National Gallery Cafe & Restaurant

As the sun was oppressively hot yesterday, but owing to the fact that I didn’t want to completely hide away from it either, I decided to give the café in the National Gallery a go for it’s indoor outdoor feel.
I arrived just after 3.30ish to discover that the salad bar had already been cleared and the sandwiches already loaded up onto a cart for overnight refrigeration (I’m guessing) or to be disposed (probably not as in that’s what I was served haha)
Staff were not overly enthused I felt at (what I felt anyway) my late showing.
In saying that the sandwich was very decent, loads of brie, the beef was of the pastrami variety and the soup was a good’un. I’ll just try and be earlier next time I guess!

Located in the bright atrium of the National Gallery, the café is in a prime location. Its a very pleasant place to while away a couple of hours with a book on a rainy afternoon. However, I find the selection of food limited and very expensive. Over € 10 for a quiche and 2 small portions of salad on the side. Hot meals are about € 12, paninis are around € 6 – 7 each! Slices of cake are almost € 5 so with a small pot of tea you’re paying almost € 8 for the privilege.
Service can be very, very slow. I queued for 20 minutes at lunchtime last week, and the queue wasn’t even that long. They were all out of vegetable soup (by lunchtime!) and I had the carrot soup, which was fine as soups go. Its the cheapest option on their menu. Our soup was cold by the time we reached our table, and even when reheated was cold in the centre. My dining companion was not impressed and we likely won’t be returning anytime soon.
The café in the NGI is currently operated by itsabagel as far as I’m aware — they need to really rethink the menu, the cost and the service!

Get here early or late as it does be packed at lunchtime. Cake and tea or coffee for 5.60euro, not bad for a museum. The cakes are gorgeous, and they do quiche, sambos and soups too as well as some lovely looking salads. There was only one veggie sandwich option though which I thought was a poor show.
The coffee was ok, nothing special, but the white chocolate cheesecake was absolutely divine, and my dates lemon meringue pie looked great and he said it tasted great too.
Over all not a bad museme café and a good option if you are visiting the gallery itself, but I wouldn’t go out of my way to come here.

I really like the setting which was created for this café within the National Gallery. It has a very outdoor yet indoor feel combined with the beautiful architectural features present within this museum.
I usually just have a cappuccino here and find these to be very good quality. It will set you back 2.80 € which is slightly on the high side. I usually do not get other food items as I have found them to be a bit on the high side compared to other nearby areas.
Overall, I highly recommend a stop in this café within the national gallery. It is the perfect place for a stop before exploring the museum.