Let Minnow Cafe — Restaurant in Brisbane City

*Edit - Jules, the owner, has been very compensating and apologetic. Upgraded to a 3 star. Will review again if we return.

In today for our Mothers Day breakfast, expecting it to be busy but not expecting the service we received.

We requested a booking a week ago and was given the 9:45 time slot. This time didn't work for our 12 person group, so we decided not to proceed. We were then offered 9:15, which worked, so this time was booked in. We were then charged $180 deposit to hold the table..

Our whole group arrived at 9:10. We waited outside in light rain, slowly making our way closer to the door. In total, we waited 45 minutes to be seated from our 9:15 booking time.

Once we were waiting inside, we were informed that they didn't have a table for us and had overbooked, but they were trying to sort something out... Someone from our group let Micole know that we needed to leave by 10:30. Micole rudely responded, "I don't have time for you right now!"

Eventually, we were seated at 10 am. (9:15 booking). The table was at the very end of the shops awning, and they added a small kids like table to the end of it. We had 5 people sitting at a table that you would expect to see 2 people sitting at. 6 of our group, including two children under 5, were sitting in the rain. We used all of the tables napkins to dry our seats and tables before the food had arrived.

We ordered 12 meals and 11 drinks totalling $369.68.

Our meals arrived between 10:20 &10:30 but still no drinks. 1x eggs Benedict came out missing all the garnish and spinach. This might seem like no big deal, but you eat with your eyes It looked extremely boring and lacking colour with nothing to cleanse the palate. This meal was credited to us with no pushback, so credit there.

When we asked about our drinks, it seemed as if they had been forgotten. We then requested that they be put in takeaway cups.

The minute the drinks were received, we were told they needed our table and asked us to leave. We had been seated for exactly 1 hour. As we were already behind schedule, we left without fuss but did mention that our drinks had only just been delivered. We were then told there was an issue with the machine causing the delay. However, the kids' orange juice and milkshake were the last to be received. The milkshake was also warm as if the milk was left on the bench for an hour.

The kids' pancake meal is not pancake(s) it was 1 very thin, almost crepe thin pancake. It also says mixed berries. They came with 2 strawberries.

I have never been pushed off a table so quickly in my life. This experience felt extremely unwelcoming.

Overall, the food was ok, not blown away, especially for the price. We paid a premium price just to be left standing there like idiots  for 45 minutes and had to sit and eat in the rain.

The wait staff we great and did their best. Micole was unnecessary rude to my sister-in-law.

This, to me, felt like a classic case of making as much money as you can at the expense of the customers.

The cafe had far too many extra tables out. If I were a pedestrian trying to walk on the footpath, I would have been very annoyed.

We...

I found myself visiting this small cafe for a quick catch up with my grandparents. I have been here many times over the years as it’s close to me and convenient but this time was the first time going since it got new owners… again! I was disappointed to say the least. We walked in and sat at a table in the middle of the cafe, and there were easily 15-20 flys swarming us that we continued to try and swat away for the next hour. As I read the menu hoping to find something vegan I came across vegan corn fritters, excited I ordered them. As another long 10 minutes of swatting flies pasted, the waiter returned to tell me the corn fritters weren’t vegan even though the menu clearly stated they were. So I opted for the avocado on toast, my only other option. This was not the only mistake on the menu - they listed mesclun as “mescaline” which is a hallucinogenic mushroom. My grandmother, also disappointed in her experience at Let Minnow, ordered a gin and tonic with the choice of 3 gins. She took her pick and once again the waiter returned to tell us she didn’t have any gin left, eventually she came back with the gin and tonic… however it was a gin and soda water. They also didn’t have what my grandfather ordered so yet again we were left trying to find something else he could eat. After an hour we could not stand the rancid smell coming from the kitchen or the number of flies swarming us, so we decided it was time to leave. Overall this was a horrible experience at an unhygienic and overpriced place. I would save your money and your time and find somewhere else to eat.

Edit: Given i could not reply to your response I would like to clarify that your chef literally told the waiter he puts egg in your corn fritters, therefore they are NOT vegan. I ordered toast with avocado as I found multiple mistakes on your menu with only vegetarian options, given I DID NOT trust that anyone even knew what they were putting in the food. On top of that your waiter came to us and gave us 3 options for gin so if you guys do not have multiple options I am unsure why your staff would lie. I do understand living in QLD during summer, flies are always around however the amount swarming your cafe was absolutely disgusting and frankly unprofessional. You might need to take a step back and really look into the cleanliness of your establishment if you genuinely believe it is one of the “cleanest” cafes in “all of brisbane”. The smell coming from the kitchen was absolutely foul and made me and the rest of the people I was with sick to our stomachs. To end, reviews are individuals experiences and if you would like to sit there and say that my review is based on false information that is fine by me but why would I bother wasting my time to leave a bad review if I had a...

We went to this cafe on a Saturday mid-morning (peak hour). The menu had several interesting choices but is very limited for anyone who does not eat bread or eggs.

The cafe was extremely busy and whilst it had a nice cosmopolitan vibe the cafe staff just couldn’t keep up with the demand of patrons.

We ordered 6 meals and they did not arrive on time. Three arrived after about 25 mins and the 4and 5th ones arrived about 10 mins later but we had to ask for the 6th meal which had been forgotten altogether. One meal that was delivered to us was in fact incorrect and was taken away after our friend had already started eating.

It made him feel uncomfortable and awkward and it generally just came across that staff were simply too young and inexperienced to be able to cope with high turnover and so much demand.

I wish I could have given this cafe a higher rating but based on our experience a 3 is almost generous. The large coffee comes in a huge mug and was top notch value. The kids menu is diverse but orange pancakes were a no-no. They don’t have a plain pancake option for kids which made me wonder if the person planning the menu even has children of their own. I don’t know many young kids who would eat pancakes with orange rind!

I think this cafe is quaint and has so much to offer especially on a quieter day when floor and kitchen staff could hopefully cope better under stress.

It’s a lovely coffee cafe addition to clayfield but I would suggest that the cafe owners remove about 20% of their tables in house and focus on better and more consistent quality of service rather than under delivering to a bigger group of customers when the venue feels so loud, cramped and overwhelmed.

Hope you have a better trip. A week day should be much better since the food itself seemed reasonable in quality.

I will however add that one of the family members at our table got horribly sick immediately after having breakfast there and was perfectly healthy before arriving at the cafe. I have no idea if it was the food? It seems likely but the rest of us were fine.

Some improvements could definitely be made. Best of luck to cafe owners. It would be nice to see this cafe succeed with a bit more hard work and focus on customer’s...