Sencha Lunchstore — Restaurant in Alkmaar

TLDR: avoid this place if you know food.

Powdered and artificially sweetened (not mentioned on the menu) dirty chai for 4,95 is just misleading your customers. Especially for vega(n) places where chai tea is always a staple. Well not at Sencha. For such a high price I expect at the very least some properly brewed tea, not some add water to powder instant stuff. I can buy that in the supermarket.

The cappuccino I got instead was just bad, especially seeing they have a proper machine. Maybe the barista had an off day or something, it tasted like he used the coffee puck from the previous order. Now after revising my review I'm wondering if the barista purposely made me a bad coffee as he seemed offended I didn't like his chai scam.

The caramel shortbread was nice but I think the shortbread was just crumbled cookies and it was cold and therefore rockhard so definitely not freshly made that day. It was taken out of the (regular and therefore too cold) fridge not long before as it had condensed water on it.

The cashier/barista asked my wife if she did enjoy the powdered chai with an undertone that was....you know...unfriendly. Very unprofessional behaviour.

This place came recommended but as a former hospitality pro I had a bad experience. Seeing the (lack of) quality in food myself and in other reviews about old pie and not enough ginger/mint in tea it seems this place doesn't have actual professional cooks/baristas just people playing restaurant and trying to earn cash. Fine for the average Joe, but if you know food, better to...

Nice place, both from the inside and outside. Nicely decorated, and a good atmosphere. Waiters were friendly, and the food and drinks came soon to the table. The fruit juice was really nice (containing lots of red fruits), but the pita vegan rendang was really weird and disappointing. Vegetables were oké, but the rendang was soggy and tasted weird. Couldn't taste the coconut, and the vegan rendang was really wet. Tasted like it wasn't freshly made (hopefully I don't get food poisoning). The bread was good. I've eaten dozens of rendang in my life (both vegan as with meat), and this was, unfortunately, the worst I've ever eaten. The sweets from the bakery looked really good, but I wasn't hungry anymore after this bas...

I like this little cafe, the food is good and the cakes are even better! I love the little atrium at the back. The staff is also friendly and smiley. We wanted to go for their high tea option which we have seen before and looked delicious, but we were told that we had to order a day in advance, so keep it in mind. Unfortunately we are not so good with our coffee/lunch planning so I don't know if we ll ever be able to have it😂. We went for another selection, it was good, but not as impressive as their high tea. Cakes, soups, sandwiches, all very nice with healthy...