Huxton's at Bronte. — Restaurant in Sydney

I visited this cafe a couple of weeks ago. Despite a fairly pretentious menu that unnecessarily complicates much of what is on offer the food was actually fairly reasonable, although certainly not outstanding or highly memorable. I had the Salmon Tartine which was OK yet certainly did not justify its $23 price tag.

HOWEVER, the entire experience was HORRIBLY sullied by the arrogant, bullying and abusive attitude of the owner towards his staff. Having read some of the cafe's initial publicity I understand that he is called Justin Bull and was once personal chef to James Packer and Russel Crowe.

This has certainly done very little to teach him respect for those of lower status to himself and my friend and I were horrified to hear him abuse and berate both his front of house and kitchen staff well within earshot of his customers for what appeared to be very minor and insignificant errors.

I have not experienced this level of open and public bullying in a Sydney eatery in the last 8 years I have lived here and I frequent many excellent establishments. Justin clearly has stress and anger management issues that cloud his judgement and seriously undermine and diminish his professionalism. I asked one staff member if this abuse was regular and commonplace and they very uncomfortably nodded and continued to go about their work. This was evidently not a one-off occurrence.

Huxtons is clearly a good quality if overpriced cafe that delivers reasonable food and clearly has a good market in Bronte. It is therefore a shame that its atmosphere has to be so tarnished by the exceptional arrogance and insensitivity of its proprietor.

I shall therefore not be returning and I will also tell my friends who have visited to be vigilant and informed in making their choices too.

However well regarded a restaurant or cafe is, in my opinion it is utterly unacceptable to bully and intimidate your staff either privately or in front of your customers. I was...

Huxtons catered a birthday lunch for my grandmother. We ordered 30 sandwiches. They were so terrible it honestly had to be seen to be believed - I've attached a photo which doesn't really do it justice but gives you a sense of what we had to deal with.

They charged us $450. That's $15 a sandwich - which would be fine if the sandwiches were good.

Instead, what we got was limp, wonder white bread sandwiches you wouldn't serve at a 5th birthday party.

They were all bad. The salmon sandwich consisted of wonder white bread, a smear of cream cheese and a piece of smoked salmon. No cucumber or other vegetable, no seasoning.

Same with the corned beef - just wonder white, corned beef and mustard. No pickles or veggies.

The cheese and lettuce sandwiches consisted of wonder white bread, pre-sliced package cheese and some lettuce. For $15 each.

The egg and lettuce sandwich was simply inedible - with a pre sliced cheese square to really tip you over the edge.

I could go on but you get the idea.

What was most galling about this whole catastrophe was that there is no way Huxtons would serve this sort of fare at the cafe - that is all sourdoughs and acai bowls. But for some reason they decided to cater our lunch like they are a primary school tuck shop from the 1980s.

My grandmother is too unwell to leave the nursing home so we had the birthday lunch there. We saw the sandwiches the other residents were having for lunch and they genuinely looked significantly better than the Huxtons ones.

The best thing I can say about it is that my grandmother has dementia and so she won't remember how bad these sandwiches were. The rest of us will have to live with the memory of the sickening food and with the sting of having been royally ripped off.

Can't emphasise enough how terrible this place is - at least for catering. Avoid...

I have just read a review written by Thomas Green. As a resident of Bronte since 2003 I really feel obliged to respond to the review.

My regular breakfast eatery closed 2 years ago as the proprietor retired. There was nothing in Bronte that was similar. Then Huxtons arrived....very different to all other eateries in Bronte including my original regular. I was hooked from the start and still am. As a customer who prefers quality produce and nutritious choices I was and still am delighted with all aspects of the fare on offer. As well as regular favourites the menu is spiced with daily specials and the surprising combination of flavours and textures is well designed. The truffled eggs sell quickly when they hit the specials board!

And now to management and staff. What a delightful crew. I cannot recall any front of house staff leaving since Huxtons opened its doors . The original team is still there. I recall a couple if changes in back of house and pleased to know that this week the wonderful pastry cook has returned after recovering from a health issue. Appears to me be a very happy team.

When reading Thomas Green's review, I thought there must be a mix up with another venue but he named the owner so obviously he is referring to Huxtons. One wonders why these comments are in complete contradiction to my findings and the experiences my friends and family encounter regularly.

I encourage anyone to visit Huxtons and make their own assessment. No doubt I will be there if breakfast is your fave. Thanks Huxtons. Love my morning experience...