Bowan Island Zetland — Restaurant in Sydney

TDLR: do not buy pastries from here

I came to the cafe after the gym to purchase croissant and coffee to dine in. On this particular day, their POS machine had trouble accepting Commonwealth Bank payments. I was about to walk away but ended up just paying using another payment method.

Upon receiving my table number, I went to sit down. I received coffee shortly after but about 5-10 minutes after that, the brunette girl that served me came up to my table and advised she needed to charge me an extra $1 for ‘toasting and providing butter’ for the croissant. I said I don’t want butter and she said she will go talk to/ask her manager. I found this ridiculous and shocking customer service when they initially caused inconvenience with their POS issues and plus I had already been sitting down enjoying my coffee. If they wanted to charge an extra $1 for butter, they should advise the customer at POS and not when they have settled 10 mins at their table. I have also never been to a cafe where they need to charge extra for this.

When I received the croissant, it was too hot to touch and the croissant itself was soggy/floury, almost as if they just chucked it in the microwave on high for 2 minutes. Another review also said something similar. I personally think the croissant’s across the cafe at Tasty Growers are way better for the same price. I’ve been a regular at bowan for their coffees and sourdough bread which are good but I would not recommend purchasing their pastries or food. It...

Good morning,

Today I was greeted by a member of your staff in Zetland. I ordered a large takeaway coffee and two sausage rolls for breakfast. I was having a business meeting and when we sat down with our table number your staff member brought over my coffee and it was not what I ordered. I told her very politely and she returned with a take away cup for me to do it myself. I let it go because she had attitude. Let's not forget I am a guest in your cafe having breakfast. The waiter a lovely gentleman came over so I asked him to sort it out and he did. The rude waitress came over with my new take away coffee and told me she didn't charge me for the large so that will be 80 cents extra. I quickly put her in her place and told her it was her mistake from the beginning and she replied oh well. I told her I will not pay for her mistake and to leave me at once. She left making hand gestures to other staff still thinking I was at fault. Also walking around with a huge crazy ass smile thinking she had won a prize. I strongly suggest a personality assessment of your staff to assure this does not happen to other guests at your cafe. Me and my business partner will not return to your establishment, I will post this to my Facebook for everyone i know to read and I will also paste this email as a review on Google for others to...

Lots of tables to sit and have a coffee and a snack. We have found the macchiato, cappuccino, hot chocolate and iced coffee good. The flavour of the coffee is excellent. There are cakes and my husband loves the custard fruit tart and my friend the cheesecake. As I am gluten free, I tried the gf friands, both the raspberry and chocolate and found them bland, but sickly sweet. I’d love to see some better options for people with dietary restrictions.

My husband likes the chicken and mushroom pie very much and says the chunky beef pie is satisfactory. Other people tell me the sourdough breads are great and they certainly look fabulous. We haven’t tried them.

Service is polite, but not friendly. I’d like to see better customer service including a smile and a hello/ good morning, and perhaps “How can I help? or What would you like today?” They are fairly prompt with orders.

There’s not a lot of ‘atmosphere’ and the music is hit and miss, but the coffee is good and there’s somewhere to sit and catch a breath before or after the food shopping.

It is wheelchair accessible and we tend to choose a table on the outskirts to...