Absolute Cravings — Restaurant in Queensland

The Awesome Cravings Cafe - in the Botanical Gardens Townsville

✅ First the good points ~ there are only a few. The Cafe is dog friendly, child friendly, in a beautiful setting with outdoor veranda dining in a gorgeous old building.

Now for the ‘flip’ side.

❌ There was no one to meet and greet guests and show them to their table. ❌ The inside dining area was noisy with very poor acoustics. ❌ Sloppy table clearance was evident both inside and on the verandah. We counted at least 9 tables with left over plates, cutlery, drinks etc, when we arrived at 12:45. ❌ Waiter service was practically non existent and at best described as sullen.

The Food; The menu consisted of overpriced drinks and food. ❌ Food arrived before the drinks. $22 ~ $25 for a salmon on toast dish. (Poorly presented and showed a total lack of imagination). ❌ milkshakes $10.00 each (served with short thin paper straws) delivered well after we had eaten and delivered in a sullen manner with an excuse about being busy.

❌ The small amount of dry Salmon was placed on toast best described as very ordinary, store bought sandwich bread.

❌ It had a smear of cheese spread which lacked any form of potency and failed to counter the dryness of the toast and the fish.

❌ When we left at 1:30 only a couple of tables had been cleared of their dirty dishes and staff had just walked on past them without making any effort to clear / clean them

❌ Overall a most disappointing dinning experience and one we are not likely to repeat.

The Cafe has huge potential but we witnessed first hand what happens when a service business is left in the hands of a bunch of youngsters to run.

Do we recommend this business …. ❌ Hell NO Will we ever return…. ❌ Not bloody likely

We have experienced both poor food and substandard service,a number of times, but this one rates up there as being one of the worst!

Thoroughly deserves it’s...

Our first visit to Absolute Cravings for brunch on Father's Day and we were very disappointed with our experience. We felt incredibly rushed to sit and eat our meals, and were made to feel like we weren't welcome by staff. Upon arriving I was greeted by a girl who saw I had brought my dogs with me. Immediately she looks unimpressed and says she will now have to make special arrangements for me because I had failed to notify them (the booking option did not allow this online and I could not call as they had no number). She said she was able to give me outdoor seating but for only an hour. We agreed as it was father's day and we didn't want to be of any further bother. Upon being seated we were reminded again that we could only stay for an hour, and following that TWO post-it notes were placed at our table to remind us we had limited time. At this point we had only been seated for not even 20mins. We were feeling very unwelcome and almost that some of the staff viewed our party of 4 as a bother to them. My son and husband's food were cold in some parts (they ordered an eggs benedict and a brekky wrap), and upon serving me my food the waiter dropped my bread and never came back to replace it. I understand that a place can be very busy especially on a special occasion but we did not have to be treated the way we did. In fact there were still many tables available around us and when I looked online to view available bookings there were still many left for the time we were there so I am not sure why we made to feel so rushed with FOUR reminders of how long we could stay. Overall the place was beautiful and the food would have been lovely if there was more care given. I would suggest the staff need to be briefed on appropriate customer service as really that is what ruined our experience more than anything. *Photos attached of the 2 post -it notes attached...

I would have given 5 stars if the service was on par with the food. However the awful service left a bad taste in the mouth.

The way my grandmother was treated by two of their staff was just disgusting, and unnecessary. All because my grandmother was frustred that we need to order using the QR code. Which the majority of our table couldn't do for different reasons. She has been left upset by the whole experience still today. Hence why I'm writing this review. The excuse given was they were short staffed. I'm sorry but that is not an acceptable reason for treating a paying customer.

The server was passive aggressive towards my grandmother, to the point where she deliberately left her lunch to be served last, even though she was second to order and all she ordered was a cronut and coffee, unlike the rest of the table who ordered large meals. Then her plate was left on the table until we left. Rude!

For a business that is right beside a retirement home, the majority of their clientele would be the elderly. Expecting them to have to rely on using the QR code is ludicrous; and the poor excuse that they're short staffed is getting old. Another family member has been quite a few times recently, and the same comment is repeatedly made.

I won't be going back, and I wouldn't mind betting neither...