Baithouse in the Tea Garden Watsons Bay — Restaurant in Sydney

First the good things - The location is quite perfect, close to the water and the courtyard is a very relaxing place with nice water views. I ordered a ham and cheese croissant, which was quite tasty and flavourful. The ambiance and decor is one that is quite calming. Unfortunately, while the above sounds great, I think the service is far below acceptable hospitality standards. Personally, having worked during my uni days as a waiter and in the kitchen as a kitchen hand, there is much this cafe has to work on. While the staff were polite and friendly, they didn't seem skilled in terms of communicating, checking in with the table on how everything is going amongst others. There was a rather comedic error where someone on the table cancelled their individual order but turns out the entire table order was cancelled. Hospitality training would train the staff to go to the table and say 'I understand that you have decided to cancel your orders, is there any more drinks I can get you? Or do you have any questions with the food menu in case there was something you were unsure of with your order?' The food did take a while to deliver but I hope it's just a bad day cause I would expect a kitchen to churn out basic orders like ham and cheese croissant in a few minutes rather 20mins, which it took for me to get my order. I give a 2.5 rating, which does seem harsh but service in many ways is the cornerstone of dining experience followed by the food. If however you have all the time in the time in the world, then I guess you may find this cafe...

A group of 7 came for Lunch on a busy Sunday during the long weekend. With no booking, staff were able to get us seated with a short wait, which we were happy to do as the place was packed.The view was wonderful, as we were at the front overlooking the water, with great city views, but to be honest, unless you’re inside, you will have a good vista. Waitress took our drinks order as menus were provided, and shortly after took orders. Food wise we had fish and chips, tuna salad and a pizza, as well as the salmon and swordfish, which were actually not on menu, but were suggested. The swordfish was the best I’ve had and the accompanying chips and salad made for a very filling meal. All the food was great, and came out to our table more or less at the same time. Value for money I thought was quite reasonable and overall a great time was had by all, we payed by credit card, and that was not an issue despite what I had read with some whining about the ATM and cash only, we had no such issue. All in all, for a cafe experience, this is amongst one of the best you can have

Would go back again to see if it is consistent and would recommend.

Tip. Plan and make a reservation, and also check for any off menu items.

Will be back, as I’ve heard there is a Lobster Burger coming to...

Cash only- not sure whether tax or other reasons for noth having this "convenient" device, but having to withdraw money form the ATM at almost $3 can make your already pricey coffee even more supercharged. It's 2020, and stats show that business loose btw 5-7 out of 10 customers for not offering electronic payments, worth considering by the ower I'd thinkg

Cofee- good Campos beans and taste (clean machine), but terrible milk job each time I order my coffee there. It's either burnt or bubly, which makes it pointless to order any type of coffee since all end up the same mess

Food- pizza I had, dough may taste good, but does not rise enough, so you end up with flat bread of small size (1/3 smaller than their competitor Rocco Vaucluse where the dough is of exquisite quality in comparison) with poor toppings. $20 a Mergerita just does not cut the corner and is nowhere near what you deserve at this price.

Service- annoyed staff not taking care of you unless you request whatever you should have been given long ago

Beautiful place with enourmous potential which derves far far better, and at this stage simply not worth the high prices and mediocre...