If you manage to park in Romsey – not an easy job given the Test Valley town is inundated at any lunchtime on any day in the week – find Chambers Cafe hidden down Stirling Walk.
The cafe is owned by Mark Chambers, a 56-year-old trained chef who took over the site in 2021 with his partner of 19 years, Russell Whitlock, 53.
It was voted as the Hampshire Chronicle’s and Romsey Advertiser’s Cafe of the Year 2024 after thousands of readers cast their votes.
READ MORE: Cafe of the Year 2024 won by Romsey cafe that cannot stop winning
Chambers Cafe (Image: Charles Elliman) The cafe is innocuous – good luck finding anything about it online – but word of mouth serves it well and it was heaving with business.
Interviewed in December, Mark included two items in his long list of customer favourites: omelettes and coffee – which he claimed people had dubbed the best in Romsey.
Back then he said: “There’s variety. It’s very difficult to put down everything we can provide. Hence why we’re doing what we’re doing: providing good quality food.”
Taking the chef-owner up on his word a ‘Legend’ omelette was ordered and a cappuccino – sorry Italians, here it can be drunk after breakfast.
If it was available, I would have chosen to sit upstairs given how busy the cafe was but, for some reason, there was a sign telling me it was shut.
READ MORE: Cafe of the Year: Readers crown Chambers Cafe and Bistro in Romsey
The ‘Legend’ omlette (Image: Charles Elliman) It did not take long for Mark to rustle up my food and I chose to have it with a garnish and coleslaw instead of baked beans.
My first impression was that it looked like a great omelette. It was huge, covering half the plate and filled to bursting with bacon, sausage and cheese.
I took my first bite and it was mouthwateringly good. Call me a heathen, but I eagerly ripped and squeezed two packets of brown sauce and did not leave a crumb.
Was the cappuccino the best in Romsey? It has stiff competition from Romsey’s other independent cafes but beats anything you can buy from the chains.
A slice of salted caramel cake (Image: Charles Elliman) Where Chambers truly has everyone stuffed, as much as its omelettes, is in its prices: the food is good and cheap.
I came away having spent £12.25 on a ‘Legend’ omelette (£6.50), cappuccino (£2.80) and a slice of fresh homemade salted caramel cake (£2.95)- Mark’s speciality.
Dear readers, please forgive me when I tell you I hate cake, despise it even, which is why I took the slice away and gave it to my colleague, Chris Atkinson.
His final verdict was this: “The cake was really nice, definitely on the sweet side, but brilliant for an occasional treat.”