Cafe On the Bay — Restaurant in Nelson Bay

THE WORST CAFE I HAVE EVER BEEN TO!!!!!! Let me tell you about my experience at this awful place!!!! Myself and my partner ordered our breakfast which took 1/2 hour to half come out (including my coffee) however that wasn't the entire problem or even the beginning. As we sat there waiting for our breakfasts we watch the Brewster lady (kiwi lady) being sooooo RUDE to her take away customers. So many were there waiting patiently for their coffees and when they approached she answered them so RUDELY!!!! I get everyone has a bad day but this woman shouldnt even be in a job!!!! The first lady she was rude to was appalling. When the lady asked her where her coffee was as she'd be waiting 20 mins, she replied back saying "Who What and i don't know where your order is can you stand back and wait your turn".... I was appalled. THe customer was so embarrassed as she was spoken to so abruptly. About 10 mins later an Asian woman who was a tourist who struggled with her english ordered a coffee. Because she was standing infron of the coffee machine, the Kiwi worker told her to move away from the front of her and to wait to the side where everyone was waiting. Embarrassed she moved to the side. She too waited for at least 15mins. She had to go on a Whale watch cruise and tried to explain this to the Brewster lady but the lady wouldn't have it. She kept either ignoring her or telling to move to the side and that she had to be patient. Seeing this repeatedly my partner and i couldn't believe our eyes and so my partner approached the Brewster lady to tell her to not be so rude to this lady and all the customers. AS he did this, the OWNER of the restaurant (who refused to give us his name) came charging out at my partner and started to tell him off because he stood up for the customer/s. Without even hearing what he was trying to do, he ubrubtly told us to sit down and eat our food and GET OUT! I got up and demanded a refund as i wasn't going to consume food (Scones and a coffee that i waited for 45mins and still hadn't received my partners big breakfast as what we ordered) however he demanded to his staff not to give us our money back. He said that he is not refunding us the money that food has already been served. When we said that my partner still hadn't received his big breakfast, it was the only thing he refunded. I however didn't touch the Scones nor the coffee however i managed out of anger to squash the scones and walk out. I was disgusted on how this restaurant functioned. With an owner like this, you would never ever want to eat anything there. IF he feels that it's acceptable for his staff (brewster lady) to treat customers like this is the worst rudely mannered way that i have ever seen in my life, knowing the fact that his business purely rely's on tourism, then i am begging you all not to bother going there and supporting this business because it is NOT ALRIGHT TO TREAT CUSTOMERS LIKE THIS!!!! We make your business!!!!! I understand you can come across some impatient customers, however the way you have treated us and us witnessing how you treated other customers, then you do not deserve to be in business!!!! After that experience we went across the road to the cafe at the the Nelson Towers Motel and let me assure you that although they didn't have the as big of a menu as your business did, the staff were amazing and very accommading and definately not RUDE!!!!!!! I hope when i'm in the area next time i see that your business is either under "New management" or a big "For Sale sign" is up!!! I also have video footages of the rudeness that we...

Un. Be. Lievable.

It's a long held theory that in holiday towns such as Nelson Bay, the closer you get to the water, the lower the standard of restaurant or cafe. Never has this been more starkly illustrated than by our group of four's breakfast visit this morning to "Cafe on the Bay". Allow me to explain...

Firstly, the good. The coffee was actually OK. That's about it.

Now for the bad.

Once you work out how to find a menu, order and pre-pay at the counter, you are given a number for your table. These numbers represent a mental challenge for the wait staff as they need to negotiate the entire place with plates of food trying to find "table 50" which is over in the corner, and the last place they look. You get to see your breakfast take a tour of the cafe before landing on your table, after being offered to numerous other tables first.

The meals came out one at a time, with varying time lapses between each. Two minutes between first and second. Twenty minutes between second and third. The fourth never showed up so I assume it's still sitting in the kitchen somewhere.

Other highlights include: items missing from orders, undelivered drinks, and one salt shaker to share between about 30 tables.

When we approached the proprietor to ask for a refund for the undelivered meal, it was declined by virtue of the fact that the meal was actually ready, but had been sitting on the pass, that is not delivered to our table. Apparently, one out of four meals per table are self-service, an un-advertised feature of this place.

So, the next time you're enjoying a break in a holiday town and are looking for somewhere to breakfast, find the water, then turn 180 degrees and...

Noted Saturday breakfasts can be busy time and needs to be staffed accordingly. Restaurants timely service and good product to clients in reasonable time, ensures restaurant survivability. Simplistically this process chain is CORE to restaurants reputation. Our experience this morning. My wife and I had a table and menus in good time and selected breakfast. The patrons then had to go to counter order and pay. Getting orders logged quickly and receiving revenue one aspect of how businesses survive. One of the most important roles and window to the customer is this role of taking orders. That person also determines the tempo of rest of delivered service of the remaining restaurant process. There was a junior person in the role. It was actually painful to watch. The current person was doing anything but moving customers one. At one point they had head buried in till, went out back for a minute or so, then came back to order station, then some more activity, then decided to take an order. The queue of money paying patrons was 20 plus deep out the door and getting larger. Most people know it’s a seaside location and are happy to have a relaxed timeframe. BUT we were NOT going to wait 20 mins just to place an order. Why there was NOT two order stations there I will never know. So, we cannot comment on the food. This restaurant needs to fix the order taking process buy having experienced staff on that post and double the capacity especially...