Kiss the Hippo roasts its own and Maids of Honour has served Kew since 1860: 12 Richmond cafes with hours, dog rules and hygiene ratings, checked.

The cafes most people look for in Richmond are Kiss the Hippo, which roasts its own coffee; Tide Tables, in an arch under Richmond Bridge; the Original Maids of Honour, the Kew Road tea room that has been on the same street since 1860; and Orange Pekoe, the Barnes tea room. Every entry was checked against the cafe’s own website on 25 October 2026.

We have not visited these cafes for this guide, and nothing here is a review. Each entry sets out what the cafe says about itself: hours, food, booking and dogs. It adds the Food Standards Agency hygiene rating and, where there is one, a public award or listing. Hours shorten in winter, especially in the parks, so check before you set out.

Richmond town centre and the riverside

Kiss the Hippo

Kiss the Hippo is a coffee roaster with a cafe on Sheen Road, a few minutes from Richmond station. Its site says it opened its roastery in 2018 and calls itself “London’s first carbon negative coffee roastery”. It lists its team as UK Barista Champions in 2018, 2019 and 2020. The cafe serves espresso, filter, pour over, cold brew and matcha, with pastries, and the company runs coffee workshops for home brewers.

Open 7.30am to 4.30pm Monday to Friday, 8am to 5pm on Saturday and 8.30am to 5.30pm on Sunday, according to its locations page. Hygiene rating 5 (FSA, 14 December 2023). 21 Sheen Road, TW9 1AD. Our listing.

Tide Tables

Tide Tables is in a converted arch beneath Richmond Bridge. Its site describes a large garden “with three majestic plane trees” and warns that it gets “very crowded on sunny days”. The food is all vegetarian, with vegan and gluten-free dishes: it lists tarts, vegetable lasagne, jacket potatoes, pies and a vegetable and bean chilli. The milk is organic, the coffee Fairtrade, and it also sells wine and beer. There is free wifi.

The cafe says it opens “during daylight hours” and asks people to phone for exact times: 020 8948 8285. Hygiene rating 5 (FSA, 5 November 2025). 2 The Arches, Riverside, TW9 1TH. Our listing.

Hollyhock Café

Hollyhock is Tide Tables’ sister cafe, up the hill in Terrace Gardens. The Tide Tables site says it has “a splendid view over the gardens and the River Thames” and runs it under the same management, with indoor and outdoor seating. It follows the same opening pattern, during daylight hours. The two cafes take party bookings on 07922 474327. Hygiene rating 5 (FSA, 15 May 2025). Terrace Gardens, Petersham Road, TW10 6UX.

Caffé Paola

Caffé Paola is on Hill Rise, the start of the climb from the bridge to Richmond Hill. Its site says it “overlooks Richmond Bridge and the calm waters of the Thames”, a few minutes from the Odeon. It serves illy coffee, baguettes, paninis, wraps, crepes, salads and fresh juices, along with cakes, ice creams and puddings. It also offers free wifi and magazines.

Open 7.30am to 5pm Monday to Friday, 7.30am to 6pm on Saturday and 8.30am to 6pm on Sunday, its contact page says. Hygiene rating 5 (FSA, 18 July 2026). 9 Hill Rise, TW10 6UQ.

In the parks and gardens

The Butler’s Pantry, Pembroke Lodge

The Butler’s Pantry is the cafe inside Pembroke Lodge, a Grade II listed Georgian mansion at the highest point of Richmond Park. The lodge’s site records that Lord John Russell and the philosopher Bertrand Russell lived there. The cafe is self-service and has indoor and outdoor seating. Its page lists sandwiches, children’s lunch boxes, cakes and scones, plus a hot lunch from 12pm to 2.30pm daily and a weekend breakfast menu. It says the sandwiches, hot food and soups are made on site.

It is open daily all year except Christmas Eve and Christmas Day. Dogs are not allowed inside the lodge or its immediate grounds under Royal Parks rules; assistance dogs are welcome. The outdoor kiosk, just outside the grounds, welcomes dogs and has public toilets, usually open 9am to 5pm. Call 020 8940 8207. Hygiene rating 5 (FSA, 14 May 2024). Richmond Park, TW10 5HX. Our listing.

Pheasantry Café, Bushy Park

The Pheasantry Café is in the Woodland Gardens in Bushy Park. The Royal Parks page says its coffee is single origin and locally roasted, and that it has an on-site bakery making the cakes. It serves hot and cold meals, snacks, homemade cakes and ice cream, with seating inside and out. It takes cards only.

Winter hours, from the end of October, are 9am to 5pm; in summer it stays open to 6pm. The Royal Parks says times can vary with the weather. It closes on Christmas Day and at 4pm on Christmas Eve. Call 020 8943 1347. Hygiene rating 5 (FSA, 24 March 2025). Bushy Park, Teddington. Our listing.

The Stables Café is in the courtyard of Orleans House Gallery, the council’s art gallery by the river in Twickenham. The gallery’s page says it is run by Good Apples, the small independent firm behind the Potting Shed Café at Boston Manor Park. It serves barista coffee, homemade cakes, sandwiches and light lunches, with vegetarian and vegan options, and says it welcomes gallery visitors, families and dog walkers.

