In the Beantime Cafe — Restaurant in Ladysmith

I usually get good food here so I’ll give them points for that, but there have been problems with the coffee drinks. One time we were delivered 2 lattes with oat milk that were super sweet. We couldn’t drink them so they were returned and replaced with something else. Today I went in and I ordered 2 pumpkin spice lattes with oat milk. When the order was picked up it was clear they were not made with oat milk so they were re-made both with oat milk. However there was no pumpkin flavour whatsoever in these lattes. Also there was way too much cinnamon on top. So we tried to enjoy these $6.00 coffee drinks but actually couldn’t find anything redeeming about them. So, I returned them and said there was no pumpkin flavour and way to much cinnamon. The barista explained that if I wanted to alter the recipe in anyway I had to say so at the time of the order. I in turn explained that just wanted it to taste like a pumpkin spice latte (this is not my first). She also explained that they use pumpkin purée which apparently doesn’t have any pumpkin flavour. Ok but I’d like a pumpkin spice latte with oat milk that tastes like a pumpkin spice latte. Doesn’t matter how you get there. So yet another pumpkin spice latte was made, this time with more pumpkin purée and a spice mix and again it was awful. The barista suggested I add sugar! (I don’t sweeten any of my coffee drinks) so no. The manager was consulted who was no real help at all, expressing her concern that this was latte #3 and it still wasn’t right. And somehow, it was my fault. Another barista suggested that I didn’t order with oat milk in the first place. Which really annoyed me. I know what I ordered. So it was clear from their defensive posture that the problem was me and it was not going to be resolved. So we left without coffee and $12 poorer. No we won’t be going back there for coffee drinks. Very...

Food took forever to come, and it was just ok, there were other tables but it wasn’t packed. Had to ask about our food and we were told that there was only 1 cook in the kitchen, but there were at least 5 other people working in front - send someone to help out! Another customer asked about his order and the response he got was “everything is made to order so it takes longer”. This would be an acceptable response if the product served reflected the quality associated with “made to order”, but they missed the mark. They finally brought my wife’s & daughters sandwiches and my Island salad didn’t come out until almost 10 minutes later. Island salad was all right, and would have been good if it wasn’t severely over dressed (swimming in dressing). My daughter enjoyed her grilled cheese (but what 6 year old doesn’t like grilled cheese) and my wife’s clubhouse sandwich was “not bad, but definitely not great”. When my salad finally did come out and I mentioned to the server that it took forever, she gave no response except an eye roll. Be very cautious of any establishment where you pay (and tip) in advance of getting your food. We definitely would not return...

Travelling passed Ladysmith, needed a coffee. Time was 8:33am when I entered. Cafe was fairly empty (only 3 tables had customers seated at them). When I started lining up there was a total of 5 people lined up in front of me, so not a crazy busy place especially for the typical morning coffee rush, most coffee shops would experience. By the time I was able to place my order it was 08:51am. I am not sure about most people out there but standing in line almost 20 mins for a coffee to go, at least imo is excessive. There is a Tim Hortons close by where the wait would be quicker, but the coffee is terrible.

On a positive note, the coffee at Bean time was delicious and very well priced! The staff was very friendly but extremely inefficient. I had to repeat my order for my coffee (size, roast and "to go") 3 times!

The young lady behind the counter seemed very erratic and slow at her job. I did not eat there so I cannot fairly comment or score on the "food"but I have to say the food looked amazing and smelled great, I will go back to eat there for sure, I hope they improve their service...