Harvest Cafe Daylesford — Restaurant in Victoria

This is a hard one to review. Always up for some vegetarian food and always like to support those who put health before profit. Not sure if this is the place for that though.

Had eaten here twice on a recent visit to Daylesford. First visit I asked for a juice that was pretty much straight lemon juice. Not the most pleasant, but have been doing it for two months to rebuild and repair my liver so it was important to me to continue and to honor an agreement I had with myself to continue this ritual.

Nothing on the menu to say this was not possible and day one, there was no drama in getting it. I probably spent $60 that day on a juice, a meal, a tea and a sugarless little cake.

The next day I returned. Asked for the same juice, was told I needed a sweet base as just lemons was too expensive. There was nothing on the menu that said this was a requirement. In fact it was the opposite, although limes were an extra 50 cents which I had paid the day prior. No dramas. At first, I offered to provide the lemons myself as I had some in my car. I was told “that’s not how it works mate”

I explained to the two staff members why it was important to me to have just lemon juice and not lemon and apple for example. Eventually, after some further enquiry as to why this option was not possible, they agreed to use my ingredients but would still charge me the full price. Not wanting to spend another 5 minutes negotiating, I agreed to pay the full price even though I was actually providing the ingredients (4 lemons, 2 limes, some ginger). They just cut it up and juiced it.

I didn’t want to argue or get too upset about it (it’s not good for the liver), but obviously the whole interaction left a sour taste in my mouth (not just from the lemons).

One of the staff told me they had later called the manager and confirmed that this was the correct course of action from the managers point of view. I spent another $36 with the cafe on this day. Almost $100 over two days.

I dunno! I kind of don’t care about money per se but i care about the “make the customer pay” approach. I felt like I was being punished, not by the policy, but by the attitude and the begging to get a lemon juice (even when I was providing the ingredients), and then there was the “my manager agrees with me” as well just to justify it all even when it was done a deal. Like “come on, we are doing you a favour”!

Here’s how I would have preferred it go down - Apologise to the customer and bring it to their attention that while it might have happened yesterday, it was an error (this happened) Let the customer know that it’s not possible in the future but Will make an exception today because it was our error and it’s not clear in the menu that you need a base (didn’t happen). OR... 2a. It’s not possible (because we care more about profit than your satisfaction) but we would be more than happy to juice the ingredients you provide. How does 50 per cent off the advertised price for the labour sound? (Not the - that’s not how it works mate, we still have to charge you full price even though you are providing all the ingredients)! Also didn’t happen.

The food is nice and clean and am grateful there is a healthy alternative to deep fried, processed foods. I’m sure this was just one of those momentary conditions and that generally this is great local business doing their best to provide real value to their customers. I do feel compelled to share my experience though, not just as a warning to others (buyer beware), but also as a lesson in customer service.

I don’t live in Daylesford but I do visit regularly and have eaten at this place during Chill Out for two years prior. So I am a repeat customer who also advocates for vegan/vegetarian food with my friends who aren’t. Im a customer that marketers would find valuable because of this. However, i do have to say this has damaged my relationship with this store (they are probably not aware we had one) but I will be twice shy now visiting this cafe when next I visit. And that’s a shame...

I recently had lunch at Harvest Cafe in Daylesford, and I was very impressed with the food and service. I ordered the vegetarian lasagna, and it was absolutely delicious. The pasta was perfectly cooked, and the sauce was rich and flavorful. The Mediterranean salad is fresh and the whole dish was a symphony of flavors. The rosy chaga mushroom hot chocolate was made with chaga mushroom powder, cocoa powder, almond milk and honey. It was rich and creamy, with a hint of sweetness from the honey. The chaga mushroom added a earthy flavor that was both unique and delicious. They also serve a wide selection of vegan dishes, drinks, including coffee, tea,...

We went to this restaurant last weekend and tired to have lunch there. My 5 years old son was playing with his iPad while my friend and I were reading through menu. One of the waitress came to our table and asked my son to turnhis i off, because she thought iPad sound was too loud, and she walk away straight after. However, my son just turns his iPad on an acceptable level of volume. My son feels very sad about this waitress’ comment and said he want to leave this restaurant. I feel very disappointed about this waitress’ attitude. Not a child friendly dining...