Dark Arts Cafe & Bar — Restaurant in New South Wales

I had such high hopes for this place. Inspired interior, unique aesthetic, and enticing vegan/gf options. I was so incredibly let down. Earlier in the day, a vegan friend of mine ordered a soy latte and was made sick by the dairy milk and heapings of sugar added to his order.

Later that evening, excited by a generous and exciting selection of vegan and gluten free options, we decided to head there for dinner. The waiting staff were attentive. My mother ordered the "chef's special" seafood, which (and perhaps I didn't get the joke), was all imported canned fish. When the first of our 5 meals arrived, hard plastic was found in the pizza, and we received an apology and offer of a free drink. When the second lot of meals arrived, the first well tucked into already, we received the wrong salad (a vegan one was ordered and we received chorizo), and I had to bring this to the main counter to have amended. We were still waiting for my mother's order as the other meals were finished, so I decided to cancel it. Upon advising this, I learned her order hadn't been recorded at all.

One of the staff offered to prepare her canned sardine meal for her then (all other meals were finished), on the house, and feeling embarrassed and put on the spot she quietly smiled an agreement. She didn't understand her order hadn't been taken in the first place, and thought it was just being served now. I approached the counter a second time to cancel it. Otherwise, the wait staff were conspicuously avoiding us at this point.

We still paid the full price of nearly $90 for the experience and my mother, the most excited for the meal, left hungry.

I would like to make a special mention however, of the bartender with the long hair, donning the Led Zeppelin shirt, who listened attentively, and goodnaturedly acknowledged my disheartedness on both occasions I explained...

Wanted to share my experience to inform others. Today I ordered the Vegan Burger (with BBQ pulled jackfruit, house slaw, vegan aioli). Upon first bite my mouth was overcome with a powerful burning sensation, not of radiant heat but spice induced. Most likely chilli. As a person with a dietry requirment to exclude chilli as it induces inflamation and discomfort to my body, I could not eat this meal. Upon my request to simply exchange the dish for a different item, the manager came to speak with me. He explained their own kitchen did not add chilli and thus the meal was as desribed and would not exchange nor refund the purchase. However clearly, at some stage in the preparation of the dish, chilli had been added. Not directly by the kitchen but somewhere in the food processing chain or their supplier of processed goods. Thus the grounds of my complaint as a consumer is that there was no way for myself to know that I could not order the dish chosen. Not by the listed menu ingredients, nor general description of what the dish would be (many restaurants will denote "hot" or "spicy" to certain dishes). I had to cop the $20 loss on the chin and sadly leave disgruntled and... feeling almost cheated. The manager is just doing as he is told from higher up / owners. This store policy leaves one begging... how much $$$ must YOU waste and be at loss for, until you luck on to one dish that meets your dietary requriements (and then be hopeful it is to your palate liking). For all you know, they could ALL contain chilli.

5 stars for coffee + 1 star customer service policy /2 =...

There was a time few months ago, when I could walk into Dark Arts, sit down anywhere and within seconds I would be offered a glass of water, menu and a smile. Today, there's a sign at the main entrance encouraging the public to enter, occupy a table with a promise of attention "soon". The word "soon" in my dictionary is less than 5 minutes. It didn't happen, and the ordering had to take place at the counter. Dark Arts seemed understaffed and while there may be legitimate business reasons for this, cost savings at the expense of customer service is a double edged sword in the hospitality industry. The eggs Benedict I ordered was fine, reasonably priced. The coffee provided lacked the richness and "dark magic" that made this place unique in the mediocre tsunami of cafees the North Coast offers. The table cutlery holder haven't had enough cutlery and napkins, the chef acting as the server (another victim of cost savings) didn't worry too much about checking if I needed a fork to use for my Benedict or if I would have liked a glass of water. ( On a personal note, I dislike the idea of the "hipster laziness" of the cutlery holder on the table which has penetrated most establishments. The care of servers placing the required silverware on the table is an opportunity to engage with a customer and enhance their experience. ) Overall I would be disappointed if a brand like Dark Arts would drop the ball in the long term. We have plenty of other uninspired places to go in...