I used to love this place. It was quirky and the quality of food justified the price. However, lately it seems that whatever entrepreneurial drive inspired it, has spread itself too thin and the quality of food has suffered. The cakes are inconsistently fresh, and the recent breakfast I had there was so microwaveably bad Im certain Ill never take the risk again. The scrabbled eggs were freshly cooked but lacked any moistness or oil to give them the lovely creamy richness which I had expected. The slices of cake at 3.50 are accurately priced when fresh, but a complete rip off when a day or 2 older. Make sure to check which ones arrived on the day when you order. Im also not clear what the enterprise is doing to 'continuously improve'. The original shabbiness of the outlet lent itself to the time of an upstart, but now lacks a sense of value considering the prices. The staff are far too interested in bantering and generally hanging out, rather than excelling at customer service. In the last 4 months they have been unable to explain the cakes, or indeed clarify their freshness. Nancy has a good knack for bakery, which with the right focus would have her beautiful cakes selling centrally in town should that be what she wants. She is being let down by appalling service, and a really really poor attention to detail by her staff. Cakes should also be priced for take away with the VAT reduced, and it is also outrageous that an outlet charging this much for general cafe items is charging a £0.50 surcharge for card payments. On principle I have stopped using the cafe, despite buying a number of cakes for various events. A recent request was refused on the basis of a justifiable desire of not wanted to disappoint. A more enlightened approach would have refined operational capacity to make these request a mainstay. So, don't waste your time detouring to the Black Cat on the basis of previous reviews. The owner has previously responded to these reviews so I would wait to see whether any assurances are made to counter the above reflections before venturing. read more

Dear Black Cat owners, I moved to Cambridge from Australia a few weeks ago and was very excited that there was a Kiwi cafe that served flat whites just around the corner from where we lived. I was even more excited when I visited for the first time the atmosphere was great and the food selection was small but appealing. After frequenting your cafe for the past few weeks, I am disappointed to write that the Black Cat has not lived up to my expectations for a number of reasons, and that because of these reasons, I will not be returning. 1. Quality of the service. I have frequently been appalled by the lack of professionalism exhibited by staff at the Black Cat. I often have to wait until staff members have stopped gossiping to place my order. Staff members are on the whole quite rude and unhelpful. For example, I was recently interested in buying one of the paintings on display but staff members could not tell me whether the painting was for sale or how to contact the artist they then told me to look up the artist's website myself. I spent some time trying to do this and in the end was unable to find the information I needed so will be buying a similar painting by the same artist at CB2. One exception to the generally poor service is the young man who works in the afternoons he is friendly, professional and makes really excellent coffee. 2. State of the toilets. On more than three occasions, I found the toilets without toilet paper and in rather filthy conditions not a good look for a place that serves food. 3. Lack of variation in the menu. For a small and pricey menu, a bit of variation in the staple breakfast dishes would be great. Am not usually one to complain but I felt compelled to in this case partly because your cafe gets so many things right and it is the little things that are holding it back. From reading other customer reviews, it seems that other people have the same concerns. Disappointed read more

Just happened to be mill road end of town and saw the Black Cat and went in, it seemed okay until we decided to order,the staff (bar one) were more interested in chatting amongst themselves and when we did get attention all we got was 'what?' so not a good start. we made our order and sat down at the only free table which still had cups etc on it. To our amazement our coffee turned up and the used croc's were left there, then our food arrived and we asked if the table could be cleared and were told I'm to busy to do that right now were my ears playing tricks,this is so poor. to top things off our food order was wrong too although with a little grump this was corrected (20 mins later) I will say the food was finally very good.we finally payed up without a smile from anyone. I told some friends about this and they were amazed and after discribing the waitress it turns out she may have been the manager Hmmmmm! needless to say we will not be going back and will never recommend!! read more

I think the previous comments were a bit harsh. I know there have been a few problems in the past with that girl that stole and the took them to court and then those people who told everyone they'd bought it but hadn't so all the staff left. I think they got some bad staff for a while after that. some of them were a bit freaky geaky. The one who didn't smile and looked at you as if you were some kind of alien, that scruffy boy who always seemd t have just fallen out of bed but he did make good coffee and that really rude Australian girl. She was pretty rude sometimes to customers and it was clear that the others were a bit scared of her. There seem to be some new faces at the moment. The cakes i know are made with organic things, that's why they're expensive. Its true they're not as many as there used to be but still good. I think we should keep going to support Black Cat as it is independent and local and its a bit of an institution now. read more

The food is OK, but the service is abysmal. In fact, it is consistently abysmal and they get your orders wrong. Today, one of the managers put the blame on me the customer for the wrong order, stating that I had chosen the wrong number, whereas I had in fact described exactly what I wanted. Talking to others, I am not the only one to complain about the service. I had been going because when it first arrived it was a breath of fresh air, somewhat quirky and a nice choice for breakfast. Unfortunately, it has gone downhill since. read more

Great place! The coffee is the best in Cambridge! And it's their own blend. The food is different, innovative and changes. I love the place - it's great to hang out there. During the week it's quieter and the weekends are really busy so things can get a bit slow but that's because they make everything from scratch. Its definitely improved the 'wrong end' of Mill Rd and leaves all the other cafes on both sides of the bridge for dead. read more