Sweet Caramel — Restaurant in Bathurst

Sweet Caramel Cafe & Patisserie was pretty much my worst nightmare, but there’s no denying its popularity with the women of Bathurst. They vote with their feet, which are clad in high heels to match their prettiest party frock. They descend in large groups for baby showers, birthdays and other festive occasions. Most groups seem to be opting for the Sweet Caramel High Tea ($35/person) presented on multi-tiered silver platters, topped with luridly coloured macarons sitting over pastries, tarts, and sliders.

While the building's exterior is new, it's at least in keeping with the historic look of Bathurst. The interior is, quite frankly, a bit bizarre. Lifesize gold rams and llamas covered in brown fleece are the centrepieces of a room stuffed with mismatched furniture that runs the gamut from high-backed white farmhouse chairs to slatted brown outdoor furniture. Plant baskets dangle from an office-style ceiling, which is in plain view because the lighting leans towards extreme rather than atmospheric. It’s noisy – people are here with an eye to celebration – so do bear that in mind if you’re after a quiet catch up.

Being a hot one, I flick past café menu mainstays, coffee and tea, and venture into Frappe World. In the hyper-feminine space, the Pink Journey ($6.90) seems the obvious choice, combining a pleasant enough mix of strawberry, apple and lime juice. Summer Scent ($6.90) with pineapple, apple and orange is nice and sharp. Both are presented in a hipster-style handled jars with straw and spoon for ease of consumption.

The menu is an equally bizarre blend of Thai dishes, Italian gelato and retro café standards. Don’t expect staff to come to your table either – this is an order and pay at the counter first affair. I end up eating a Bacon, Banana and Cheese Melt ($9.90) on commercially produced white toast, with a Salad ($2) addition, presented as a dish that looks straight out of the '90s.

Best to think of Sweet Caramel as somewhere to eat cake, or avoid the noise entirely and buy a cone of gelato from their window to eat across the road in the beautiful...

I have visited Sweet Caramel on quite a number of occasions for both breakfast and lunch. My rating would have been a lot higher had not my last visit not been tainted by some very poor food preparation and what I can only presume was a no response to my concerns. I ordered scrambled egg with bacon on white toast. A meal I have had before. I am not sure whether there is a new chef or he was having a bad day but when the meal arrived it was quite obvious t9 be told that the bacon was not cooked. I politely asked the if the dish could go back and the bacon be more cooked. The plate was taken and suddenly returned minus the bacon. Suddenly a plate containing the bac9n returned. It had the smell of grease that was dripping from the bacon and there was evidence were bits of the rindhad been burnt. The egg was tasteless. To her credit the waitress asked if there was a problem and as I began explaining the what I would describe as the Maitrre D came over. He said nothing no apology nothing. Sorry poor all round. What a shame I used to enjoy going there. P.S. it was rather empty of customers...

We came in and the waitress was rude, when we went to order we have someone with us who has allergies we asked what oil they cook with hesitation “normal cooking oil” we specified that we needed to know just in case and he just said “sunflower?”. Not once did he actually care or make an attempt to go out the back to ask just incase. My friend ordered something to be nice but didn't eat it as he was scared he would get seriously hurt via his allergies. My bacon undercooked and almost raw, my eggs raw, the only good thing was the toast. My iced latte was room temperature leading me to believe the milk was left out on the bench. No ice in an iced latte? How is a milkshake also room temperature? So $72 down the drain with half our plates left with all the food still on them....