August Coffee — Restaurant in Sydney

My friend and I had a really unpleasant experience here during breakfast. We ordered two coffees and a chicken dish. I felt like something sweet, so I quickly went next door and brought back a croissant. When I returned, the waitress who had served us even complimented the croissant and asked where we got it—she didn’t say anything about outside food not being allowed. There was also no sign or notice anywhere in the café indicating such a rule.

A few minutes later, a different waitress came over to clean the table next to us and suddenly told us it wasn’t allowed. We were confused, as we’d already ordered drinks and food, and I had only brought one pastry.

The situation escalated quickly when the owner came out, making exaggerated crossing-arm “no” gestures and speaking in a loud, confrontational tone. It made me feel really uncomfortable. I did argue back at first, because I genuinely didn’t feel we’d done anything wrong and felt we were being treated unfairly.

Eventually, I said, “Let’s calm down and hear each other out”—not because I was calm the whole time, but because I didn’t want to keep arguing. I tried to explain that we genuinely didn’t know about the policy, and suggested that a clear sign or a heads-up from the first waitress would have helped avoid the whole situation. But instead of acknowledging that, the owner kept cutting me off and insisted they didn’t need to put up any signs or inform customers in advance—claiming they “don’t assume people are going to eat” outside food even if they see it.

This could have been handled so differently. Instead, we were left feeling speechless over how the situation unfolded—especially over something as minor as a single croissant. A little communication and courtesy go a long way—unfortunately, that was completely missing here.

To the owner's reply: It’s always the customer’s fault, isn’t it? How convenient.

The owner’s response here only proves my point — he refuses to acknowledge anything his staff could’ve done better, and instead chooses to double down, deflect, and point fingers at paying customers.

Instead of obsessively replying to every bad review with sarcasm and denial, maybe invest that energy into training your staff — so that different team members don’t send mixed messages to customers.

Attaching a screenshot of how this owner replied to another customer’s review — petty, mocking, and wildly unprofessional. That says more than I ever could.

If your ego is this fragile, hospitality might not be the right industry for you. Good luck — you’ll need it.

Last reply to the owner's rewrite : Thank you for deleting your original sarcastic comment and replacing it with a polished PR script. Unfortunately, the message remains the same — the customer is always wrong.

Your reply still avoids the most critical part: Your first staff member saw the pastry, commented on it twice, and gave no indication it was not allowed. That’s what created the confusion.

You talk about respect, but clearly can’t handle being questioned. It’s not about policy — it’s about ego.

And please, don’t waste more time deleting and rewriting your replies. It’s your business — just remember, how you respond to feedback says more than the...

I often come to this café for breakfast, and I must say it has become one of my favorite spots to start the day. The atmosphere inside is very pleasant,calm, cozy, and thoughtfully designed, which makes it a great place to relax or get a bit of work done. Recently, they’ve expanded their outdoor seating area, which provides even more space for customers and allows for a nice breeze and natural light, especially in the mornings.

The food here is on the pricier side, but I find it generally worth the cost considering the quality of ingredients and presentation. The drinks, in particular, are beautifully crafted—not only do they taste good, but they also look great, which adds a touch of delight to the overall experience.

The service is usually attentive and friendly. The staff seem to genuinely care about making customers feel welcome and comfortable. However, there have been a few instances where communication wasn’t quite smooth, possibly because some of the servers have limited English skills. This sometimes leads to small misunderstandings when placing orders or asking for information.

Despite that minor issue, I still really enjoy coming here and will continue to do so. The overall experience is consistently positive, and it’s clear that the café is striving to improve and provide a good experience...

We came here for brunch after our morning run. They have good amount of stars so we chose this cafe over the other as we saw there's lots of people dining in.

I can rate their coffee as ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ its really good! However, the place was very pack and noisy they have lots of staff

We ordered 2x eggs your way (sourdough, 2 eggs with additional avo and bacon). Coffee was served right away but then we were already waiting for 20 mins and the food hasn't arrived. We already finished our coffee. 🤦🏽‍♀️

We followed up, and the lady at the counter mentioned its coming in 5-7mins. We saw other complicated orders being served right in front of us but ours still hasn't arrived.

10mins has passed and we decided to make a refund. The lady at the counter knew we wanted a refund. She saw our food that it's been done but she said to the server "leave it they are getting a refund" 🤷🏽‍♀️ Yes, we got our refund but solely was not happy with the service and waiting time and ending up still hungry. They should've atleast given the food as a takeaway despite giving a refund (just to compensate their customers for the very long wait). For sure, they will chuck that in the bin or just let staff eat it....