Rochester's Deaf Cat and Rochester Coffee Co, Café Nucleus's palm-tree garden in Chatham and two country park cafes: 12 Medway cafes with hours and prices.

The cafés most Medway people land on are on Rochester High Street: the Deaf Cat, which roasts its own blend in Medway, and the Rochester Coffee Co, opposite the Cathedral. In Chatham it is Café Nucleus, a café in a palm-tree garden off the High Street, and for a walk with a coffee, the council cafés at Riverside and Capstone Farm country parks. Every entry checked against the venue’s own site on 29 October 2026.

We have not visited these cafés for this guide and none of this is a review. Each entry gives what the café says about itself and what it publishes about hours, prices and booking, with its Food Standards Agency hygiene rating. We say where any other fact comes from. Prices change often, so treat them as a guide.

Rochester High Street

1. The Deaf Cat

The Deaf Cat is an independent coffee shop on Rochester High Street, and the business dates itself to 2009. Its site says “the quality of our coffee is controlled by our Baristas, not our coffee machine” and that its espresso, filter and decaf blends are “roasted here in Medway”, sold in store in 250g bags. It describes wall art by James Worse and a collection of coffee pots from around the world.

Alongside coffee it lists teas, iced drinks, sandwiches, toasties, paninis and tray bakes. Its site names it runner-up in both the Rochester and the Medway Food and Drink Awards in 2021.

Open Mon to Sat 9am to 5pm; Sun 10am to 5pm
Address 83 High Street, ME1 1LX
Hygiene rating 4, Food Standards Agency, 3 September 2025
Website thedeafcat.com
Listing Our listing
Good for coffee roasted in Medway, beans in 250g bags, sandwiches and toasties, wall art

2. The Rochester Coffee Co

The Rochester Coffee Co is opposite the Cathedral, and its site invites customers to unwind “admiring the Cathedral from our outside seating”, with sofas inside, free wifi and a laptop bar. It serves coffee and teas but is also licensed, listing wines, beers, spirits and champagne cocktails.

The food menu runs to paninis, toasties, bagels, sandwiches and ploughman’s, with croissants baked in store and a children’s meal deal; the prices on the page are undated, so check at the counter. It keeps the longest hours of any café in this guide.

Open Mon to Fri 7am to 6pm; Sat 8am to 6pm; Sun 9am to 6pm
Booking afternoon tea must be booked by phone
Call 01634 845162
Address 89 High Street, ME1 1LX
Hygiene rating 5, Food Standards Agency, 20 October 2026
Website rochester-coffee.com
Listing Our listing
Good for outside seating facing the Cathedral, free wifi, laptop bar, licensed, children's meal deal

3. Lenny’s of Rochester

Lenny’s is a café, bakery and patisserie on the High Street, which its site calls its “flagship patisserie and bakery”, saying it uses “as much local produce as possible”. The menu page lists baguettes, toasties and sandwiches made on the premises, paninis, filled jacket potatoes, Cornish pasties, pies and sausage rolls, plus cakes and pastries, to eat in or take away.

There is a top-floor room for hire for baby showers and birthday parties.

Open Mon to Sun 8am to 5.15pm; bank holidays 8am to 4.15pm
Price afternoon tea from £55 for two
Booking afternoon tea through its booking page
Call 01634 402227
Address 145 High Street, ME1 1EL
Hygiene rating 5, Food Standards Agency, 20 November 2025
Website lennysofrochester.co.uk
Good for local produce, eat in or take away, cakes and pastries, afternoon tea, party room for hire

4. Lenny’s of Eastgate

The second Lenny’s sits in the gardens of Eastgate House, the Elizabethan house just off the High Street. Its site describes it as a “dog-friendly and child-friendly cafe” with a “limited” menu of “family favourites”, and says it is fully licensed. It is best known for afternoon teas, including a Sparkling Afternoon Tea, along with children’s and vegetarian cream teas.

Enquiries can also go by email to info@lennysofeastgate.co.uk.

The Café Nucleus on Rochester High Street is closed: the group’s site says it “is currently closed due to a fire” and gives no reopening date.

