to a table. Having not been to a Tapas restaurant in the UK, she explained the procedure and recommended amounts to order. There was a good selection of beer and wine. The food was very good and was served at a leisurely pace, not rushed.

Written 27 September 2020

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MOTTE & BAILEY CAFE, Arundel - Updated 2024 Restaurant Reviews, Menu & Prices - Tripadvisor