Steam Haus — Restaurant in Western Australia

Used to come here all the time with my friends and children. Patrons can understand the need to clean up after children and not bring outside toys inside and be held accountable. However, the passive aggressive notes on all the tables with the “rules” could be supported by staff frequently cleaning floors and wiping down tables. The state of the place was disgusting when we arrived and it was so quiet, both staff I saw were having a chat rather than cleaning up after the morning rush. My biggest complaint is enforcing no outside food EVEN for small children/toddlers is obscene and frankly incredibly tone deaf during a cost of living crisis. We were asked to put away our snacks we packed for our toddlers (both under 18 months) even though we ordered food and coffee for ourselves. This is an obscene and unfair rule to enforce on parents with small children, especially when you are still getting business from us, the adults. Not only this, but the toasted sandwich was cold and dry on the inside, there was a hair on my croissant and the gate lock outside for the sandpit is not childproof. Really disappointing after being a frequent visitor each week…we will not be returning. Not family friendly.

In response to your comment: I love supporting small businesses but fairness and quality of service is still important. Especially when times are hard- when people do spend their money they want it to be worth it. Hold your staff and patrons to a higher standard with the cleanliness and upkeep. I’m only speaking on behalf of myself but I always clean up after my child. And even with these small signs on each table and no snack rules in place, the space was still so filthy when we arrived. Maybe having friendly and LARGE signs stating “please be mindful and clean up after your children, thank you” etc and more frequent spot cleans and table wiping from staff is a better way to go. Your suggestion to go to a public space is all well and good, but do you not want business?! We had just come from another local small mother owned business around the corner and like most parents were dying for a coffee and the toddlers were starving. We had to leave sooner than we intended due to not being able to give them snacks. Leaving us with hungry and grumpy kids. The fact I’m having to explain myself like this really highlights that rather than taking this feedback on as an owner, you have been defensive and accusatory (which isn’t a proactive way to running and improving a business). The misuse of equipment and mess left by patrons etc is definitely not fair on you or your employees (or those of us who do the right thing as patrons) but there are more proactive ways to tackle this and your response still doesn’t speak for the other issues I’ve mentioned...

Where is the accountability from the owner…

My friend and I visited with our 16 month olds and had a very disappointing experience. We both had been there before quite a few times and thought it would be helpful to leave a review because she was so shocked at how bad the experience was - the standard was low and the changes to allowing outside food (more so snack for our toddlers) was a cherry on top of a bad experience. The response to her review was so negative, trying to guilt trip her and she took no responsibility nor did she apologise or acknowledge the issues with our food. She has since deleted the comment and gone to Facebook to engage sympathy. Listen, as parents we sympathize…we understand the hustle but also people are paying customers we expect a clean environment and good quality food - for example: no hair on it and cooked through/not stale or dry. Any business that markets itself as family or kid friendly should be aware kids make mess, and yes parents should 100% be cleaning up after their kids but staff should be cleaning up periodically to maintain general hygiene and safety. The tables hadn’t been cleared or wiped and the back area was empty when we arrived. These are all things originally mentioned in my friends review. We surely can’t be the only ones who have a problem with this. It’s all well and good to try and bury my friends low review with positive reviews from friends etc. but all you needed to do was take accountability for the poor quality of food. Take on the feedback and apologise. Guilt tripping and fishing for sympathy on Facebook isn’t a very professsional way to deal with this. Saying you’re getting hate comments is far from what we are doing - a review is feedback/honesty about our experience. Sit down and brainstorm how your business can cater better for your kid friendly environment, keeping parents or patrons accountable too whilst maintaining quality food and cleanliness as any cafe...

Updated review. I've been coming here for years and was always impressed, however since new owners have taken over, the quality of the food has dropped considerably. Service is still good at the counter and staff are great, but quality of food, presentation and price has changed lots. Prices are higher than most other cafes for same food menu items. I have been here 4 seperate times since new owners have taken over just in case the previous visits were just "off days", but the quality is still not there each time. There is nothing special with the food anymore and it's cooked and presented like anyone can cook at home themselves without any experience. Disappointed ....... .......... ......... .. .......... .........

Whenever I have visited Steam Haus I have always been greeted with extremely friendly and prompt service. There are many places to sit and eat or enjoy a coffee and cake in this wonderful spot. You can sit outside the back on the rear patio on some comfortable tables and chairs or lounge suites and even the bring your fur baby with you. Inside there's lots of little separate rooms with lounge suites and coffee tables you can sit and relax and enjoy your time leisurely reading a book whilst enjoying your coffee or you can sit in the main cafe area or even outside on Whatley Crescent. They have a large range of food including cakes and all day breakfast. They do gluten free options and also lactose free milk with fantastic coffees. Definitely well worth a visit on your trip to the Maylands cafe strip. Its gets busy on weekends so...