Open Mon and Wed to Sat 9.30am to 4pm; closed Tue and Sun
Price Sparkling Afternoon Tea £80 for two
Booking afternoon teas booked online
Call 07427 091167
Address Eastgate Cottage, High Street, ME1 1EW
Hygiene rating 4, Food Standards Agency, 6 November 2025
Website lennysofeastgate.co.uk
Good for dogs welcome, children welcome, fully licensed, afternoon tea, garden setting

Chatham

5. Café Nucleus, Chatham

Café Nucleus Chatham is down a side alley off the High Street in Kentstone Court, and its site invites customers to “enjoy fantastic food amongst the palm trees, tree ferns and tropical flowers”. It lists itself as wheelchair friendly, says dogs and walk-ins are welcome and that “just drinks” is fine.

The all-day menu is brunch, and the small cover charge is donated to the Halpern Charitable Foundation.

Open Mon to Fri 9.30am to 3.30pm; Sat 9.30am to 5pm
Price brunch £12 to £17, plus a 12% service charge and a small cover charge; afternoon tea £28 a head
Booking reservations for two to six; walk-ins welcome
Call 01634 406971
Address 272 High Street, ME4 4BP
Hygiene rating 5, Food Standards Agency, 26 February 2026
Website cafenucleus.uk/welcome-to-cafe-nucleus-chatham
Good for tropical garden, wheelchair friendly, dogs welcome, just drinks, afternoon tea

6. No.64 Coffee & Brunch

No.64 is an independent café on the pedestrianised part of Chatham High Street. Visit Medway calls it “the prime location for all things brunch” and points to its avocado on toast and Buddha bowls.

The café has no website; the hours below come from its Instagram page, checked on 27 October, which says it serves to sit in or take away, and this autumn it added homemade soups. It does not publish prices online.

Open Mon to Fri 8am to 3pm; closed Sat and Sun
Call 01634 786080
Address 64 High Street, ME4 4DS
Hygiene rating 5, Food Standards Agency, 19 February 2025
Good for brunch, avocado on toast, Buddha bowls, homemade soups, eat in or take away

7. The Cannon Café, Fort Amherst

The Cannon Café is inside Fort Amherst, the Georgian fortification above Chatham run by the Fort Amherst Heritage Trust. Its menu covers breakfast and brunch, including eggs Benedict with Kentish ham, and gluten-free bread and vegan cheese are available.

The café also runs Sunday roasts and afternoon teas. The opening hours below are the day’s hours its page gave when we checked.

Open 9am to 4pm
Food 10am to 3pm every day
Price poached eggs on toast £6; eggs Benedict £8.50
Booking tables can be reserved online
Call 01634 847747
Address Dock Road, ME4 4UB
Hygiene rating 5, Food Standards Agency, 28 January 2025
Website fortamherst.com/cafe
Good for Georgian fort, Sunday roasts, afternoon tea, gluten-free bread, vegan cheese

8. The Mess Deck, Historic Dockyard

The Mess Deck is the main café restaurant at the Historic Dockyard Chatham, and the Dockyard’s food page says “a Dockyard ticket is not required to visit The Mess Deck”. It serves “locally sourced meals and sandwiches freshly prepared at the Dockyard each day”, with fish and chips the favourite.

In February 2024 it gained the Kids in Museums Family Café Standard, and there are highchairs. Dogs other than guide dogs are not allowed.

Open in line with the Dockyard's hours
Food hot food until an hour before closing
Price Senior Special fish and chips £12, Tue 11am to 1pm
Parking free for Mess Deck customers
Address The Historic Dockyard, ME4 4TY
Hygiene rating 5, Food Standards Agency, 22 July 2026
Website thedockyard.co.uk/plan-your-visit/eat-drink
Listing Our listing
Good for no Dockyard ticket needed, fish and chips, Family Café Standard, highchairs

Gillingham and Rainham

9. Oasis Café, Gillingham

Oasis Café is in Britton Farm Mall, just off Gillingham High Street, and publishes its full menu with prices. It is a traditional café: English and set breakfasts, soups, eggs on toast and cod and chips, with omelettes, jacket potatoes, burgers, homemade dishes, a kids’ menu and a roast dinner.

It also offers collection and delivery.

Open daily 7.30am to 4.45pm, except Fri 7.30am to 4pm
Price English breakfast £5.50; set breakfasts with a hot drink or juice £7 to £16; soups £4.90; eggs on toast from £4; cod and chips £9.50
Call 01634 572123
Address Unit 2, Britton Farm Mall, High Street, ME7 1AL
Hygiene rating 5, Food Standards Agency, 26 November 2024
Website oasiscafegillingham.co.uk
Listing Our listing
Good for full breakfast, kids' menu, roast dinner, collection and delivery

10. Café Nucleus, Rainham

The newest Café Nucleus is in the Langton Studios on Rainham High Street, which its site describes as “modern and trendy”, and it stays open later than the Chatham café. Its brunch menu carries the same dishes and prices as Chatham, and on Sundays it serves roasts alongside brunch.

