Food and drink

Find out everything you need to know about food and drink at the Horniman, from where to have your picnic to what time the Café kiosk closes.

The Horniman Café

The Café is open from 9am daily.

Weekdays

  • 3.30pm: last order for kitchen
  • 5pm: last order for drinks

Weekends, school holidays and Bank Holidays

  • 4.30pm: last order for kitchen
  • 5pm: last order for drinks

We serve a delicious range of hot and cold meals, sandwiches, biscuits, fair-trade teas and coffees, and cold drinks.

We have menus for adults and children, vegan and vegetarian options, as well as gluten-free foods. Ask the Café staff for more information about what’s on offer.

We only use the best quality produce from suppliers we are proud to work with including Volcano Coffee WorksBirchall Tea, Blackbird Bakery, Billings Fishmonger and Butcher, and Marshfield Farm Ice Cream.

If you visit the Horniman Café regularly, don’t forget to pick up a loyalTEA card – any hot drink you buy will earn you a stamp. Buy nine hot drinks and get the tenth on the house.

The Café gets very busy between 11.30am and 2.30pm, and especially so during weekends and school holidays.

Bandstand Café Kiosk

The Café Kiosk in the Gardens by the Bandstand is open serving hot and cold drinks, sandwiches, snacks and ice-cream (no hot food).

Open daily from 9am – 4pm.

Visiting Safely

  • There are toilets available to Cafe visitors to the right of the counter, and the lockers are accessible via the Cafe too.
  • We encourage the use of contactless payment methods at the Cafe and kiosks.

Being Green

You can refill your water in the Cafe, or at one of the two water fountains in the Gardens (on the Avenue near the entrance and opposite the Bandstand). You can also bring your reusable cups to the cafe for when you order a coffee, and cut down on waste.

The meat we serve is locally sourced, as well as our beer, breads and homemade cakes, and the fish is from sustainable sources.

The Café has replaced single-use takeaway plastics with Vegware products made from plants, including disposable coffee cups and straws. The Café has introduced CanO water for those who want to take away, as aluminium cans are infinitely recyclable.

Waste produced by the Café is composted using an on-site Ridan composter for use in the Gardens, and Café staff sort waste left on tables for recycling.

Picnics

If you want to bring your own food and drink to the Horniman for a picnic, you can find great spots all over the Gardens. The Dutch Barn is open daily for picnicking in rainy weather – it is located opposite the Bandstand in the Gardens.

Please refrain from eating and drinking in the Museum, as this can attract pests which damage the collections.

If you are unsure of the best picnic spots, please ask one of our Visitor Hosts.

Unfortunately, even very careful eaters can leave crumbs which attract pests. These pests can damage our collections. 

In sunny weather, the Gardens have lots of great picnic spots.

During cold or wet weather you are welcome to use our Dutch Barn picnicking space. This is open daily.

The Dutch Barn is opposite the Bandstand on a raised terrace, next to the Pavilion. Find a map of the Gardens or watch this film showing the route from the entrance to the Bandstand terrace:

You can find more information on the schools plan your visit pages which will tell you about where to go and how to book your spaces.