Industrial Grind Cafe — Restaurant in Sydney

My wife and I came here since we were running a Saturday morning errand. It was a sunny morning, so we opted for outdoor seating. Our options were to be crammed on one side of the corner-situated cafe or in the winter shade of the carpark facing side.

We opted for the latter. We helped ourselves to a couple of menus kept near the counter. The menu options were diverse, but the items were named colloquially - the problem was that the language chosen was not succinct making quick item selection needlessly laborious.

These are just nit-picks, but the real problem started with my interaction with their staff. I was greeted with a cheerful smile. I ordered the big breakfast with an extra plate since my wife, and I intended to share. This is on account of eating restrictions from recent surgery.

I was then asked a puzzling question by the person taking my order; "Would you like to pay now, or later?". It seemed pretty odd to offer the customer this choice, but I chose to pay in advance.

I joined my wife in the outside seating to take in the crowded and unappealing view of the car park. While making conversation, we noticed that both of our chairs and the table were not properly balanced on the ground - both rocked with enough play to spill any drink - thankfully we hadn't ordered any.

The food arrived in a reasonable amount of time but was handed to us without any eating utensils or serviettes. Moreover, they had not brought out the extra plate we'd requested. It seemed like a simple mistake and an easy one to fix - or so I believed. I asked the server if they could bring an extra plate for us.

I was puzzled once more when the server asked us "Have you already ordered it?" My wife noticed my confusion and pointed out that we intended to share our meal, so we just needed another plate. The server nodded and agreed to attend to this.

A couple of minutes went by, and my wife and I shared the hashbrown with our fingers since we didn't have a second plate or utensils. I then looked inside to see the server and counter attendant discussing something with a look of confusion in their faces.

I walked over to them and once more clarified that we were not requesting another serving but rather an additional ceramic plate to share the meal that had been served. It became clear at this moment that they misunderstood and had to cancel a second big breakfast. One of the servers smiled with a seemingly vacant expression on her face and asked is there anything else I can get for you?

At this point both of them were staring at me instead of reaching for a nearby stack of clean plates in the kitchen area. I broke eye contact in frustration and then noticed one last pair of utensils sitting in a container with no serviettes in sight.

I took a breath, reached for the utensils and replied; 'No, just an extra plate. My wife and I are hungry... ". As much as I wanted to ask, "How hard is it to bring us an extra plate?" I ended my sentence there since I didn't want to be rude.

After asking four times, we were handed an extra plate. I returned to my seat and my wife, and I ate.

The food was okay but quite greasy. Sharing a big breakfast is a common choice for us these days but it doesn't normally leave us feeling gross inside. Unfortunately, this meal did. Although I will say that their tomato relish, sour dour bread and their halloumi was actually very nice.

So, to sum up, the tables wobbled, the food was okay, the atmosphere is underwhelming, and the customer-facing staff have poor communication skills.

Based on this experience, I would not recommend dining in at Industrial Grind Cafe in Arndell Park.

However, I will add that I've been here before for coffee on a weekday and had a lovely chat with the gentleman who served me that time and enjoyed a delicious...

Pretty disappointed with the dining experience here. I’ve seen good reviews, so decided to give it a try. As a quick lunch stop for tradies, it’s probably a decent place, but for breakfast, I wouldn’t personally recommend. My poached eggs weren’t exactly poached, one was completely cooked through, no offer to fix it up. The feta was lacking flavour, so that was a big letdown when it came to all the ingredients working together. My mum ordered the morning burger, to where she told them she’s very specific with how she likes her eggs cooked on the burger. The waitress said they can cook it however she likes it done. It arrived raw on top, oozing, & the top was cold to the touch. She said she’d be fine with them putting the same egg on the grill & just cooking the top a little, but they told us that was the ‘best they could do’, & didn’t replace it, so she just had a croissant. Customer service was quite weak, which I’d heard a few times before from people. The signature breakfast range is hardly anything special in my opinion, more so just fancy words with cheaper ingredients & a higher price point. If the customer service was decent, I would’ve rated higher, but it was a letdown, as it seemed like they just wanted to push us out of there because we weren’t happy with the food. The coffee was decent enough, so a nice place to sit down & just have a cappuccino, as the dining area outside is...

2.5 out of 5. Pricey - $10 for an average burger with no sides, $14.90 for a medium croissant Benedict. For those with the average appetite, you may find you are quite hungry afterwards, the food is tasty and light, but I’m not getting the full value of my money in regards to portion. Customer service needs improvement, no checkin during my long wait for my food, it’s good to just reassure customers they haven’t been forgotten about or to atleast apologise for how long the food was taking. I went in for a takeaway order and waited 40 minutes to have it made considering it was a very simple order. Just felt like there was no sense of urgency or care for a customer.

Food:

Industrial Grind Morning Burger: Was good and tasty. Felt nice and light and fresh. Nothing special about it but definitely tasty. Burger size on the average side.

Croissant Benedict: was good and tasty, once again was also light and fresh, nothing special about it but was definitely tasty. Croissant size medium.

Melonberry Freshly Squeezed Juice: was lovely and refreshing my personal favourite item off the menu.

Oatmilk Flatwhite Coffee: Coffee was good, wasn’t too strong (if you like it strong you definitely should add an extra shot to taste more of the coffee), was...