Benji's — Restaurant in Amsterdam

Benji's is a breakfast and brunch spot in a neighborhood that has very little competition. It's nice to have an option for coffee! I have been here over different seasons/times/years. The menu is nice and various, the chef does a good job and the ingredients are fresh. Whoever you are in the kitchen, it's a lot of work and you are appreciated. What pushes the ranking down to me is customer service. A few points: 1) the plants are dying, looks like they gave up on making the café a nice and well taken care place 2)customer service is average and not much thought put in it (like the whole Amsterdam region) For example: a. they charged 25 euro more by mistake as they sent the same order of coffee twice although they were aware of the mistake, no communication amongst the staff b. There was an insect on the coffee plate they served, and, a good rule of thumb is not to charge the customer if something like that happens, they charged anyway. Also, they don't split...

The food here is really good, no complaints at all on the quality. But there’s a big issue that keeps repeating, and it needs to be addressed.

The place says it’s open until 16:00, but that’s not really true in practice. The second time I went around 15:30 to order some takeaway, I was told the kitchen closes at 15:30. Fair enough, so I went back another day at 15:10, and the kitchen was already closed. I even asked what the actual kitchen closing time is so I could plan accordingly, but they couldn’t give me a clear answer.

If you stop serving food well before your advertised closing time, that should be communicated clearly on your website, social media, or even Google Maps. If your business is selling food, and you say you're open until 16:00, then customers should be able to order at least takeaway until 16:00. Otherwise, the real closing time is 15:00 or earlier.

It’s a pity, because the food is good, but the experience ends up being...

My friends and I tried Benjis for the first time, despite me living in Amsterdam for a year. I had been eager to visit ever since putting it on my "To Do" list before moving. However, I'm disappointed to say that this experience won't bring me back.

To sum it up:

• We waited over an hour for a waitress who wasn’t even serving our table to realize they had lost our order. They wouldn’t have known if we hadn’t raised concerns.

• When our salad and bread finally arrived, we were shocked at the small portions, almost feeling it was intentional. It was near closing time, so it seemed rushed. We left hungry.

• Despite being promised "at most a 50% discount on our meals," we only received free coffee. Then, when paying, the bill had extra charges added without explanation. We were all fed up and just wanted to leave.

Based on this experience, I can't recommend this...