Black Elk Espresso — Restaurant in Sydney

Hi There,

A friend and I went out to eat breakfast couple Sundays ago at BlackElk in Carnes Hill, we waited around 20 minutes outside which was fine, ordered our food and waited 1 hour for the breakfast to come out, we were told sorry couple time's which was fine, ultimately most customers who came 10 minutes after me were given the food, but even then I said its fine they are busy.

Now when the food arrived the waitress did apologize and was very nice about it, my friend had taken couple bites of food as I took my first bite out of my food, moments after I took my first bite, I looked at the food and saw a decent sized cockroach in my food, it really frustrated me as most people would be, at that moment I had waited 1 hour to receive food that had a cockroach in it.

So after discovering the cockroach, my friend looked at his food and immediately stopped eating, we started walking towards the tilt where you pay so we can speak to the manager or possibly the owner, he apologized under his breathe and immediately started asking us to pay for the drinks which was fine with me because we did drink a coffee and 2x soft drinks, he then continued to ask for my friend to pay for his breakfast, this is where I felt very betrayed, I can't believe someone who served myself food that had a cockroach, thinks my friend who's sitting opposite me will pay for his food, there should be no discussion of paying for food when the table has insects, I was not going to put this post up when this initially happened, it's only when the gentlemen started asking for money that ticked me to put this review through.

Next time a situation like this occurs, you don't ask the customers who's infront of you for money to pay for a dish that was plated on the same table as a person's been served a cockroach, its unprofessional and very dismissive, that is not...

My wife order a brunch box from here for fathers day and told them she’d be there at 9:30am to pick up. The first photo is what she ordered.

She arrived at 9:35am to pick it up only to be told that they were running 45 minutes late. She paid before leaving to wait for the box to be ready. When she came back she was given the box in photo 2. Immediately she noticed that there were items missing and the quality was nowhere near what was advertised. Then she was told that the dessert box that she’d also ordered was running another 30 minutes late.

Not satisfied with the quality of the food in the boxes, she requested a refund. The staff declined to provide a refund until another lady also asked for a refund. While she was waiting for a refund she saw staff giving out the terrible boxes that she’d just handed back to other customers. This probably happened earlier as well and there’s no way to know how many people gave the box back before it arrived in my wife’s hands.

My son had eaten one of the items in the dessert box so we begrudgingly accepted that. The quality of the food in the dessert box was also terrible. There are custard tarts with no custard, the waffle is hard as a rock and the box in its entirety is nowhere near worth what we paid for it.

The whole situation took 90 minutes to resolve an order that was placed over a week ago (ordered around 21st August).

The most telling part of how this place operates is that not a single “sorry” was mentioned. No offer of a suitable substitute. Nothing.

Oh and the cafe even opened up more orders a few days before Father’s Day (see last photo). It seems this place is more interested in taking as many orders as possible with zero consideration towards the quality...

26/11/2024

Who would have thought that there was a place like this in Carnes Hill. We went there for brunch and the food was just perfect. The presentation 👌 is just fabulous and when you cut it to the food it's just perfectly done. Your eyes starts to enjoy the food even before it goes into your mouth. The staff was very friendly and checked up on us halfway through the meal. IF you are in the area, definitely drop in at the Balck Elk cos you won't regret it. Will be dropping by here one of these days again to see if the food taste the same the second time around, and I so hope it will blow my mind yet again. Simply Excellent!! #CarnesHill #Brunch #FoodPorn #BalckElk #MustVisit

Update 05/05/2025

@blackelk_espresso "Consistency" This is a key word I would say when it comes to this place. Yes, you can always visit a new restaurant or an existing one and say the food was great on any platform which I too did on 26/11/2024 BUT there are many times, after reading a review you would go there and find it's not what it seems.

Black Elk Cafe, with their 2,000+ reviews and 4.7⭐️ rating, sits above the rest of being one of the finest cafe's I was able to visit with friends and family. I would highly recommend anyone going pass Carnes Hill NSW to drop in and have a bite, which you will not regret.

To the staff and as well as the chefs, brilliant work, brilliant food and I can't wait to try the new menu. The bar is set and I do hope you blow it out of the water or in...