Odell’s Coffee Shop, Rochford | The Best Café In Rochford For Breakfast, Lunch, & More

Rochford is a quaint little town situated in Essex, not too far from Southend. During my first visit I noticed that, although there isn’t loads of stuff to do there, what Rochford does have it does very well. The town is compact, but filled with very British streets and loads of local businesses. One example of these is a wonderful little coffee shop I got to visit for lunch – Odell’s Coffee Shop.

The Vibe

Odell’s Coffee Shop is marked on TripAdvisor as one of the best coffee shops in Rochford so I just had to try it out. I decided to sit outside for my visit as it just so happened to be the warmest day of February – the outside tables are very close to the road, but it wasn’t massively busy so this wasn’t an issue. The street is shady in the morning and in the sun for the afternoon so bear this in mind if you prefer to sit outside. I discovered quite quickly that Odell’s is very popular with the locals, so I’d advise getting there early – once it got to around half 12 people were unable to eat there due to the volume of people (the coffee shop is quite cosy inside).

The general vibe inside Odell’s Coffee Shop is lovely – it’s your typical British café, but somewhat more refined in its decor and ambience. Inside the café you can see exposed beams and brick wall features which looks great, and outside was quite cute as well with the tables set between brick pillars. The homely crockery was also a nice touch.

The Food

Odell’s menu isn’t available online so I wasn’t sure what to expect, but they provide a good variety of different food from lunch items such as paninis and sandwiches to a rather hearty all day breakfast (which people have only said good things about online!). I decided to opt for the Odell’s Special panini for £4.90, which contained chicken, salami, mozzarella, mushrooms, sun dried tomatoes, rocket, and pesto. It came served with crisps and salad and was really enjoyable – the bread was good quality, the combination of flavours was lovely, and there was loads of mozzarella which is particularly important to me!

I had the panini alongside a small cappuccino which cost £1.90 and a large slice of chocolate cake for £2.95. I thought the cake was slightly expensive but this seems to be a common theme in England with most cake slices costing around the same amount – the rest of the meal was very reasonable and the entire thing came to under a tenner which was great considering how full I was. I really enjoyed the coffee too, and it was the perfect strength.

I did find the waiting times to be quite long, but as mentioned before I probably chose one of the busiest times to visit so I forgive them for that! In a way it was nice to slow down for the day, and it gave me time to reflect and just enjoy the moment.

The Extras

Alongside a great selection of food, Odell’s Coffee Shop also have their own licence for serving alcohol so a variety of different drinks are on offer. This wasn’t something I tested out, given that I was in the middle of the work day, but I think it’s a great thing to have as I haven’t across many cafés that do have licences!

One thing to note is that there wasn’t any WiFi available so this isn’t so great if you’re in the area and need to be connected, however for me it added to my relaxation as I was disconnected from the stresses around me (and stopped me from checking my work emails over lunch).

Final Thoughts

I really enjoyed my visit to Odell’s Coffee Shop and if I visit the area again I think I’ll make a point of going back – I’ve got to try out that all day breakfast! As well as great food the staff were also really lovely and easy to talk to, which added to the overall experience. For anyone planning on visiting Rochford in the near future – definitely make this one of your stops.

If you enjoyed this post then please don’t forget to like, pin, and leave a comment – let me know if you’ve ever visited Rochford! You can read some of my other coffee shop reviews here:

Parker’s Coffee Shop | Patisserie Valerie | Biddy’s Tea Room