Bake Bar — Restaurant in Sydney

I was looking forward to Bake Bar opening in Paddington (and it seemed to take forever) as we love their bread. Thats a 5 star rating. But i'll review re what we came for i.e. lunch. Three of us found a table, studied the menus and decided what we wanted. I went inside to order, and thats when the fiction of the menu became apparent. Its more of a "what you might be able to eat if you turned up at 6am opening" rather than whats available at 1 or 2pm. A complete waste of paper. Everything is pre-made early on, and sits there all day. By 2pm, the presumably 8ish hour old sandwiches, in a choice of what was least popular that day, is all that's available. If you find a basic choice, and dont want avo or chilli mayonnaise or bacon - scrape it out yourself. With only one of 3 people finding something they wanted, we walked across the street. There's multiple choices of cafes in Five Ways - all that have kitchens open, charge similar prices, and will make exactly what you want fresh. We found a nice outdoor table at a cafe across the street and had things made as we wanted them - and with waiter service at the table unlike Bake Bar. I understand this is Bake Bar's business model, and it works well in, say, the Randwick location where there is little else on offer. However with so many cafes in Paddington to directly compare to, within a 10-30 second walk, the model just doesn't cut it. So yes I'll buy bread there, or the odd takeaway coffee, but for brunch / lunch - it's a...

The turn-off for our experience was three things:

1. a staff member swept the floor and with a final swish of the broom pushed the debris off a stem and into a water bowl for doggies and dusting the people who were sitting on the footpath
2. the same staff member was putting away tables and chairs creating quite a clatter - ruining an otherwise quiet ambiance. It was well before closing.
3. (most offensive) The same staff member was collecting rubbish into a bag. I went to the counter to order, paid and then the staff member selected my muffin out of the display cabinet without washing his hands. If this is their standard of hygiene, don't go there.

16 Feb - I have since corresponded with the general manager who appologised for this experience and advised that the staff member has been identified and had additional training. She requested that I return to experience as it should be. Whilst I don't get to Paddington often, I am satisfied with this responce. The responce...

Ordered the Falafel & Quinoa plate via UberEats - what I received was not what was stated on the menu. The salad was missing most of the components ie. the quinoa, kale, spanish onion, lemon, cherry tomatoes - I essentially paid $36 for a few falafels, some cabbage, a few salad leaves and a sliced overripe tomatoes tossed in. This is extremely disappointing. I should have listened to the Google reviews. Spoke to the cafe and was told to call back the next day to speak to the manager, and they will speak to the chef in the kitchen as to why it wasn't prepared the proper way - this is an unacceptable response, there's no reason (except for not having the ingredients available) for a chef to prepare it this way with it missing most of the ingredients. If you don't have all the items available, take it off the menu until you do or cancel the order, don't punish your customer by giving a sub par salad that isn't worth the price...