Slake Coffee House — Restaurant in Lyon

TLDR : Loved (past tense) this place but Hugely Disappointing Service and No Acceptance by management of Poor Quality in cooking.

Wow, what a disappointment! So looking forward to revisiting Slake after a great experience 2 yrs ago (changed ownership?) and a good experience at (sister cafe) Diploid the day before when we had a virtual identical order but a hugely different outcome.

Photo shows us tucking into Breakfast bun with bacon, coffees, juice and the granola. (This was NOT the same at Slake, hence the ❌) Because the Breakfast bun was lovely at Diploid we both ordered it at Slake.... wrong move.

Two plates turned up, One egg was under, (clear white of egg) the other was hard boiled and cold... inconsistent much? Both eggs were less than ideal.

The bread buns tasted stale, were hardly toasted at all and had no seasoning, butter or dressing of any kind. The vegetable accompaniment was cold (like it was straight out of the fridge), the bacon (extra cost option) was initially MIA but turned out to be hiding under a piece of courgette.

Suffice to say it was the OPPOSITE of our experience from previous visits and of the identical order at Diploid the day before.

Management response was similar to the bacon... MIA initially then miniscule.

Neither of us ate more than a mouthful or two before deciding it was a waste of carbs and not enjoyable at all.

After detailing all the above to two (2) staff there was no offer of partial refund (we had already paid €50 for these and two coffees/juices) just, "Pffft, the cook is new, we will speak to her" and "you can have a cookie" (Really? if I wanted a cookie I would have ordered one)

It just seemed like the whole team were disinterested, not engaged and apathetic to the customer experience.

P.S. they turn off free Wifi access on the weekend so if you are a...

As a former New Yorker now living in France, this spot was very appealing to me. They offer banana bread, an English muffin breakfast sandwich and a lot of different types of coffee. I don't like to write unkind reviews and I know this is a popular place so I'm thinking that maybe I just hit it on a down day?

I feel terrible saying this, but it was the single worst coffee I have drunk in years. The first item I ordered (a latte) was so bitter in taste that I just put it aside and went back to the counter to order a simple long black coffee. This second (but different) cup was exactly the same flavor profile--just incredibly bitter coffee. I looked around the room and everyone else seemed to be happy with their items, but my husband (who will drink any kind of coffee at all) also found the latte undrinkable and the banana bread overly dry.

The staff were all lovely and to be fair, we didn't complain, so they didn't have the chance to correct our experience. But also, it wasn't as if they had done anything wrong. The service was friendly and quick--it was just that we didn't like what they were offering and I personally found the pricing for Lyon to be very high for what was offered. Example: a 9Euro pour-over Chemex that makes two cups of coffee.

Again, very cute spot, looks like the ideal place to hang out and get a great breakfast. There is a couch made out of an old bathtub that I found super charming. It's just that in the end we spent a lot of money and didn't like...

Don't come here. I only gave it a 2 instead of a 1 because the coffee was nothing special, but decent.

They forgot my french toast, and so I wasted 40 minutes of my day waiting. Then I asked, and you'd think I was asking what the 34th digit in pi was. When it finally did come out, it was cold and was a single slice of toast with some rhubarb jam on it. 9.5 euros? My dad said that he now understands the meaning of "s* on a shingle." And, that decent coffee? It wasn't what I wanted because they were in a rush. I tried to be understanding and rolled with it, but couple this with everything else, and all I could be was upset (especially when the guy who sat down after me got his V60 in no time).

Instead of this place, go to: Yummy Pancakes (especially for a long brunch), Arctic Juice & Cafe, or I'd even go ahead and recommend their sister shop Diploid. My experience there was wildly positive. But, if you don't want to risk it, I'd understand.

Note: there are so many amazing OTHER places (beyond what I've mentioned) within walking distance. I just can't recommend them because I haven't been yet! The conclusion is simply: there are too many amazing options around to put...