The Lost Dice — Restaurant in Adelaide

If I could give zero stars, I would.

I went to The lost Dice a few days ago (Sept 11). Our experience there was incredibly disappointing. A group of 5 of us came to celebrate a friends birthday, his first time celebrating it in 8 years. Hoping for a fun wholesome night of food, games and catching up. Instead, the evening quickly turned sour.

Shortly after arriving, a staff member told us we were being ‘too loud’, even though we were speaking at a normal volume. For a board game café, where friendly banter and excitement are part of the experience, this already felt unreasonable.

The food was overpriced for the quality served. The birthday boy ordered a pulled pork burger, and bit into a piece of glass embedded into the meat. Rather than offering a sincere apology, staff spoke to him in an accusatory tone, claiming, ‘We haven’t broken any glass lately’. Everyone at the table was baffled, especially since the tone suggested we had somehow planted the glass ourselves. Fortunately, we were seated in view of their CCTV cameras, so the footage clearly shows we did not. Despite this, he had to practically demand a replacement, as the dismissive response to his concern was, ‘What do you want us to do?’.

Although our meals, drinks, and game passes were eventually comped, the damage was already done and our evening ruined. On top of the glass found in my friend’s burger, I discovered a hair in mine, which completely ruined my appetite. I didn’t raise it with staff due to the already poor service. Even the water we were served had pulp floating in it. Out of the four burgers ordered at our table, not a single one was finished.

Staff eventually offered an apology for the food toward the end of the night. But the final straw came when we saw a woman in the outside gaming area openly displaying a swastika tattoo on her right hand. If my review and our experience don’t make you think twice about visiting, or question their hygiene standards - it’s worth reconsidering whether you want to support a business that allows this kind of hate to go unchecked.

This was our first visit to The Lost Dice, and it will absolutely...

Upon arrival, it took ten minutes before I was even served. I'd walked in twice before then and there was no one around - no one to say if Lost Dice was open for business or not. When I eventually did get served, the woman was busy on the phone.

And that was alright - maybe I was there early. I was happy enough to sit with my book and wait for my group to arrive.

Now I made the booking prior to the policy change regarding payment for bookings given prior to the booking date - as in we were expected to pay upon arrival. Except no one explained that to us. No one said anything about payment, no one checked if we'd brought our own games and at one point, refunds had to be issued.

Which is when I'm assuming the manager called me over to berate me. Now from the time of my first contact making a booking, prior to the New Year, I'd been contacted via phone several times. Each time I was very clear - we did not have a set number of people attending but were hoping for roughly 20 people to arrive. Unfortunately, that didn't happen.

But the manager decided it was my fault that he'd turned down bookings. That I was responsible for his monetary loss and he told me as such.

I was mortified. Called over and spoken to like I was an idiot.

I completely understand how frustrating it must have been from his point of view - of course he expected to make more money. Yet he had absolutely no right to berate me as if it were my fault. I specifically stated every single time Lost Dice staff called me that I did not have a set number of people attending.

I will never, ever return to the Lost Dice. To speak to someone the way the manger spoke to me was completely unacceptable. Regardless of whether or not he had a point - you do not speak to anyone like that.

We paid for our drinks, we bought multiple items of food. We all also ended up paying for being there. To have insinuated that I personally cost him money was inappropriate. What had been a wonderful evening was completely marred by this experience. I am disgusted that this man thought how he spoke to me was in any way, shape or form...

I had the opportunity to visit earlier in the year. the atmosphere and game selection was wonderful. Food and drink menu options simple, yet do you really want to deal with complex food items when enjoying a relaxing game with friends? My biggest issue was that it isn't very disability friendly. I walk with aids,so with great difficulty managed to get up stairs to the main playing areas but for someone in a wheelchair there is no lift or ramps. With the main play space upstairs, even if they allowed games to be played in the down stairs space, you'd loose some of the magic and atmosphere of the upstairs game space, leaving me with mixed feelings. it's a great space for the abled bodied,but as I am not,and am known to fall when walking down a set of 2 steps,the huge flight of steep stairs has sadly scared me off. I'd really love to visit again if a second more disability friendly location...