A brilliant place for pre school children! Took my one year old and three year old and was shown to a table on the top deck by a lovely member of staff. The kids got colouring in to keep them amused while we chose from the menu. The food was perfect for little ones! We got a half jacket potato with cheese, beans and cucumber sticks; a picky plate (wrap, cheese, ham, cucumber sticks, fruit and Pombears) and a big jacket potato with tuna. It was all delicious! Their iced latte is particularly good.
The kids enjoyed playing with the play kitchen on the top deck. Afterwards we went down to pay at the serving hatch and the kids loved the sandpit, slide and Wendy house. It really is a great little place for lunch! Highly recommend!!
Verified
Fantastic party catering
Dear Vicky, thanks so much to you and your team for producing such delicious party food for my 60th yesterday. The table was groaning with the weight, and 30 + people ate to their fill with still food left over today. Everyone was impressed with the variety and presentation. It made my party a huge success. I'm happy to recommend to others and post a review. I'm glad we came to you. Best regards, Steve (Harry's Dad).
Verified
Perfect spot for lunch with the kids
We had a wonderful lunch at Make Believe yesterday. I enjoyed a tasty salad, while my friend had a jacket potato, which she really liked. The portion sizes were generous and the prices were very reasonable. The children were happily occupied with the play facilities, including a giant sandpit and a playhouse, which gave my friend and I a chance to relax and catch up. It’s rare to find a spot that combines great food with child-friendly entertainment—this place is a real hidden gem. I forgot to mention pudding- I had the most delicious crème egg cookie. I will definitely visit again soon. Thank you Make Believe
Verified
Kids cafe but smoking allowed!
It’s such a shame I’m having to review this 2/5 and this is no reflection on the staff on the bus or the food we ate as this was pretty good. However, what has really wound me up is that in a cafe targeting children/babies, smoking is allowed in the outside tables and courtyard area. When I raised this with the staff in the bus they replied ‘we are really sorry but we can’t say anything due to the person smoking being the owner, but we have had many complaints before’. Now at this point there were lots of young children around, including my party where there was two young babies, a toddler and a 4 year old. I’m really disappointed to say I won’t be returning. This is a great concept but the owner needs some lessons on etiquette around babies and young children and how damaging smoking is to young lungs!!!!
Reply from Make Believe Bus Café
2025.04.10
I am really sorry to hear this ruined your experience visiting us. Following your feedback we have spoken to the owner and are in the process of reviewing our policy on smoking as we understand how off-putting it is especially with little ones around.Thank you for the kind comments about the team and the food, and I do hope that you will revisit and give us a chance to make changes and redeem ourselves. I would love to send you a voucher to use during this visit too, please email cafe@makebelieveideas.com.kind regards, Vicky
I’ve been to this amazing place before and had such an amazing experience I was served by a lovely woman called Vicky who gave me such excellent service would highly recommend. I also had Vicky make my birthday cake and cupcakes for my party and everyone loved them and her service was first class 👍🔥
Verified
First Class Service
I’ve been to this amazing place before and had such an amazing experience I was served by a lovely woman called Vicky who gave me such excellent service would highly recommend. I also had Vicky make my birthday cake and cupcakes for my party and everyone loved them and her service was first class 👍🔥
Reply from Make Believe Bus Café
2025.01.30
Thank you so much, thank you for letting us make your cakes and help you celebrate your birthday!
I took my Dad here today for lunch and what a lovely experience we had. The staff are super friendly and the food is absolutely delicious. The homemade cakes are to die for and what a selection they had. I honestly cannot recommened this place enough and I can't wait to take my little nieces to the bus. They will love it just as much, if not more than we did. Thank you Make Believe Ideas Bus. You made our Friday ❤️
We were excited to take our daughter here for lunch but found our visit disappointing. Firstly the place is filthy, toilets especially dirty. The children’s crockery was unwashed and the high chair sticky. The food I would say was ok but the coffee weak and cake stale.
The bus is fun and she enjoyed the sandpit but the picture in the google reviews are inaccurate. The only indoor seating is on the bus not the nice clean cafe that’s depicted. Not sure we will go back unless it’s renovated. A shame really as I think it’s a nice concept.
Reply from Make Believe Bus Café
2024.11.05
Hi Dizz,
Thank you for taking the time to leave a review. I’m truly sorry to hear that your visit didn’t meet your expectations. We continuously sweep under tables and thoroughly clean them as they’re cleared. Additionally, our toys are washed every evening after closing. I understand that the highchairs and children's cutlery weren’t up to standard during your visit, and I’ll ensure they receive extra attention during our regular checks.
