J's on the deck — Restaurant in New South Wales

I came here with my bf, ordered the chicken ceasar salad and smashed avocado on toast and cappuccino; the cappuccino was bitter and so strong, even after asking for some warm milk to weaken it, it was still terribly bitter - as an ex barista I know that they are not cleaning the filter properly between coffees so granules are getting trapped in there and the boiling water is going through the same trapped granules burning them multiple times, creating a bitter burnt taste - it was one of the worst coffees I’ve had that left me with heart burn afterwards; then after waiting 20 minutes for a simple ceasar salad and smashed avo toast, and seeing people having their burgers and fries brought out, people who ordered after us, I decided to see what the hold up was - they had forgotten to put the order through to the cooks in the kitchen! So we waited another 20 + minutes for it to come out (40 mins and counting) at which point I had begun to get sunburnt. The smashed avocado looked ok, but at $19 I thought it was ridiculously overpriced; my chicken ceasar was subpar at best and way over priced at $20…literally a plate of lettuce with a few fatty bits of bacon and the chicken was dripping with oil and fat from the fryer and there was so much dressing on the lettuce (which was swimming in dressing) it made me feel sick as did the oil from the chicken which the lettuce was covered with; it was worth no more than $15 max! it was disgusting that they were charging $20, it was soooo not worth that much it was honestly the worst chicken ceasar salad I’ve ever had! Then there was the terrible service! Grumpy teen waitresses who were getting massively defensive with me over the forgotten orders (which I was so cool about, I never said a thing, I said it was all good, that I was simply curious as to how long our food would be and was being as nice as I could but still received dirty looks from the waitresses) - when they eventually brought the salad out I looked at it disappointedly and thought god I hope this tastes better than it looks (it did not) when I asked where the bacon was she rudely replied that it was underneath the chicken - I then asked if I could have some salt and pepper, she huffed, walked away and when she returned with the salt and pepper grinders she aggressively slammed them both down on the table and then rudely said, here you go, rolling her eyes. when I asked for the milk cos the coffee was bitter, the other waitress/“barista” defensively said that I had ordered the large which has three shots (never have I ever known a large to have three, it usually has two and an extra large has three) she said to me that I should have known it comes with three, but she would give me the milk at no extra charge this time, but I should be more careful checking the size and how many shots were in it next time! - honey not only is that Incredibly rude to blame a customer for that (she should have said there were three in it when I ordered the large, any one with good customer service skills would do that), but there ain’t going to be a next time after all this! I know for a fact that they were not cleaning the filter out properly as I was a barista for many years and I know by taste what people are and aren’t doing with their coffee making techniques (I also used to teach/train proper barista technique so you can’t pull the wool over my eyes) - from simply tasting a coffee I can tell how it’s been made and what’s been done incorrectly - having a coffee with 3 shots does not equate to bitterness ( which she was incorrectly claiming) you should be able to have three and it be smooth and creamy, it was bitter and burnt tasting cos they were burning the coffee granules multiple times from improper cleaning between coffees (shots) - I wanted to warn others of the rudeness we faced, the horrible service and terrible over priced food - do yourself a favour go somewhere else where you’ll be satisfied that the $60 odd dollars you paid for lunch is satisfying enough to justify the hefty price!...

Was meeting a couple of friends of breakfast here last week and was very annoyed at how I was treated. My partner and I went in first to see if there was at table for 4, our friends would be arriving any time as they live in the apartments on the next block. We were told to wait outside so the table could be sanitised and made ready for us. The wait person's words were, I will reserve this for you. So went outside to wait with my partner, and not 5 minutes later a group of 4 people who had just walked in were seated at the table. There was absolutely no communication with us to see if we still required the table. I went back in to ask what had happened to the table they were preparing for us, and was told that tables cannot be reserved due to customers not turning up, here we were waiting outside so they could have sat us down until our friends turned up. I told the waitperson I was very upset and was told not to shout, if she thought that was shouting she hasn't heard me shout. She went to get the manager who then proceeded to tell me the same thing over again, that they did not reserve tables as people did not show up. Then the whole wait staff in the cafe joined her to tell me the same thing again. I have been a customer at this cafe for a couple of decades at least with its various owners and management, but I will not be going back. When my friends turned up a few minutes later we went elsewhere, and one of my friends told me she was surprised when I suggested eating there, as she had heard bad reviews, but she wanted to give me the benefit of the doubt. I know these are tough times for cafe and restaurant owners, but alienating your customers is not the way to go about running a...

Situated on the popular main drag of Shellharbour Village we came to grab some burgers at this unassuming cafe as they were one of only a few establishments still serving food after 2pm on the Saturday we visited.

The gentlemen who greeted us, who I assume is also the owner, was friendly and accomodating and explained the walk up and pay arrangement for getting our orders sorted. He was also very nice in allowing our little fur baby to be welcomed on the deck area which is always appreciate by dog lovers.

We decided on some burgers all round and ordered the Crispy Chicken, Beef and Beetroot and an American Cheese. We also decided to wash down our burgers with a banana and a mixed berry smoothie.

The smoothies came out first and were made with real fruit and the serving size is admirable! Definitely brain freeze territory getting those puppies finished off.

The burgers arrived a short time later and looked great. They all had very distinct and individual flavour profiles and were made with fresh ingredients. The meat Pattie’s on the beef burgers were cooked perfectly with just the smallest touch of pink in the centre.

The chicken burger was really lovely with some great umami flavours thanks to the kimchi slaw and Asian mayo.

We grabbed some fries for two of the burgers for an additional $4 surcharge. They had a really nice seasoning on them. Only a very small observation that the quantity of the fries was probably a little on the small side.

The ambiance is cool casual dining and only disturbed occasionally by the dudes in their hotted up cars doing weekend laps of the Main Street.

All in all a great experience, worth dropping by for a...