Romolo Espresso Cucina — Restaurant in Sydney

I’ve been coming to Café Romolo for years whenever I’m in the CBD, it’s always been a bit of a go-to spot for me. But this last visit was honestly really disappointing.

First of all, I was shocked to pay $9.90 for a regular coffee. That’s almost double what most cafés charge. Even Gumption, right in the same arcade, sells theirs for around $5. Unless it’s some specialty brew, I just can’t see how that’s justifiable.

When we sat down, a staff member tried to take our order straight away, before we’d even seen a menu. We had to ask for one. Maybe that’s how it’s done in Italy, but here it just felt rushed and a bit pushy.

I also ordered a dessert that never came out, and only realised when I saw it on the bill at the end. They removed it when I brought it up, which was fine, but still frustrating. We also had to ask for water, something they’ve always brought out in the past without being asked.

At one point I asked if it was too late to change my coffee to a cold brew, the staff member nodded, but my order wasn’t changed. He’d finished his shift by the time we followed up, so not sure if the message got passed on.

I’ve worked in hospitality for years, so I know things can go wrong and people have off days. This didn’t feel like a one-off mistake though, it felt like the standard had just slipped overall.

I don’t usually leave bad reviews, but this visit really missed the mark, especially from a place I used to love and bring my friends to enjoy their coffees...

The Strand is a beautiful building which makes Romolo's spot appealing. DO NOT GO. There are better options if you really want to eat or get tea at The Strand. The food is good, nothing to complain about. But the service is awful. Most of the servers were trying their hardest to do their job but the head server (bald guy with an ipad in charge of taking orders) seemed utterly contemptuous at the idea of having patrons. He refused to take orders even when the other servers kept asking him to (apparently he was the only one allowed to take orders).

When he finally dragged himself over to take our orders, he refused to acknowledge or even look at anyone except my brother despite the table giving him their individual orders. So my brother had to repeat everyone else's orders to him and convey anything else we said. He literally refused to respond to anyone else talking to him. At one point, when we wanted to order more bread, the server (a very nice lady) went over to call him for us and he literally said "What do they want now?" He didn't realize my brother had heard him.

His attitude made what should have been a lovely brunch into something almost hostile (perhaps it wasn't customers he was contemptuous of but asians). I felt sorry for the other servers who were very nice...

I just wanted to sit down to enjoy my coffee and a Carrot Cake but I came at lunch time so the waitstaff said I couldn’t dine in without having some lunch item, which is fair enough.

I ended up ordering the carrot cake to go, I asked if there was any card surcharge, the cashier said he truly didn’t know, it’s all in the ‘machine’ (he was referring to the Efpos and POS). Not until I tapped the card had I found out there was card surcharge. Probably they should have been more clear and transparent about this like other places.

Once they gave me the box of my carrot cake, the bottom of the box got some oil and crumbs of food from the serving counter. They gave me no cutlery or napkin whatsoever, I had to find them myself.

If I’m being honest, I’m not too fussy about the service, I could have let it go considering how understaffed they were. However, the carrot cake was bad. It’s dry and cold and under-seasoned. For a fan of carrot cakes like me, it is such a disappointment, which led me to leave this review.

The staff was too busy and it seems like no one cared about the business. Hope that they can...