The Lounges chain is expanding at a rapid rate. Having spent 14 years living in Bristol, it’s a cafe-bar chain I know pretty well. They opened their first venue in Bristol – on the city’s North Street – in 2002. Since then, they’ve expanded across the country as you can see from their location finder here. One of their latest additions is Leo Lounge in Faversham, Kent, which opened in July 2024.
Leo Lounge is pretty recognisable as part of The Lounges group from its decor. Think bold wallpaper, feature lampshades and an eclectic mix of pictures on every possible wall space. The building itself dates from 1796 and is a stunning red brick affair – it’s beautiful! Those with kids or dogs will be pleased to know that Leo Lounge is suitable for both, with a table of dog treats and water bowls by the bar, and a dedicated children’s menu complete with activity sheet.
We placed our order via QR code and the menu and payment system were both easy to navigate. Our drinks arrived fairly quickly after ordering, but there were a few issues.
The iced honeycomb latte (£4.75) was pretty short on the honeycomb. The vanilla matcha iced latte (also £4.75) had clumps of matcha and no vanilla flavour at all. I took both back to the bar and the barman apologetically admitted he’d forgotten to add the vanilla to the latter, and remade both drinks at no extra cost. My son loved his Biscoff Banoffee shake (£4.75), though – it tasted as good as it looked.
The food was mostly great. The kids’ beans on toast (£4.85) came with the choice of white or brown bread and the option of melted cheese on top. It was a generous slice with plenty of beans, and I love how the kids’ meals all come with a Cawston Press juice carton, a pot of hummus with bread sticks and carrot sticks, and an activity sheet to complete while they wait.
The Lounge Bacon Cheeseburger (£14.75) was enormous and proclaimed to be fantastic, while the beetroot and feta flatbread (£9.75) was beautifully presented and very much enjoyed.
One of our party ordered the Moroccan aubergine flatbread (£9.75) with a side of fries (£2.55) and a small portion of macaroni cheese (£5.15). The flatbread arrived first and she had to ask separately for both of the sides, which had been forgotten. As an apology, though, they offered her a free drink – it seems like a month and a half after opening there are still some teething issues. Once her food had arrived, she raved about the macaroni cheese, and while she enjoyed the flavours on the flatbread, the hummus smeared over the top had made the bread itself quite soggy.
My Buddha bowl (£12.25) with added halloumi (£3.45) was delicious. I do think £3.45 is steep for three thin slices of halloumi, but the Leo Lounge team had cooked it nicely. It perfectly accompanied the roasted harissa aubergine, tenderstem, aubergine hummus, pickled carrot, Persian grains and flatbread. Sadly the pickled cucumber had been replaced with rings of regular cucumber but the pink pickled onion slices, which the menu description didn’t include, were delicious.
Our meal at Leo Lounge was a bit of a mixed bag, all in all, but it seems to be a popular haunt already. Open doors at both the front and back give a nice through draught on a hot day, and the team, while young and a little unsure in some ways, were all friendly and happy. I’d head back, but I’d probably wait a little while until some of the early teething issues are ironed out.