Bloc145 Cafe & Restaurant Redfern — Restaurant in Sydney

I visited the cafe with my friend and initially sat at the front. However, a staff member directed us to sit at the back, which is part of their restaurant area. I ordered a Chicken Avo Toastie, listed as $15 on the menu, but was charged $19 instead. When I asked about the price difference, a male staff member explained that the higher price was because I was seated in the restaurant area rather than the front cafe. I asked him, “So if I sit at the front, it would be $15?” and he confirmed.

I found this quite unreasonable since I was told to sit at the back — it wasn’t my choice. I asked another staff member, and she kindly explained that the extra $4 was because the toastie came with a salad. Despite being busy with coffee orders, she patiently offered to refund the difference and recharge me just for the toastie without the salad later when I’m heading out, which I really appreciated.

After waiting 18 minutes, my toastie was still not ready, and I had to rush off, leaving my friend to take my order away for me later on. Before leaving, I went to the front to process the refund with the female barista, who was very busy but still tried her best to assist me.

However, when I later checked my transaction, I was charged $16 — different from both the menu price ($15) again. I couldn’t ask for clarification since I had already left.

Overall, I had a very negative experience — from the seating arrangement to the unclear pricing and long wait time. The only saving grace was the female staff member who showed patience and understanding. Unfortunately, I left after spending 25 minutes and $16 there with an empty stomach… Even though it’s just a small amount of money, but it could be improved by a better explanation from the male staff in...

Fantastic coffee, very inconsistent & sometimes unpleasant customer service.

Been to Bloc145 probably 8-10 times now as a local living around. The coffees are always stunning & Most of the team is great with us customers.

However, this barista lady, with an ombré hair, has offered me on multiple occasions a poor, unpleasant experience.

I really believe this employee has very poor communication and customer service skills. I do not understand how hard it is to Smile, say Thank You, Please, to simply COMMUNICATE with the customers. Her communication is very short - short tempered, & never seems to take an extra 2 seconds to explain something.

Today i simply asked “which coffee is my friend’s flat white and which one is mine?” and she just looked at me as if i was an absolute idiot, telling me “this is your 780 😑this is your 780. 😑” Like - what is a 780 ?? // Why so abrupt when speaking ??? Is it hard to simply say: “Sir this coffee is your friend’s flat white, and this one here is yours, have a good day, see you again soon 😃🙏🏼”

I do feel like some extra training would be highly beneficial as her coffees are great, but i have often (today included) left this coffee disheartened after dealing with this employee.

Why getting a job in hospitalised if you don’t like talking to people ??

Ps: But shout out to the young Asian gentleman working there, with the hair bun, as his customer service has always been...

I normally don't write bad reviews unless there's a genuine reason to. Here was what i thought:

Portions are TINY, Me and my friends were all girls that eat a normal amount of food and we found the portions to be way too small. Especially the zuchinni bread, it's literally 6 tiny bite size portions stacked on top of each other. For the price we paid (averaging 20-25), it was absolutely too small for the price

Service: we were confused as to whether we still order the food through the online menu if we want to pay in cash as there was the 5% discount. I saw a staff in the open kitchen and to enquire about that, only to be rudely responded to by a woman who said another waiter will serve us and to "just go sit down". I found her attitude to be so off-putting. Other than that, the front of house staff near the coffee/baked goods were lovely though.

The only thing stopping me from giving this a 1 star is because the general atmosphere and aesthetic of the cafe is quite nice. But overall would not recommend you to go for brunch/lunch, maybe for a snack...