Cafe B2B Barrister To Barista By Jaffa — Restaurant in Melbourne

EDITED WITH RESPONSE TO OWNER’S REPLY:

I have been to this cafe numerous times before as it used to be one of my favourite cafes in Werribee. I made a reservation online for 4 people the day before.

Man, I so needed this experience to be a good one. It was a rough morning and my husband decided to stay home with our 4 month old son to give me a break.

We arrived and waited for probably 20mins after being seated before we were even acknowledged by a waitress. The music was so loud the waitress struggled to hear us ( happened with the people behind us as well).

Before our food arrived we were asked to move to a smaller table “because half our party didn’t arrive and they have other reservations”. Now I get that it makes sense to have a smaller group on a smaller table but, there were ample open tables available inside and outside so didn’t see why we had to be moved there and then…

We were moved to this little small table right next to us. Now we were cramped onto this small little table which didn’t have enough space for everything so we had to park the glass water bottle and glasses on the now EMPTY table we were seated at originally. When the food arrived it was barely average. Egg whites and fritters were undercooked.

When I went to pay the bill I was asked how the food was. The staff member didn’t seem to care much when I said the food was ‘alright’. I guess ‘alright’ is good enough for them.

I am all for supporting small businesses but come on, you have to do better than this. I don’t think this cafe will really care much or take too much notice when I say that I won’t be back.

Response from the owner 26 minutes ago Thanks for taking out your precious time to write the review.

Firstly you are the only table who felt what you felt.

We don’t think that you empathise enough with small businesses as if you have booked for 4-5 and only 2 people come in we do have to make space for the walk-in’s.

💙- as mentioned in my review, there were numerous other tables available.-💙

You were very rude with the staff by banging the cutlery while being served. But we love our customers and we respect them no matter what mood they could be in.

💙- I was most certainly not rude, I was trying to find space for the plates on the teeny table so I am sorry if the noise from moving the cutlery offended anyone. Didn’t speak to any staff member except when our order was eventually taken and when we were asked to move tables so I definitely was not rude to anyone -💙

We STRONGLY DISAGREE that you Waited 20 mins, rather not even 2 minutes.

💙- it was definitely 20mins after we seated until someone actually came around to take our order. -💙

Our customers are our life and we respect them and they are our family but treating the staff right and respectfully is very important too.

Being rude is never a solution for anything. We at no point agree that anyone was rude with you.

💙- I never said anyone was rude…? -💙

Sorry about music that we couldn’t be quiet like a library. 🙌🏻

💙- I am all for music but when your staff struggles to hear your customers it may be time to turn it down a notch. -💙

Lastly, you were served by the owner at the register and she specifically made a point to ask how the food was, the plates WERE EMPTY, which CLEARLY MEANS YOU ENJOYED THE MEALS..

💙- so the owner had nothing to say when the plates were returned with the uncooked pieces of eggwhite and pieces of bacon?- 💙

Wr are sure you were aware how busy the place was being house-full, still we all acknowledged and was trying to accommodate and giving your table personal attention.

Thanks you again for taking out your precious time to leave the comment and SHOWING YOUR SUPPORT.

Hope to serve you again one day.

💙- it’s very disappointing that you cannot take constructive criticism. You are only happy with the 5-star reviews yet you fight with your customers when they leave not so great reviews. Take ownership and stop putting the blame back on your customers. You want reviews but only when they...

So sad to see this cafe evolve over the last 4-6 months.

We used to go regularly to the cafe (5 times a week) before new owners took over and sadly watched as each of our favourite staff members left the cafe and were replaced with inexperienced, unfriendly and somewhat untrained staff. The menu is very good and we did not see a huge decline in the food but it was the SERVICE that declined dramatically. It is so disappointing to see new owners make changes that went to the heart of the culture/ vibe.

We drove here because of the service (and amazing coffee) - staff knew us and were warm and greeted us with the regular welcome and knowledge of our coffee orders as we walked in. The atmosphere was professional but friendly. I loved the “buy a coffee for someone in need” and really appreciated the community spirit it brought in and conversations we had. We would personally buy 2-5 coffees most weeks for those down on their luck…

After the new management, the community board was immediately removed (within 2 weeks), a 10% increase on weekend surcharge introduced and most of the regular servers replaced. Each week we saw new staff come in and our regular servers disappear. No one knew our coffee orders and when mistakes were made (which happened very regularly), there was no apology or care factor. We no longer got greeted warmly and the atmosphere was very different with the new staff. For a family bringing in over $300 a week to the cafe, it was very sad.

I hope the new owners have settled into the cafe (we gave it about 3-months before we went elsewhere) and understand that people attend cafes as regular customers because of the service just as much as the food. Inducting your new staff into the niceties of customer service is a huge part of the business and we hope that our comments...

Decided to have a quick breakfast this morning, unfortunately despite being there quite a few times, today was a sordid experience.

After being seated for a while I went in to ask for someone to take our order, we understand sometimes it can be busy. Our first issue was with the food however, the fluffy omelette we had with cheese and mushroom was incredibly salty in some areas and devoid of salt in others. We tried to sort of eat around it but eventually caved and decided it wasn't worth the salty surprise.

No matter, mistakes happen and I made one too, I didn't raise it immediately and therefore didn't give them the opportunity to make another one. I was running late and decided to just finish the other meal and leave.

Our main issue was when we went to pay, upon being asked how everything was I took the opportunity to tell them about how some areas of the omelette were very salty and I quote the response from the service member.

"But we don't put salt". In one fell swoop I was deflated.

I was asked if I wanted something else, I declined, paid the full amount (which didn't feel fair but is understandable).

If you're working front of house please leave the defensive comments to the end or for a combative customer, I can't know whether you put salt or not but for goodness sake, check with your chef first. I didn't argue, or ask for a discount so I don't think I deserved...