Caffe Cherry Beans — Restaurant in District of Gungahlin

Extremely Disappointing Experience — Save Your Money

After fasting for a medical procedure, my mother and I were really looking forward to a comforting coffee and a slice of buttery, spiced raisin toast — something simple but satisfying to start the day. Unfortunately, what we received was far from that.

To be fair, the staff were polite and the service was quick — no complaints there. But sadly, the food and coffee didn’t live up to even basic expectations.

We were served two barely toasted slices of what tasted like plain bread with a few sultanas scattered through — definitely not the rich, spiced café-style raisin toast most people would expect. It came with three small butter packets, and surprisingly, not even a sprinkle of cinnamon sugar to add any flavour.

The coffee? Honestly, it was the worst I’ve ever tasted — and I’ve tolerated some bad coffee in my time. It had an old, burnt, almost dirty aftertaste, as though it had been sitting on a stove far too long. My mother and I quietly agreed we couldn’t drink it — after just a couple of sips, we gave up.

We sat there debating what to do, torn between being polite and honest. But for the first time in our lives, we both stood up, left our barely touched food and coffee on the table, and walked out. It was that bad.

Later, a family member mentioned that locals apparently avoid this place due to the consistently poor quality. I only wish we’d known sooner.

Do yourself a favour — save your money, your time, and your taste buds. There are much better...

made an online order two weeks ago for Caffe Cherry beans' chicken parm for me and my partner. The package was filled with a perfectly cooked chicken with a red "Napolitana sauce" and a sad amount of cheese. The first thing you can taste as you take your first bite is the familiar flavour of warmed ketchup. Sweet, pungent and definitely not Napolitana sauce. The chicken has almost no flavour because the sauce is so thick and disgusting it leaves you almost dumbfounded that they allowed this out the door. To top it all off they left their salad directly beneath the chicken so it turned to a withered and soggy slop. The chips were the best part because they were easily recognised as the cheap Woolworths brand chips so they couldn't have possibly messed that one up. I have no doubt that the employees working here are amazing people for having to deal with the bonkers decisions that management made for them. +2 stars for the underpaid and over worked employees. The owner should be ashamed of themself for cheapening their ingredients and still charging...

I’ve never had a hot chocolate this bad before. I didn’t request any alternative milk, which typically means full cream milk should be used by default. However, I’m fairly certain skim milk was used I even saw it on the counter, and the taste confirmed it. This was honestly the worst hot chocolate I’ve ever had. Cherry Beans has always been one of my favourite cafes, especially the South Erindale location, and I’ve visited most branches across Canberra. But this particular experience was by far the worst. Just look at the pictures it’s clear from the presentation alone. I know that some cherry beans cafés use quality chocolate like Lindt for their hot chocolate, but this tasted more like a cheap Woolies or Coles home brand mix, which, as we all know, isn’t great. If that’s what’s being served, it makes no sense to pay $10 at a café for something that tastes so poor. I have called cafe few minutes later to give review...