Cranky Cafe — Restaurant in Merimbula

Have been a return customer to Crankys over the years but this year this once great little Cafe has had its day. No more table service, no atmosphere, over priced food in takeaway containers - and yes I get the restrictions with COVID but seems other cafes and establishments (eg MorMors, Nosh & Dulcies) in Merimbula have adapted and can still provide excellent table service and fantastic customer service. Unfortunately today I experienced its namesake in a man working there, whom I asked for table water to fill a dog bowl while we had lunch (yes I decided it was worth giving this place another shot). The man launched into a tirade about why he can't give out tap water (council restrictions apparently on this side of town) & instead told us we could buy some With sarcasm he told us we could buy the water at the front of the cafe or otherwise he could give us the same bottled water he stored in the fridge at the back. As we stood looking at the menu dumbfounded at his terse response he opted to bring in yet another staff member to the conversation, which was all one way at this point, to serve us up with a second healthy dose around the water issue but with more emphasis on customers unreasonably complaining about it (note: we had not made any complaint). Clearly the man was not in a savoury mood and to save further embarrassing himself in front of all his customers we left the cafe (whilst he bemoaned our departure) and went next door to Fishpen Takeaway, where we were met with a polite customer service team...

Decided to stop in for lunch based on Google reviews of competing, like-for-like cafes and boy are we glad we did. The menu items were more accessible using Google menu tab when viewing online, otherwise there's quite a vast menu to take in as they're written on various boards around the shop front. Easy enough either way though. Busy cafe, plenty of people enjoying what looked to be great food. Friendly staff made ordering easy. It's a"grab a table and head on up when you're ready to order" type of cafe - very casual. Ordered the flake fish and chips as well as the crispy chicken burger, along with coffees and a spider for the young one. Wow! The serves were impressive, as too the quality of the food. The crispy chicken burger had to be one of the best I've ever had. The bun was beautiful. Freshly prepared, super crispy, moist chicken and the chips were cooked beautifully. The flake fish and chips also a delight - that's how you batter fish! Light, crispy and fish cooked just right. Coffees were nice. Was easy to see why it gets as many customers as they do. Would I go back again? absolutely. Compliments to these guys, everything...

So much to love about this place, located on the beach, produces in house bakery goods and focus on a helping the environment. But being in hospitality myself for many years customer service is everything and unfortunately it’s just not there in my opinion. After being there multiple times during our stay in Merimbula I just can’t understand how simple drink orders can’t be delivered the way we requested. 1/2 strength being full, oat milk being dairy and order numbers not being right and then having the staff saying “I don’t know I don’t make them”in a very stressful rude way when you ask is this actually number 11. The first day we ordered earlier in our stay I could not fault it, coffee orders were as requested and was greeted with a friendly smile and great service by one of your young girls. I feel when things get a little busy, this go backwards and this can easily be rectified by simple steps by the person taking orders. As mentioned customer service must be your number one priority and staff rudeness is completely unacceptable and this is why I’ve given...