Hounslow — Restaurant in Blackheath

I am writing to raise a serious concern about instances of discrimination that I have observed/experienced within Cafe Hounslow. Discrimination in any form is unacceptable and goes against our core values of respect, inclusivity, and equality. Actually all staff were good except small fatty woman(I don't want to describe like this but I don't know her name). You could remember us. We were only Asian in there. Although I noticed your discriminatory behavior, I chose to overlook it at the time as I didn't want to ruin our holiday. However, when my 7th-grade daughter and 9th-grade niece returned home that evening, deeply hurt by the discrimination their parents experienced, I could no longer stay silent.

I'm writing this because I believe that if left unaddressed, you might continue to live your life in this manner. I want you to understand the lasting impact you've had on Asian adults and children living in Australia, leaving them with painful memories.

While we won't be returning, I sincerely hope you treat other Asians with the respect they deserve in the future. ‐--------------------------------------------------------- I thought the staff would say that to you. I know that can happen because it is a very busy cafe. However, what my family and I felt was different from that of the staff being busy and exhausted. All other staff were kind. Only the staff will know the truth. Anyway, I thought you would apologize for making us have an unpleasant experience, but since you were busy and we were intrusive, the staff glared at me from behind and blamed us for being angry, so I have...

The best days of Hounslow seem to be when it opened, a year or so ago. It was a fresh easterly breeze off the Tasman Sea, heralding the advent of spring. But since then—like a NFT that’s been pumped & dumped by private-school dropkicks in tailored suits with old school ties—the overall customer experience has fallen precipitously.

Unfortunately, service quality has never matched food quality (which is high & price-matched). Even in the beginning. Keep in mind that there’s plenty of other La Marzoccos in Blackheath with good baristas, friendlier vibes, & more competitive pricing.

A few observations on the service:

The owner of Hounslow grinds coffee beans using the wrong settings, so buy your ground coffee to take home elsewhere. Coffee orders get messed-up too often, especially during busy times. What’s worse is that I’ve seen customers get told they didn’t order what they ordered. Staff-turnover is high. The ones that stick it out appear stressed & unhappy underneath a thin veneer of welcome. I suspect that this isn’t a happy work environment for them. Does the owner discourage staff from friendly chit-chat with customers?

It’s sad that a place with great food & fantastic potential feels like a bitter sou-wester that’s pummelling you with Antarctic air, when you want a warm, cosy nook to...

I really wanted to like this place. Our accommodation recommended it, and it shares a name with the (admittedly terrible) town my family lives in back in the motherland.

I should've known something was off when I tried to order, and the lady at the counter said, "You’ll have to wait to order until the chef comes back; she’s on her break." If you’re a café serving lunch, having your chef take a break at lunchtime seems like a bad idea.

Anyway, I wanted to like Hounslow, so I said, "No problem, cool, no rush. We’ll just have drinks and wait." When the chef finally came back and we ordered, I asked for a plain cheese toastie for one of the kids, who’s super fussy. I was happy to pay for one of the toasties on the menu, just without everything except the cheese. The response? "No, we can’t do that; it’s all pre-made." It was pretty frustrating to wait 15 minutes for a chef who couldn’t take the mushrooms out of a toastie before cooking it.

So, two stars. One for the coffee (which was good!) and one for making us go next door to The Victory Cafe to eat (which...