Sugar Salt Cafe — Restaurant in Sydney

We went on Father’s Day for lunch and from the very start, it wasn’t great. We should have taken that as a sign and walked out there and then, but we hoped it would be better than first impressions, and didn’t want to jump to conclusions… well it wasn’t and we should have.

We were greeted at the door by someone who asked if we had a booking. We didn’t, but he said it was ok and showed us to a table and disappeared. Another waiter (as we were sitting) came up and rudely and loudly, almost with a sneer, said, “Do you have a booking?”. And as soon as we said no and explained that the other guy at the door let us in and said it was fine, yet ANOTHER staff member - possibly owner - imperiously and loudly again asked us the same thing, seemingly not to have heard her colleague who literally just asked us that while she was in earshot. My husband and I looked at each other and that was the moment we should have just walked out. We answered again politely, that the person on the door let us in. They seemed to begrudgingly point us to a table. It was a terrible table near the doorway and one of the chairs was in a walkway where people went in and out of the kitchen, so it was awkward and you felt like you were in the way. We didn’t book, so ok, fair enough the table wasn’t the best - and if it was just that, I would let that slide.

The menu at the table was different to what was displayed at the front, and no one had taken the time to let us know this. It was a paired back event menu for Father’s Day which really didn’t have much on it that either we, or our kids (three kids under 11) wanted. One kind waitress told us the kitchen could do a pasta for two of our boys, so that was nice. When the food came - and it took a long time - the kids’ pastas were embarrassingly small. Like for a three-year-old. My children ate it quickly and looked at me questioningly. The chicken nuggets and chips - another kids’ meal - arrived and had exactly 4 nuggets and about eight chips. Pitiful.

Overall the food was meagre servings ans not generous, expensive and disappointing. My meal was forgettable, but it’s worth noting my husband’s meal of garlic prawns really was balanced really well and delicious. It was small though and around $40, the size of an entree.

Their lack of manners, welcome, warmth and just general lack of communicating with each other let everything down. And the food was too expensive and gnernally not good.

The irony is, they have signs on the tables encouraging people to leave a google review. This reviewer was left disappointed, broke and with hungry kids. Shall not do a...

Not vegan friendly. Visited on Saturday with a mate after Parkrun. There is really nothing aside from spinach and mushrooms that is vegan. Even their housemade hashbrowns contain egg and cheese. They do have avo toast for around $20 that comes with cheese and eggs but a high price just for avo and bread as there is no simple option on the menu for avo toast.

PLEASE add some vegan options to your menu. To clarify, 'vegan' means it does not contain anything that comes from an animal (no eggs, cheese, honey, meat, fish, chicken, etc). It's so easy to offer some options. Please educate yourself. A 'Harvest Bowl' type thing with tofu or falafel, simple avo and toast, porridge made with plant milk. The options are endless.

The counter service was also not good. At 9am, the menus out on the counter were all lunch menus. Numerous people all chatting to each other saying it's the lunch menu. I had to ask the young girl behind the counter and she said 'oh, yes, one second' and grabbed one for me from near the kitchen but didn't change out the ones on the counter for others.

When I did go back to order, the Barista making coffees didn't even bother to acknowledge me while I stood right across the counter from here. It was literally just her and me with nobody else waiting or near the counter. A simple 'hello/good morning, I won't be a moment' would have been fine. Finally when she did manage to ask me what I wanted, I asked if she could please tell me the ingredients in the hashbrowns. Very impatient and unfriendly, she said 'If you're looking for gluten free, they are not. They are not gluten free.' I said " No, I just want to check the ingredients please." Seeming more annoyed, she ducked back to ask the chef who told her, potatoes, cheese and eggs. So not even the hashbrowns are a vegan option here.

Very disappointing....

We visited Sugar Salt on a recommendation looking forward to a lazy Sunday breakfast. Firstly they don’t do all day breakfasts, which was a disappointment, but my own fault for not checking. We decided to dine there anyway and we both ordered the Corn and Quinoa Fritters being the closest dish on the lunch menu resembling breakfast. My partner also ordered a lamb skewer on the side. The food came out quite fast and the presentation was attractive. Happily the flavour combinations and the taste did not disappoint. The bacon was lovely and crisp and the fritters didn’t taste too oily as sometimes they can be. Unfortunately the lamb skewer was very under cooked, and quite blue. When we questioned our waitress we were told we should have been asked how we wanted it cooked (which we weren't) and it was duly returned to the kitchen. A replacement skewer arrived (medium) in about 5 minutes and it was given the thumbs up. Unfortunately we were unable to sample the coffee as upon enquiry we found out they use Aldi Inner Goodness Almond milk. Whilst this is fine for cereals and the like it is definitely not BARISTA GRADE almond milk. It is not suitable for heating as it splits and the coffee tastes revolting! We consider ourselves connoisseurs in this department and would rather go without. The only almond milk we find acceptable in coffee is Milk Lab. Fortunately for us there are two other cafes 100m walk from Sugar Salt that do use Milk Lab, so we were able to get a very decent coffee from their competitor. We will likely re-visit this competitor over the coming weeks to compare their food. Verdict: The food was delicious but for us personally the coffee issue is a...