Botanic Gardens Cafe — Restaurant in Brisbane City

Never again. It went from bad to worse. Ice cream was my only desired purchase. And it never happened - why? Let me walk you through what happened. I entered the cafe area and noticed the ice cream station towards the front, heading straight there, I saw stickers on the floor saying “wait here for ice cream”, so naturally, that’s what I did. I was about fourth in the queue at this time, and I noticed people being served and the very slow ice cream server pointing people to a distant location, which I gauged was where they were to pay for their ice creams. It was fair to assume that that’s how things worked here…. Little did I know. As the next in line, I stepped forward to the front of the ice cream station, only to watch the server disappear and walk out into the main cafe with plates of sandwiches. Leaving me wondering what on earth had just happened. There were around three other staff in the nearby vicinity, all apparently more intent on keeping their eyes down and cleaning than serving. Behind me the queue was getting longer and longer. Many of us were standing there in disbelief, wondering what on earth was going on. Even when an owner or manager appeared to come tidy things up in the immediate area, no one was able to produce even a single scoop of ice cream in this missing servers stead. Apparently, it must not be in their job descriptions (assuming that ice cream scooping skills are somewhat scarce these days) and as a result we were all standing there for more than five minutes, I assure you. It felt closer to ten. Eventually the slow and disinterested server returned and asked who was next, I put my hand up, and was asked for a ticket, when I replied with “what ticket?”, I was told that I had to have a ticket to be served. The blank look on his disinterested face told me that he was not going to serve me. So I refused to waste any more of my time, and left. There was absolutely no urgency or helpfulness from the staff at this location. If it was my Cafe, I would be highly embarrassed to know that this is how my staff reflected me. Now, I’m not one to criticise without providing a solution. So I shall offer two. The owner would be better off installing a ticket vending machine at the beginning of the line, or stickering the cabinets with the appropriate course of action. An attitude adjustment from the staff wouldn’t go...

A CATERING outfit that also operates a cafe at Brisbane’s Botanical Gardens at Mt Cootha has gone bust, blaming problems with a Commonwealth Games contract.

Zen Morris, which trades as Zen Catering, had liquidators from SV Partners appointed by its director this week after attempts to sell the business fell apart at the 11th hour.

It had provided catering to some venues and also ran the cafe at the bottom of Mt Cootha in the gardens. Staff have been dismissed due to the liquidation.

SV Partners’ Jason Cronan said they were speaking with interested parties about taking over the cafe, although anyone with an eye for the facility could also contact them.

The amount owed to creditors is not yet clear, but those owed money include the Australian Taxation Office, a lender, employees and suppliers.

Pressure seems to have mounted on the company since November, with Supreme Court records indicating that Coca-Cola Amatil and a wholesale food distributor had taken debt recovery action against Zen Morris.

While SV Partners is yet to conduct its own investigations, Mr Cronan said the director had informed them that problems for the company stemmed from “financial losses (incurred) as a result of the Commonwealth Games”.

A source who worked at the company said it had supplied food to the public and athletes.

Zen Morris’s sole director and shareholder is Stephen Morris, 47.

While Zen Catering lists businesses it provides services to as including Brisbane’s Powerhouse, it is understood that other entities in its group may provide such...

Thursday Jan 3, 2019 My wife and I, together with two grandchildren arrived at the Botanic Garden Cafe. We had exactly one and a half hours before our appointed event time at the Planetarium. After joining a queue of only 5 people, we ordered and paid for two(2) adult French Toast with grilled bacon, caramelised banana, ice cream & coffee infused maple syrup then ordered the same Childrens French Toast for our two (2) grandchildren; plus 2 Ice Coffees and 2 soft drinks. An order that could be prepared and served in 10 minutes or less. After waiting 35 minutes, I expressed my displeasure to a supervisor, who stated that our order would be delivered within 8 minutes. Fifteen minutes passed, when the two ice-coffees were served. Three minutes later our order was delivered. The French Toast was a doughy bread and not toasted. I have worked in the hospitality industry myself and have always given excellent service to customers. I was extremely disappointed at the lack of customer service by the Botanic Garden Cafe; but even more frustrated by the lack of cooking skills of the chef and the low standard of food preparation. After reading other reviews of this establishment, I can guarantee that we will never eat there again. As a side note: That evening we ate at a McDonalds Restaurant. We ordered full and varied meals on a touch-screen, paid for it and it was delivered to our table in 5 minutes. And, it was cooked to perfection. The Botanic Garden Cafe has a very long way to go before it could...