Long Lost Friend Cafe — Restaurant in Adelaide

Amending the review to reflect true star ratings...

Looks like this place has gotten too small to fit their heads through the door... Service now is appalling... Food is still very nice, albeit super pricey, but the coffee is bitter af now, looks like it's taking forever to extract, but the staff look miserable... must not be a great place to work if the staff look like they'd rather be anywhere but there, and they treat the paying customer accordingly...

Shame...

Ok, so I originally rated 5 stars for the previous review, which I will leave, but I've amended the score for our recent visit to LLF. So, where to begin;

We stopped off for some brunch and coffees at around 9:30am on a beautiful Sunday morning, and it was absolutely packed. The staff looked like they had been there all night, as their demeanor and attitude was written all over their faces. They were under pressure and it showed. They must have been booked solid, cos they ushered us outside, where we had to table hop to wait until we got to our final table destination.

Waiter took about 15 mins to come to us for a coffee order, which took another 20 mins to come out. As per usual, I order a ristretto and a small latte. The ristretto must have been waiting around to be collected, cos it had split by the time it came to the table, and the latte's heat had all but disappeared. Not good... Water glasses also had that eggy, foul dishwasher smell...

It took another 10 mins or so before our order was taken, and at the time we were told that the kitchen was under the pump and it would be a 15-20 min wait. Which was ok, as we already spent quite some time waiting for our orders to be taken and be served coffees... Heard other people complaining that we got our orders and coffees before them, and felt bad about that... We were waiting for a while, so they would have been getting a bit cranky about their orders by then... They certainly made us know about it by passively being aggressive about their mood... Sorry Karen...

Just under 35 minutes went and we were served our brunch, I had a smashed avo and she had the pancakes. Immaculately presented and tasted great. The pancakes needed something creamy to cut All the tartness of the berries, and my smashed avo needed lemon or an extra wedge, and toast was burnt... Not the best. The poached egg was perfectly done...

All in all, expensive for what you get, but left unsatisfied in a way as it was a beautiful dish, but not really filling enough for the price tag... The floor staff needed someone to direct them, as it felt very chaotic from start to finish. Looks like they get their pastries from Abbott's and Kinney too... I'll come back to get a better chance of upping their rating, but today their coffee lacked the consistency from the first time I came here. It could very well be the wait staff that dropped the ball here because last time the coffee was spot on.. so I'll make another visit when it's not so busy so I can give a better gauged rating...

Dropped in for the first time this arvo for takeaway, ristretto and 2 small coffees came out pretty quickly, despite it being absolutely packed... Ristretto still extracted perfectly, great taste, lattes were textured to perfection... 5 stars, will be back again if in the area for...

Recently visited Long Lost Friend for breakfast. It turned out to be an unforgettable deplorable experience. It astonishingly took six attempts for our coffee orders to be correctly served, setting a disappointing tone for what was to come; A skim milk iced late with a single shot.

When our breakfast finally arrived, the disappointment only deepened. My wife's order of pancakes was a disaster. The quality was akin to something you'd begrudgingly purchase from a supermarket like Coles and then reheat in the microwave. In hopes of salvaging the meal, she switched to eggs, only to receive them undercooked, as evidenced by a photo we took to remember the occasion by.

When I ordered scrambled eggs, they turned out to be rubbery and bland, lacking any flavor. Additionally, neighboring customers were unimpressed with their muesli, noting that it was nothing extraordinary and could easily be replicated at home from a packet in the supermarket.

Attempting to address these issues with the staff only added insult to injury. Rather than acknowledging the mishaps, the response we received was a dismissive, "Sorry man, was just under the pump." This lack of accountability and customer service simply compounded our frustration.

In summary, our breakfast experience at Long Lost Friend under its new management was nothing short of a disaster. From the repeated missteps in getting a simple coffee order right to the unappetizing and poorly prepared food, coupled with a dismissive attitude from the staff, it's safe to say we won't be returning. It's disheartening to see a place we once had fond memories of...

I frequent Long Lost Friend cafe often and have generally enjoyed my visits, but today's experience left me quite disappointed due to the service provided by the two waiters. Despite the cafe having only two occupied tables inside, we had to wait for several minutes to be seated, which was a bit frustrating.

What further dampened our experience was the lack of attentiveness from the waitstaff. The barista, unfortunately, seemed preoccupied outside, babysitting a dog, while our food waited to be served on the pass. Moreover, several customers who were patiently waiting for their take-away coffees were left waiting for an extended period.

Service is a critical aspect of any dining experience, and today, it was noticeably lacking at Long Lost Friend. The two waiters appeared disorganized and unfamiliar with their duties, resulting in an overall disappointing visit. Hopefully, the cafe can address these issues and provide better service to ensure that customers can enjoy their meals without unnecessary delays and...