Dogs are welcome.

Open Sun to Thu 9.15am to 5pm; Fri and Sat 9.15am to 10pm
Food dinner on Fri and Sat evenings
Price brunch £12 to £17, plus a 12% service charge
Booking cafenucleus.uk/book-a-table
Address 35a High Street, ME8 7HS
Hygiene rating 5, Food Standards Agency, 21 January 2026
Website cafenucleus.uk/welcome-to-cafe-nucleus-rainham
Good for dogs welcome, Sunday roast, Friday and Saturday dinner, brunch

Country park cafés

11. Riverside Country Park café

The café at Riverside Country Park, on the Medway estuary at Lower Rainham Road, is at the park’s visitor centre and trades as Café Focus on the FSA register. Medway Council’s park page says “the cafe and toilets are open 7 days a week from 10am to 4pm”. The council lists the Sustrans cycle path and walking trails among the park’s facilities.

Address 333 Lower Rainham Road, ME7 2XH
Open daily 10am to 4pm; visitor centre 9am to 3.45pm
Parking all day £3.50 a car
Toilets daily 10am to 4pm
Access disabled access throughout the site
Hygiene rating 5, Food Standards Agency, 16 March 2026
Website medway.gov.uk/info/200927/riverside_country_park
Listing Our listing
Good for Medway estuary, Sustrans cycle path, walking trails, visitor centre

12. Capstone Farm Country Park café

Capstone Farm Country Park covers more than 114 hectares of woodland, meadow and lakes between Chatham and Gillingham, and its café is run by the same Café Focus business as Riverside’s. The council’s park page publishes the café, toilet and visitor centre hours, and the visitor centre has a gift shop.

Address Capstone Road, ME7 3JG
Open 9.30am to 4pm, 1 October to 31 March; 9am to 5pm, 1 April to 30 September; visitor centre daily 9am to 3.45pm
Parking all day £3.50 a car; free for blue badge holders
Toilets same hours as the café
Hygiene rating 5, Food Standards Agency, 16 March 2026
Website medway.gov.uk/info/200925/capstone_farm_country_park
Listing Our listing
Good for woodland, meadow and lakes, visitor centre, gift shop

More places to eat and drink

For a longer breakfast, see our Medway brunch guide; for cream teas and cake stands, afternoon tea in Medway. The Medway restaurants guide, walks near Medway and Medway playgrounds cover the rest of a day out, and things to do in Medway and what’s on this month have the events. Every café on our directory is in the cafe listings.

How we chose

We started with the Medway cafés people search for and that come up again and again in Visit Medway’s listings, local roundups and our own directory, and kept those whose own websites, social pages or council pages publish their hours, menus or booking details, so each entry could be checked. We preferred independents; the two country park cafés are the ones listed on Medway Council’s own park pages. Café Nucleus Rochester was left out because it is closed after a fire, Café Lounge on Rochester High Street because its website was down, and Restoration House’s tea shop because it opens only with the house in summer. Every café here has a Food Standards Agency hygiene rating of 4 or 5 on the FSA register, checked on 29 October 2026.

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

Frequently asked questions

Which Medway cafes are dog friendly?

Café Nucleus says dogs are welcome at both its Chatham and Rainham cafés, and Lenny’s of Eastgate, in the gardens of Eastgate House in Rochester, describes itself as dog-friendly and child-friendly. Dogs other than guide dogs are not allowed in the Mess Deck or the Wagon Stop Canteen at the Historic Dockyard.

Which Medway cafes are open on a Sunday?

The Deaf Cat in Rochester opens 10am to 5pm on Sundays, the Rochester Coffee Co 9am to 6pm and Lenny’s of Rochester 8am to 5.15pm. Oasis Café in Gillingham opens from 7.30am every day, and the council cafés at Riverside and Capstone Farm country parks open seven days a week. Café Nucleus Chatham, No.64 and Lenny’s of Eastgate are closed on Sundays.

Which cafe opens earliest?

The Rochester Coffee Co opens at 7am Monday to Friday, Oasis Café in Gillingham at 7.30am every day, and Lenny’s of Rochester and No.64 in Chatham at 8am.