Cafe Dougie — Restaurant in Sydney

As a local in the area, I was taking my baby out for a walk and finally decided to try this café while he was asleep. There was no line, and although the outdoor seating was full, there were plenty of vacant tables inside.

When one of the waitstaff walked by with a tablet, I asked if I could order through her, but she told me I needed to go inside. So I pushed the pram up to the counter, blocking the hallway in the process, not exactly an easy or considerate setup for anyone with a stroller.

I already knew what I wanted: a chicken toastie. I politely asked if they could cut the crust off (since hard crust tends to hurt my gums), but the response was a flat, almost dismissive “no.” I honestly thought it was a joke, so I awkwardly laughed and asked, “Are you serious?” before continuing to order a couple more things. When I finished, the person behind the counter asked, “So no chicken toastie?” which left me confused since I never said I didn’t want it.

What really left a bad impression was not the refusal itself, but the tone and complete lack of care or explanation. I struggled to manoeuvre the pram out, and not a single staff member offered to help or even acknowledge the situation.

For me, good service isn’t about saying yes to everything it’s about how you say no, and how you make customers feel in the process. Unfortunately, I walked away feeling genuinely unwelcome, which is...

I ordered the ‘spiced chickpea and cauliflower salad’ and the chickpeas were inedible. They had either been rehydrated and overcooked or maybe not rehydrated enough. Either way the texture was terrible; very dry; very chewy, and overall unpleasant to eat (who knew a chickpea could go so wrong?!). I advised the waiter who offered to change to another dish but because we were short on time I had to decline the offer and I just ate the cauliflower and the Brussels sprouts. When we paid the bill (in full, no discount offered) the waiter told me he’d informed the chef who said there was nothing wrong with the chickpeas as they were only prepared the day before. In that case my advice to the chef would be to sample the food because there’s no way in the world that the dish I received should have left the kitchen in that state! Regarding the service, one of the waiters who served us was polite and friendly whilst the other was quite dismissive...

In Sydney for one night and decided to check out Dougie because they use Zest Coffee.

We ordered the granola and the schnitty bang bang and a chicken schnitzel breakfast option on a menu is always a good idea and this schnitzel did not disappoint. Moist and crunchy, absolutely gorgeous. The red juice was also nice and gingery which we wanted!

For coffee we ordered double espresso on the house blend. It was smooth and tasty, delicious!

The service was exceptional with one legend running the busy floor, we were attended to quickly and with a smile.

Also grabbed a batch brew on the single origin (Colombian) to take away that was real tasty.

10/10 all round and we will...