Harbour Lights Cafe — Restaurant in Hobart

I had an unfortunate time at the Harbour Lights Cafe today. I want to start by saying that I am an easygoing and usually grateful client. I love to take my time while travelling and I am not often in a hurry. I have also worked in customer service all my adulthood and I am one of those who firmly believes the customer is not necessarly always right. I went into the cafe to have breakfast and a coffee. So far so good. Placed ny order, waited patiently while enjoying my book. Breakfast came, still waiting for my coffee. I usually like to wait for my drinks to start eating. 5 minutes after receiving my plate, still no coffee. I inquire with the server, it's on the way. 10 minutes, still no coffee. I inquire, it should be here anytime. I took a bite at half of a bagel because by now it had been 45 minutes since I had arrived and I was starving. 15 minutes after receiving my order I still have not received my coffee and I see another table asking for their bill because they had finished their meals without having received their coffees. I decide that I wanted to enjoy my coffee somewhere else. I kindly approach the server and say that I want to cancel my order (without having touched my breakfast other than 1 bite from the bagel) and leave. What happened next blew my mind. I was walking down the street about 200 meters from the place and I see someone running towards me. One of the severs is asking me to pay my bill (humilliating me in front of 30+ tourists), yelling how unaceptable it was from me to have left without paying. I gave her 20$ and she walked away. What I thought was going to be a good place to start my day ended up as one of the worse customer service experiences I've...

Staff were nice until I had an extremely bizarre experience right when I was leaving. A waitress tripped up the spiral staircase (they are not safe) while carrying up a tray of coffees. I had just finished my breakfast and I was putting in my coat to leave when the coffees landed all over my head and clothes. I was covered in warm coffee and catching the ferry to Mona in 15 minutes…

I felt very sorry for the poor worker who tripped. That would have been awful. But I received no help. Other than being handed a tea towel and one worker saying “sorry about that”, that was it. I was embarrassed and left to feel like I was no longer a paying customer, as I had paid, eaten and about to leave.

I had flown in from Melbourne early that morning, therefore I had packed lightly for two nights away. I could not change my clothes or wash my hair, and we had the catch the ferry.

I stood there wiping my face, hair, hands, clothes, scarf and shoes for minutes. It got to the point where I realised no one was going to acknowledge me or the situation, so we left. I became upset outside realising what had happened and that I would smell like coffee and most likely off milk for the whole day.

For a very unfortunate event for all involved, it could have been handled a lot better. I completely understand that it was an accident and these things happen. But to receive a poor apology and not asked if I was ok or anything, that was rough. Instead I left covered in coffee with crusty hair, a stained jacket and my half drank coffee with another customers coffee spilled...

The logistics of the place are bonkers. I wanted the scallop pie because....we're in Tassie. But the order taker had to ask the kitchen if the lunch menu was ready. They said no. But they had the pie, so I could have the pie on its own. But 1 minute later they said lunch was ready, and they asked me what I wanted it with. I said chips. The drinks arrived very quickly, but the food took an eternity to arrive, or rather not arrive. For my partner I ordered the salmon egg with hashbrown and halloumi. But there was no hashbrown, which btw the menu says '2'. When I chased it up, one arrived. I had a bowl of chips on its own with a sickly sweet beige-pink sauce. But no pie. I chased it up, and it arrived quite a while later, looking like the cheapest kind of 'pie' you find in the cheapest chip shop in a poor neighbourhood. The curry sauce, described as 'light', was sickly sweet, and reminded me of the kind of Homepride 'curry sauce' from the 70's. It took me 3 bites - first one hot; second one cold; third one warm, to encounter a scallop. By that time I wondered at its raison d'etre in the pie - what is it doing there? does it make a difference? But then I was so deep in the sickly despair of the sauce I really couldn't answer. Needless to say I am not at all impressed by the place. How can they have so many servers and yet such glacial service? Of course your drink is either drunk or cold by the time your food arrives. The breakfast seems to be ok. But the pie is frankly an...