Eclectic Tastes Cafe & Pantry — Restaurant in Victoria

One of the nastiest servers I’ve ever encountered. I left feeling belittled, and my friends were angry on my behalf.

We were seated, and everything started fine. Our server was pleasant at first, asking if we wanted drinks. My friend ordered, and I- feeling nauseous in a way where I really needed food and asked if I could order the eggs Benedict (which ended up being fantastic). He immediately shut me down, saying he was “only doing drinks” and that the other two at the table hadn’t decided yet. My friends knew I wasn’t feeling well and didn’t mind, but he scolded me anyway. When I told him I wasn’t having coffee because of nausea, he cut me off mid-sentence to ask what I wanted to eat. Confused, I placed my order.

From there, we were mainly served by a lovely female staff member, but then the male server later brought out cutlery for my friends and, in a mocking tone, asked me why I didn’t have one. When I didn’t know how to respond, he made a “sad trombone” sound at my friend before saying he’d get one for me, without once looking at me. He then returned to announce, almost smugly, that he’d “forgotten” my order because he’d been “doing drinks,” which felt very hard to believe given how sternly he’d scolded me twice for trying to order during that time.

The food itself was excellent, but the entire meal was tainted by his behavior. I was already fragile, and this experience- being scolded, mocked, and dismissed for trying to order- nearly tipped me over the edge.

When I went to pay, he awkwardly tried to compliment the ham in a way that felt like damage control, but by then the damage was done. I left feeling humiliated and shaken. I wouldn’t be surprised if he reads this and feels proud of...

We have been regular customers at Eclectic and it used to be one of our favorite cafés. Unfortunately, our recent experiences have been very disappointing. Especially today, when we were treated terribly after being their regular customers for almost 5 years!

On our latest visit, we waited almost 50 minutes for our food to arrive. With a baby, that was already quite challenging. My husband politely asked just once about our order during the wait. When the food finally came, it was average at best, and I ended up asking for a takeaway box for my pasta since I couldn’t eat at the table.

The box I was given wasn’t suitable for pasta with sauce, so I moved to a small table by the front desk to request a different one. At that point, the manager, Torry, spoke to me in a very rude and unprofessional manner, saying, “Don’t put the box on this table, we are very busy and I will come to you when I have a chance.” I was shocked by the tone. When I tried to calmly explain that waiting almost an hour for average food and then being treated this way wasn’t acceptable, she accused us of harassing the staff and the said they can’t keep my family happy, simply because we had inquired once about our order.

This was extremely upsetting and disappointing. I understand that cafés can be short-staffed and busy at times, but basic courtesy and professionalism should never be compromised. Sadly, this experience has left us questioning whether we’ll...

What can I say? I love this place. Beautiful food, wonderful atmosphere and the friendliest staff.

Updating my review. Went here today to study and have some lunch. The lady who initially greeted (young beautiful Indian woman) was lovely and found a table I could sit at for a couple of hours to study and have lunch. However I was there for around 40 minutes, hadn't ordered yet when a man in a very blasé attitude, strides towards me and stated 'we have a table coming in 5 minutes, so you need to be gone by then'. I could hardly get a word in before he had almost strolled away from me. I said oh, if there was anywhere else I can sit'. He said, 'let me go see'. He came back and stated 'you have 5 minutes'. So I guess that was a no....? So I got up and left without eating. The young woman who initially sat me apologised on the way out. Can't fault her, she was gorgeous. But the man was rude of obviously preoccupied with simply getting other customers in and getting their money. Not sure if this was the manager or owner, but he definitely gave me those vibes and has really turned me off...