WUNDERHAUS deli & friends — Restaurant in Dusseldorf

“It is not my job to clean up after your children” said the waitress. Do you really need to keep reading?

If so: I have been to this cafe many many times over 15 months and sworn I would not go back more than once due to unfriendly and rude staff:

The cafe is nice but very expensive for what it is and you are over-paying to have staff be repeatedly rude to you. In any other eatery in Kaiserswerth (and there are plenty) they are far cheaper and much friendlier.

Children are not welcome: On my last visit, my children (ages 1,3 and 4) ate adult portions of waffles (as they usually do due to lack of options). The waitress was terribly unfriendly so we thought - okay maybe a bad day.

When I asked for the bill she asked me to clean up after my children. For context - there were 3 large pieces of waffle and one napkin under a table for 6 people. I asked her to repeat the question as I could not believe I was being asked to do this.

Usually I would pick up food if there is any but I had no chance to even think about it. We did pick up the waffles and on the way out I saw the owner and decided to complain (a first for me). He brought over the waitress (not sure why he felt he needed to do this), so that I then had to explain to her that it really is my choice to clean or not and that it is not acceptable to ask me to do so. She was rude. “WHY?” In not a very nice tone and the owner muttered something about “everyone needs to obey the rules a little bit” What rules?

I explained that I was most likely going to pick up the food but I certainly don’t have to. Yes children make a mess and the tipping process is usually the compensation part here.

The waitress then told me “it is not my job to clean up after your children” Needless to say there was no nice tone or any softness in the delivery. I told her I had done her job in two continents and would not in a million years say this to a Customer. This was also met with “why”

I asked her what she would do if someone knocked over a coffee, would she ask them to clean it up? Silence. I then asked if a dog had an accident (there are lots of dogs) - would she ask the owner to clean up - more silence.

I then asked her if she had children - she said no but if she “went somewhere with her friends she behaved in a certain way” I pointed to my 1 year old and asked how exactly she would like him to behave. Silence.

The owner stood there, apologised for not speaking better English and said he “needed to think about this” We left and do not plan to ever return.

I have visited more than 50 countries but have yet to encounter this type of behaviour and the fact that the complaint was met with more of the same in front of the manager shows you that Customer Service is at the bottom of the list.

If you have children go anywhere else. You will spend the entire time on edge and feel not wanted. My children were very well-behaved but it really...

Von Bekannten wurde ich eingeladen, das Wunderhaus kennenzulernen. Sonst wäre ich vermutlich nicht auf die Idee gekommen, aus der Düsseldorfer Innenstadt, mit ihrem vielfältigen Angebot, nach Kaiserswerth herauszufahren.

Ich habe mich gefreut, etwas Neues kennenzulernen. Leider war der erste Eindruck etwas gedämpft.

Zu den Preisen bedarf es hier keines weiteren Satzes. Das wurde in den anderen Rezensionen ausreichend gewürdigt. Mein Frühstück, mit Avocado-Lachbrot, Obstsalat, Orangensaft, Kaffee und Milchkaffee, lag mit 33 Euro im oberen preislichen Rahmen Düsseldorfs. Daran werden wir uns jedoch ganz allgemein gewöhnen müssen, denke ich.

Mir kam es so vor, als wäre man hier vorwiegend auf den Schönwetter-Tourismus ausgerichtet, denn zum Wiederkommen fühlte ich mich nicht animiert.

Warum?

1. Wartezeiten Zum einen scheint es einen Engpass an der Kaffeemaschine zu geben. Anders kann ich mir die langen Wartezeiten auf die Heißgetränke in unserer Gruppe nicht erklären – auch, wenn es an diesem sonnigen Sonntagvormittag gut gefüllt war.

An den Servicekräften hat es weniger gelegen. Die wuselten behände herum – auch, wenn benutztes Geschirr gerne einmal stehenblieb.

2. Akustik Der Vorteil eines Loftcharakters geht gerne mal im Lärm unter. So auch hier. Wann immer Milchdüsen oder Kaffeemühlen den Raum beschallten, versuchten anwesende Gäste gegenzuhalten. Und so pendelte sich der Geräuschpegel auf unerträgliche Höhen nach oben.

3. Temperatur Es war sicher nicht der Energiesituation geschuldet, dass die meisten von uns gefroren haben. Auch, wenn es draußen sonnig war, die Außentemperaturen lagen bei unter 10 Grad. Und so fühlte es sich an den Unterschenkeln auch an. Der Service hatte die Eingangstür offen verkeilt, weil dann die Arbeit einfacher und schneller von der Hand geht. Doch so wurde es fußkalt.

Auch mehrfach von unterschiedlichen Gästen geäußerte Wünsche, man möge die Tür schließen, konnten an dieser unangenehmen Situation...

Service is a bit all over the place. They seem to be very understaffed and as a result you have to flag a waiter down to get menus or order or pay. It's very frustrating especially when you have limited time for lunch. Food is tasty though, good breakfast options.

Edit: Have been back many times (because there's not much choice in Kaiserswerth) and service is always terrible. Staff are always nice and friendly but there's just not enough of them to run a busy café. Usually there's only one person taking orders, it's absolute madness.

Furthermore €6.50 for a cup of tea is absolutely...