Regarding the coffee, I’m disappointed to hear it didn’t meet your preference. We often receive feedback that our coffee has a strong flavour profile, and our coffee machine and bean grinder were serviced recently to maintain this quality. I’ll be providing refresher training with the team to ensure the coffee is back to full strength. If you prefer a very strong coffee, we’re always happy to add an extra shot as well.
As for the cake, I apologize that it seemed stale. Our cakes are freshly baked most days, and any remaining on the second day are given to staff. They are stored in a sealed container in the fridge overnight, but I’ll certainly investigate to prevent any quality issues.
We have now updated the images on Google, as I wasn’t aware it was still showing the original café inside the main building. Thank you for bringing that to my attention. We’re also planning to refresh our chairs and tables early in the new year.
Once again, I’m sorry your experience didn’t live up to our usual standards. Please feel free to reach out directly at cafe@makebelieveideas.com if you'd like to discuss any of this further.
Best regards,
Vicky
Thank you for taking the time to leave a review. I’m truly sorry to hear that your visit didn’t meet your expectations. We continuously sweep under tables and thoroughly clean them as they’re cleared. Additionally, our toys are washed every evening after closing. I understand that the highchairs and children's cutlery weren’t up to standard during your visit, and I’ll ensure they receive extra attention during our regular checks.
Regarding the coffee, I’m disappointed to hear it didn’t meet your preference. We often receive feedback that our coffee has a strong flavour profile, and our coffee machine and bean grinder were serviced recently to maintain this quality. I’ll be providing refresher training with the team to ensure the coffee is back to full strength. If you prefer a very strong coffee, we’re always happy to add an extra shot as well.
As for the cake, I apologize that it seemed stale. Our cakes are freshly baked most days, and any remaining on the second day are given to staff. They are stored in a sealed container in the fridge overnight, but I’ll certainly investigate to prevent any quality issues.
We have now updated the images on Google, as I wasn’t aware it was still showing the original café inside the main building. Thank you for bringing that to my attention. We’re also planning to refresh our chairs and tables early in the new year.
Once again, I’m sorry your experience didn’t live up to our usual standards. Please feel free to reach out directly at cafe@makebelieveideas.com if you'd like to discuss any of this further.
Best regards,
Vicky
Tried the new winter menu this week, and I can definitely recommend the chilli con carne Jacket… it was DELICIOUS! Sour cream and some nachos were the icing on the cake. Have been coming to the bus since my Youngest was a newborn and Vicky and her team have ALWAYs been consistently brilliant, and the food is always tasty. My kids love it, I love it! Thank you guys!
We arrived around 1:15 , despite there only being two other tables in use the wait time was terrible ! We didn’t start eating till after 2pm
Once the food arrived it was nice. The iced latte was also nice. We had a tuna baguette , tuna wrap , sausage roll and 2 kids platters.
There is a sand pit for kids to play in.
We used two highchairs for the twins which were very grubby so we had to clean them.
Toilet on-site to use.
I don’t think we would go back if we were on holiday in the area again.
Reply from Make Believe Bus Café
2024.11.05
Hi Jo,
I’m truly sorry that your recent visit fell short of expectations. There’s no excuse for the delay with your food, and I apologise for not informing you if we had any larger catering or office orders affecting service. That’s certainly not the experience we want anyone to have.
I'm glad to hear you enjoyed your iced latte and found the food to your liking. Everything is prepared fresh daily, with sandwiches and meals made to order. We’ve recently provided additional staff training to improve our table-clearing process and to ensure highchairs are thoroughly cleaned and checked throughout the day. We’ve noticed that guests sometimes return highchairs after use, so we’re taking extra steps to monitor them regularly.
I’m also working closely with the team on food preparation to build their confidence and efficiency, ensuring smoother service for all guests.
We’d love to welcome you back to give you the proper experience we aim to provide. If you’re ever in the area again, please don’t hesitate to visit. And if you’d like to discuss this further, feel free to reach out at cafe@makebelieveideas.com.
Warm regards,
Vicky
I’m truly sorry that your recent visit fell short of expectations. There’s no excuse for the delay with your food, and I apologise for not informing you if we had any larger catering or office orders affecting service. That’s certainly not the experience we want anyone to have.
I'm glad to hear you enjoyed your iced latte and found the food to your liking. Everything is prepared fresh daily, with sandwiches and meals made to order. We’ve recently provided additional staff training to improve our table-clearing process and to ensure highchairs are thoroughly cleaned and checked throughout the day. We’ve noticed that guests sometimes return highchairs after use, so we’re taking extra steps to monitor them regularly.
I’m also working closely with the team on food preparation to build their confidence and efficiency, ensuring smoother service for all guests.
We’d love to welcome you back to give you the proper experience we aim to provide. If you’re ever in the area again, please don’t hesitate to visit. And if you’d like to discuss this further, feel free to reach out at cafe@makebelieveideas.com.
Warm regards,
Vicky
