Dôme Café - Maylands — Restaurant in Western Australia

Visiting Perth with friends and we organised to have a big group of us (10 in total) gathering there on a Sunday afternoon. Arrived to find that 'we don't take bookings on weekends' despite the tables clearly labelled with 'reserved' signs and waiting lists hanging on doors leading to side rooms (oh, and that we were asked if our 2pm booking was actually the 3pm booking under the name Bridget). When we were finally, and very reluctantly, given a space in the ballroom (where staff had clearly been having their breaks as there was dirty crockery and cutlery on the tables) we set up the tables ourselves and then went back in to the main part of the restaurant to order food.

While the food arrived relatively quickly, the chicken fillet used in the parmigiana was the smallest size I have ever seen in my life, and there was also a relatively small serve of chips with lots of salad to pad out the plate. Given the price, that was extremely disappointing. Even more shameful was the fact that another person in the party received the wrong order TWICE! It was around 3pm by the time our food arrived, the lunch-rush was well and truly over, and there was no real excuse for these issues.

We had just got out meals when the waitress/manager who had let us use the room came in to ask how long we would be since the Toastmasters apparently had a standing booking in the room (this despite apparently NOT taking bookings on weekends?). When we pointed out that our booking was for 2 hours, and we had only just got our food, they decided they could put Toastmasters somewhere else instead, and we were finally left in peace to eat our meals.

Overall this was an incredibly disappointment experience and it certainly puts me off eating at any Dome restaurant going forward since I worry any future experiences might be worse. There are a lot of lessons that the staff could take from this bad experience of ours - I just...

Wife and I dropped in for coffee and light brekky. Okay… I’d like to see this franchise/outlet succeed but somewhere along the line, you shouldn’t sacrifice quality for profit because you’ll strangle the mouth that feeds you.

So… there are baristas and then there are machine operators who know how to operate an espresso machine. A barista ensures the right amount of coffee, the correct temperature of the milk, topping up etc. The machine operator presses the button, heats the milk and goes through the motions. If you’re lucky they might even clean the machine once in a while. We both found the coffee lacking.

On to the bit of food we ordered. Smoked Salmon Benedict looks terrific and appetising in the menu but the photo didn’t match up with reality. The bread was old and took an effort for the metal knife to cut through! The smoked salmon - talk about cost cutting! It was one veneer, the term “slice” would be too generous. It was one veneer you could see through. The photograph showed several slices. Guys, you have a whole lot competitors across the road and you’ve lost me to them. Beautiful old building and that’s it. Shame really.

One more thing - all the food at this Dome outlet is FREE! Yes, FREE! It must be because there are no prices listed in their...

Popped in to MAYLANDS Dome for lunch which included an Orange Juice without ice. This resulted in a glass of juice just over half full. An unsolicited offer was made by an embarrassed staff member to add more juice and it was accepted. Surprisingly, what i assume was, a supervisor or manager returned with the glass unadjusted and told us that without ice meant this was all the OJ you get!! Now quipping over 20ml of OJ is in it self no big deal, but when we suggested a glass of OJ was ordered and paid for then it was a reasonable logic that a glass was a glass and that the offer of ice was an option that the customer could make, without penalty. In this case the OJ authority proceeded to justify his involvement, in such a trivial or not so trivial matter of how MAYLANDs Dome profits are adversely affected over the addition of ice instead of OJ.

While it wasn’t worth a full blown “Song and Dance” particularly given that the other staff and food was good, the inflexible and over zealous reaction is in my view worth sharing with Dome. My suggestion is that as a company Dome might select authority figures in their company who are capable of better judgment and understanding of what they are actually selling and how hospitality should feature in...