It is open seven days a week. The published summer hours are 8.30am to 4.30pm, with the kitchen open to 3pm. Hygiene rating 5 (FSA, 8 February 2026). Orleans Road, TW1 3BL.

Kew

The Original Maids of Honour

The Original Maids of Honour is a shop and tea room on Kew Road, opposite Kew Gardens, named after the Richmond custard tart. Its history page says Robert Newens began making and selling the tarts in 1850 and moved the shop to Kew in 1860, “where it can still be found to this day”. The current owners, it says, keep up the tradition. The tea room takes bookings for breakfast, lunch, set tea and high tea through its site. There is a second cafe at the National Archives.

Open 9am to 6pm every day. Call 020 8940 2752. Hygiene rating 5 (FSA, 23 September 2025). 288 Kew Road, TW9 3DU. Our listing.

Twickenham and St Margarets

The Press Room

The Press Room on London Road, by Twickenham station, belongs to a small south west London coffee company with two more cafes in Surbiton. Its site says the company was founded in 2012 and serves its own coffee, from a single farm in São Paulo state, Brazil. It says it was named Best Coffee House in South West London 2024. The Twickenham cafe opened in summer 2015, Brian’s Coffee Spot recorded. Customers can also buy a “suspended coffee” for someone in need.

Open 7.30am to 5pm Monday to Friday, 9am to 5pm on Saturday and 9am to 4pm on Sunday, its Twickenham page says. Hygiene rating 5 (FSA, 7 August 2026). 29 London Road, TW1 3SZ.

Wylie’s Coffee

Wylie’s is an independent coffee shop on Crown Road in St Margarets, launched in 2021 by Freddie and Stef, its site says. The owners trace the idea to the coffee culture they found in Sydney and Japan. The house espresso changes with the seasons, and two guest roasters from around the world appear each month, on the filter menu and as a guest espresso. It has two more shops, in Southfields and Battersea.

Open 7.30am to 4pm Monday to Friday and 8.30am to 3pm at weekends, its visit page says. Hygiene rating 5 (FSA, 8 July 2024). 8 Crown Road, TW1 3EE.

Teddington

The Fallow Deer

The Fallow Deer calls itself “an independent neighbourhood café on Teddington High Street”. Its site says it has poured its own Forest Dawn blend every day since 2013. Brunch is served until 2.45pm daily, and the menu lists dishes such as the Full Herd, eggs royale and a yuzu crispy chicken bap. It says no booking is needed and walk-ins are welcome.

Open 8am to 4.30pm Monday to Saturday, and 9am to 4.30pm on Sunday and bank holidays. Call 020 8943 2578. Hygiene rating 5 (FSA, 25 August 2025). 130 High Street, TW11 8JB.

Barnes

Orange Pekoe

Orange Pekoe is a tea room and tea merchant on White Hart Lane, less than five minutes’ walk from Barnes Bridge station. Its site says Marianna Hadjigeorgiou founded it in 2006, and that Time Out once named it “London’s Best Tearoom”. It says a trained tea sommelier is always on hand. It serves brunch, lunch and afternoon tea.

Afternoon tea is £27.95 a head, or £15 for children, served Tuesday to Friday at 2pm, 2.30pm or 3pm. Bookings are taken through its site, with 48 hours’ notice needed for gluten-free or other dietary needs. A cream tea is served all day and needs no booking. The tea room is open 7.30am to 5pm on weekdays and 8.30am to 5pm at weekends; the kitchen runs 8.30am to 3pm on weekdays and 9am to 3pm at weekends. Call 020 8876 6070. Hygiene rating 5 (FSA, 19 November 2024). 3 White Hart Lane, SW13 0PX.

How we chose

We picked the cafes people search for and that have a record we can check. That means a long history, a public award or listing, and a current food hygiene rating of 3 or better; every cafe here is rated 5. We left out two well-known names whose latest Food Standards Agency rating is 1. We favoured independents and left out the chains. We read each cafe’s own website on 25 October 2026, or for the Pheasantry the Royal Parks page, and took hygiene ratings from the Food Standards Agency. Hours here are as published, and the park cafes change theirs with the seasons.

Run a place that should be here, or spot something that has changed? Email newsdesk@richmondonline.co.uk.

More in Richmond

Frequently asked questions

Which Richmond cafes are by the river?

Tide Tables is in a converted arch beneath Richmond Bridge, with a garden on the riverside. Hollyhock Café, run by the same team, is in Terrace Gardens with views over the Thames. Caffé Paola on Hill Rise says it overlooks Richmond Bridge. Tide Tables and Hollyhock say they open during daylight hours.

Can I take my dog to the café at Pembroke Lodge in Richmond Park?

Not inside. Pembroke Lodge says dogs are not permitted inside the lodge or its immediate grounds under Royal Parks rules, though guide dogs and assistance dogs are welcome. Dogs are welcome at its outdoor kiosk, just outside the main grounds.

Where can I have afternoon tea at a Richmond area tea room?

Orange Pekoe in Barnes lists afternoon tea at £27.95 a head and £15 for children, Tuesday to Friday at 2pm, 2.30pm or 3pm; a cream tea needs no booking. The Original Maids of Honour on Kew Road takes bookings for set tea and high tea.