Toby's Estate , Grand Batam Mall — Restaurant in Batam City

I hardly ever leave 1-star reviews for F&B — I know how tough the industry is, and I usually try to empathize. But this restaurant? This one earned it, fair and square.

From the get-go, the vibes were off. The staff looked like they were being held there against their will. No smiles, no energy, just pure "please don't talk to me" energy. And when we did gently give feedback? Cue the eye rolls and the look of utter inconvenience.

Now onto the food. The brioche bread was stale and bone-dry. The scrambled eggs… weren’t scrambled. They looked like they’d lost all will to live. I checked photos from other reviewers and had to wonder — did we get the understudy chef’s understudy?

The berry smoothie bowl was perhaps the most tragic of all. It looked unappetizing, tasted off, and had clear signs of water separation. It felt like something that had been sitting out far too long.

Honestly, for a well-known chain, this was shockingly bad. Zero service recovery. Zero pride in presentation. Zero stars if I could. Won’t be returning, and would strongly hesitate...

Visited this outlet looking forward to a hearty breakfast, but sadly it fell far short on both food and service.

We ordered the Breakfast of Champions, though what arrived was anything but. The brioche was hard and dry, the scrambled eggs clumpy and unappetising, and the baked beans came in a tiny sauce container - more garnish than side. The cherry tomatoes pictured on the menu were also missing entirely until we asked.

The mixed berry smoothie was equally disappointing. It was watery, bland, and looked like it had been left out for too long. A few sad-looking pieces of fruit on top didn’t help.

We offered our feedback politely, but the staff seemed unbothered. One staff member even looked visibly displeased when we declined the "smoothies".

The only saving grace that's worthy of the single star? The café’s aesthetic. It’s a nice space with pleasant décor and ambience. But beyond that, there’s little...

The restaurant opens early at 8am (for some reason the staff didn't swap the 'Closed' sign when we arrived slightly after 8am) and is quite nicely decorated. The coffee is pretty good as well.

Unfortunately that's where the positives end. The brunch food that we ordered, their breakfast for champions and berry smoothie bowl, were disappointing. The supposedly scrambled eggs were pasty and mashed, bread was stale and dry and the quantity of baked beans and mushroom served was miserable. There wasn't even any cherry (tomato) on top as shown in the picture in the menu. The smoothie bowl was watery and weird, not sure if it was intended to be a fruit juice instead.

Staff were indifferent at best when we tried to feedback on the quality of the food served.

We've had Toby's Estate elsewhere and the coffee and brunch items were always something to look forward to. The same can't be said about...