Thru the Gate Cafe — Restaurant in Victoria

Went to this Cafe which is actually local to us and haven't really had an issue in the past. The attitude of the owner (I assume she's the owner, elderly lady) has always grated me, but the food has been good. Well, we went for lunch, we were a party of 5 - it was a quiet day with hardly any customers eating in. We ordered 4 x butter chickens and 1 x ham hock and lentil soup, all were approx. $24 each. We sat waiting for half an hour for the meals to start coming out, and only 2 of the meals came out to start with...2 x butter chickens. The 2 of us that got those meals waited politely for a little while assuming the other meals were to follow directly afterwards so we could all eat together....well, they ended up having to start their meals so they wouldn't get cold, as the rest were taking ridiculously long to come out. They actually finished their meals by the time the next 2 lots of butter chicken were served up. Ans then another 10 minutes goes by before the ham hock & lentil soup gets served (not a single lentil was in the soup I might add), a very disappointing dish. The butter chicken looked like it had come straight from the Aldi aisles, it certainly didn't look home made. It tasted fine though, but was quite a small helping.

When we asked why it was taking so long to get the meals out to us, the young waitress told us that they don't have enough microwaves to heat up so many meals in one go!!! Good Lord, you're running a cafe, and you can't get 5 meals out at the same time. Meals should all come out at the same time, it's 101 of hospitality. Needless to say we won't be returning.

A few days later my daughter and a friend decided they'd try the cafe 1 last time and went to get scones. When asked what they'd like by the elderly lady, who I'm still assuming is the owner, the girls ask for 2 serves of scones...she writes down 2 scones, so they correct her and say 'No, not 2 scones, 2 serves please' upon which she looks at them, rolls her eyes, shakes her head, and says 'so 4 scones?'. 'Yes, exactly, 4 scones.' they reply. The owner's attitude towards the girls was nothing short of shocking. Shame on her.

We have nothing against the young waitress that works there - non of this...

Shocking customer service, from the time we walked in, greeted by a very bruff young lady who was so sour my friend actually felt compelled to ask her why she was being so rude, to the older woman who presented like the owner of the cafe and, soon after we had finished our scones and tea, was too quick to tell us they needed to clear the tables for the lunch crowd that was coming in. Lunch crowd? Really? On a Thursday? They were not queuing up outside the doors. My friend works in hospitality and knows firsthand how to provide good customer service, I work with clients daily and also know how it's never appropriate to be rude and condescending to anyone, let alone new customers from the city, passing by in our travels, eager to bring extra business to a small cafe in a small country town. I have never encountered such horrible manners by hospitality staff and found it...

This place is so pretty and in a great location. It's just a shame that there isn't much in terms of options for something to eat other than a some toasties, or a reheated pie with a tiny salad (it wasn't from a warmer, the warmer was empty).

It looks like a pretty well-equipped kitchen and has lots of tables, but trying to eat a lunch/brunch here just doesn't work. I have to say it was one of the worst pies I've eaten also.

If you go to a cafe for a weekend brunch you'd expect a breakfast of some sort, maybe some simple cafe standard options, but instead it's devonshire tea, toasties, or pie. What a shame these are the options in my local area.

Also in regards to service: when you approach the counter you're directed to sit, but you ask what pies are available, to be told to read the menu. When you order off the menu you're told they're out of stock of things.

I miss...