The Fresh Food Cafe offering at Taunton Deane Southbound, situated in the food court, beside Chozen Noodle, opposite customer seating. Its proximity to the seating area means Fresh Food Cafe doesn't have any seating of its own. Fresh Food Cafe is a Roadchef-own brand serving sit-down meals for breakfast, lunch & dinner. It's the last of its kind at motorway services and many Fresh Food Cafes have been downsized to accommodate Coco Di Mama takeaways (such as Tibshelf and Norton Canes). Others have been completely removed to accommodate LEON restaurants. Fresh Food Cafe is similar to Moto's former EDC (Eat & Drink Co) and Welcome Break's former "Eat In". All of these own-brand dining units have been based off the original buffet-style dining available at motorway services from the 60s to the 80s, which was much more luxurious than today's offerings. Fresh Food Cafe was launched in 2012 at Watford Gap, replacing "Hot Food Co" which was present at most Roadchef's between 2008 & 2012, offering similar food to Fresh Food Cafe but a slightly different dining style. Taunton Deane South is due to undergo a significant renovation at the start of 2025, which will see the removal of this Fresh Food Cafe unit. This, and the adjacent Chozen Noodle, will both be moved to a new hybrid unit located at the rear of the interior with Fresh Food Cafe trading in the morning and Chozen Noodle taking over in the afternoon. The space previously used by the two units will become a large LEON. Fresh Food Cafe stores, such as this, are getting rarer by the year. Their pricing is more expensive than McDonald's, but reasonable for the food products they sell. This Fresh Food Cafe hasn't changed since being installed in 2012/2013. This pic evidences some Christmas decorations. This is due to the time of year & they do "cheer" the unit up somewhat. Fresh Food Cafe was fairly quiet during my visit despite how packed Taunton Deane South was itself. There was a large group of Carol singers at the site, in addition to an increased quantity of holiday motorists, making the place very manic. The fact that Fresh Food Cafe was still quiet suggests it's become quite unpopular & motorists prefer to stick by brand names they recognise, such as Costa and McDonald's. Roadchef has Fresh Food Cafe signposted from the M5 Southbound, so customers are aware of its presence at the site. However, Fresh Food Cafe isn't advertised much around the site & isn't signposted from the exterior of the amenity building.

Photo taken on 22/12/2023 by Tom Moon.

Assigned to galleries: Taunton Deane, Roadchef, M5, Fresh Food Cafe