Seasalt Clovelly — Restaurant in Sydney

Shockingly appalling customer service. I felt so hassled and so unwelcome. I went there for hot drinks on a Fri morning. The owner / supervisor? was especially terrible as she hassled me multiple times to order more / pay the bill. I asked one of the staff where I can charge my laptop and she directed me to charge at the counter, which I did. Then another staff unplucked my laptop and told me I can’t charge there. When I asked the owner / supervisor? she coldly replied “there’s nowhere to charge” and implied I’m not welcome to work from my laptop in the cafe. The teapot also leaks when I try to pour the tea into the cup. Worst cafe in the area. Never coming again! If you’re the business owner reading this, time to reflect on how your treat your customers!

Response to Skye: Check your video footage before you make false accusations. On Fri I asked one of your female staff (who was the only friendly person I encountered there) where I can charge my laptop and she told me I can charge at the counter, which is what I did. But moments later a male staff took my laptop and charger off and told me off and said I cannot charge there!

Your Manager came to me multiple times within the span of an hour, and not once with a smile nor friendly service. The first time she asked me whether I wanted something else, to which I politely declined. The second time she asked, I ordered another drink. The third time she came to give me the bill, without me requesting! The fourth time she came to collect the payment. Anyone would feel hassled by that! If I didn’t feel so hassled I would have considered ordering lunch.

I’m a business owner too. I’d fire that manager if I were you. Just terrible customer experience. At least you read your reviews. You should be upset indeed. Why do you think your rating is only 3.7?

I feel your pain as a business owner. I’m giving you a chance to make amends by way of an apology and complimentary meal. If I’m happy with that and your service then I would consider revising my Google review and rating. Or you can try to fight it...

Not my first time here. But I've given them several goes over the years and this will be my last time dining in.

Clueless management mixed with not enough and undertrained staff = ordering food and drinks but food comes first: 30 minutes to get a drink for one of us who wasn't eating (smoothie). Slow is an understatement.

Takeaway queues are super long which is expected because they have zero competition here. Location is a gold mine and they are clearly making a killing with these prices so unlikely to improve

My tip if coming to Clovelly beach is to either get food inland in town at Clovelly or at any of the nearby beaches.

In response to the owner: At around 3:30pm your FOH wasn't that full and your kitchen was closed, it's the takeaway queues that drained resources. Your job to know that. Dine in customers have to be prioritised. If you've got the audacity to charge customers nearly $30 for deep fried fish n chips you need to train your backpacker/international staff better or hire more servers, it's that simple. Review your systems if you care about your customers. 2 blenders shouldn't mean half an hour for a drink.

Slow, apologetic service with hiked up prices for average food. 2 stars because your staff were doing the best they could in a mismanaged cafe.

Edit 2: owner decided to delete response for some reason, hmm. But this was it: "Thanks Aussie Hollywood for your patience and feedback, yes it was a very busy summer day. It can put great demand on the foh staff. We are always striving...

Went here today 13/1/20. Beautiful day and great location. But... The main let down was the communication from the waiters. With table service & above average prices you have a certain expectation for the venue. It was busy and when we arrived we saw a table with a view that was free and sat down there quickly so we didn't lose the opportunity. A waiter then came over and told us we should not have sat down before the table was cleared. No "hello", or "sorry just let me clear this table". We ordered omelettes which were served cold. Aren't they supposed to be warm? ish? Anyway it was tasty enough and we ate it all. A different waiter came to clear our plates, looked at them and said "oh well it looks like you enjoyed those". Don't waiters usually ASK if you enjoyed your meal? Finally a third different waiter who served us coffee asked "before YOU GO, is there anything else you would like?" - clearly hinting that we should move on. Probably because they needed the table. But there were no queues. Anyway, the bottom line is - the waiters need some serious training in etiquette. I wouldn't expect too much in this regard at a lower priced venue, but Sea Salt could do better. I don't envy anyone working in or running a restaurant on a busy day, so maybe that explains it a bit, and I shouldn't be too critical. Re the prices, - when you consider the location and setting with tables in the shade on a hot day, the...