Lil Miss Collins Café Parramatta — Restaurant in Sydney

We decided to visit after reading some reviews and I have to say our first impressions of the café were great, although the surrounds (vacant fenced block next door and office towers) didn’t endear the location to us. However, we decided to press on and I’m glad we did. The vibe of this cosy café is chill and welcoming. Our waitress was friendly and the service was brisk. I really enjoyed my skim flat white, although my partner was disappointed to learn they don’t use Milk Lab almond milk which to him is the holy grail of almond milks. Because of this we didn’t order our usual second cup. We both ate the ricotta sweet corn fritters and whilst it was a very tasty meal, not quite what I was expecting. They seemed to contain a lot of onion, and the harissa was quite strong, but nevertheless it felt like a healthy choice and the poached egg was cooked to perfection. My partner also ordered lamb kofta on the side and he gave them the thumbs up. My only negative was that it was quite hot, and it’s a great shame they can’t pull up the clear plastic roll down blinds to get a bit of fresh air into the place. So I deduct points for that and the lack of decent almond milk (although maybe it's a personal preference).

• UPDATE * We have now visited this cafe twice, unintentionally. I wanted to try a neighbouring establishment but it was raining and they had a long queue, so we ended up here. I really enjoyed my eggs benedict served on a charcoal activated brioche style bun. The hollandaise sauce was a touch spicy which was pleasnat. The main downside for us was the extraordinarily loud pop music. Not very conducive to conversation, and really not our cup of tea for breakfast. For that reason alone I don't think we would revisit. (and of course the lack of Milk Lab...

Went here on the weekend for a family lunch, got there at 11:30am to try and beat the lunch rush but that was not the case. We were not even served until 12:30pm even after asking 2 different staff to come and take our order. 20minutes after we were served another staff member came to ask again if we would like to order and I said we have already did it not get put through the system yet? The manager apologised to us and said there was a printing issue with the machine but that does not excuse the fact that we were not served for over an hour. We got our drinks promptly which was good. When the food arrived one person from the group just ordered honey with toast and when they received it they confirmed with the waiter if it had honey on it and the waiter looked confused and responded with "I guess" what kind of a response is that all she needed to say was let me double check for you if she wasnt sure. Another person in the group got served the wrong burger but was too hungry after waiting nearly 2 hours to complain and wait for the right one. There were so many staff working on that Sunday all standing around confused on what they should do which clearly shows that they need more training in customer service. I am appalled with my experience here and we did not even get offered a discount for the inconvenience and horrible service. Unfortunately will not be coming back here. If the cafe gains any valuable feedback from this review my most important point would be to train the staff and make sure everyone gets into a better rhythm and flow with the service that...

The first time my sister and I visited for her birthday, it was absolutely beautiful — professional, quick service, and everything felt well-managed, possibly because the owner was present. But the second visit was a complete letdown.

We ordered food, beer and cocktails. While I understand that cocktails and food order take time to prepare. Surprisingly, first 2 drink order were quick. so we decided later to add 3 cocktails and 1 beer.

By this time our food was almost in verse of finishing and was fantastic . We waited for 45min for our 3 cocktail and 1 beer. Cocktail waiting time is understable but 45min for 1 beer?

The staff seemed more focused on chatting and standing around at the front counter than actually serving guests. After waiting for 45min for drinks.

When my colleague asked about our drinks, we were ignored — not once, but twice. By the third time, I approached the waiter myself, and instead of bringing our drinks, he handed us the receipt. I had to point out, “I didn’t ask for the bill, I asked for three cocktails and a beer — which we’ve been waiting on for 45 minutes.”

It’s not even about the money we spent — it’s the disappointment of seeing such a contrast from our first experience. The food is still amazing, but poor service like this really changes how you feel about the place and makes me doubt myself if I want to bring anymore...