The Lost Boys Cafe — Restaurant in Hamilton

Just a bit gutted to share this review as have always enjoyed this cafe.

My friend and I went here and her coffee did not arrived with mine. We checked with the person who delivered my coffee and she assured us it was coming. Half an hour later we checked with her again and she said “yes” it’s coming, there’s just been a really big order”. 45 minutes later it had still not arrived so I went in to check where it was. I then explained to someone else at the counter, who I had been speaking to and she said “don’t talk to her she’s chaotic”.

At the same time they were making a coffee, and when it was done the barrister yelled “it wasn’t on the order”. By this time we were going to ask if it could be take-away but it was already poured.

They then told us they were going to go through the receipts. About ten minutes later they found the order and discovered that my friend’s coffee order had not been taken, even though she definitely did order it.

The wait staff brought the receipt out to show us. There were utterly no apologies made for the fact that that they missed it, or that the coffee was 45 minutes late, or that they did not follow up when we asked.

Instead the owner said we must pay for it so we paid for the missing coffee and left. Just really, really poor service and attitudes. It was busy and we didn’t mind paying for the coffee, it was more the dismissive attitude and arrogance to not even apologise or take any responsibility.

Sad because they do make excellent coffee and prior to this there’s always been a good atmosphere. It’s a cute character place and the cabinet food is also good quality. This particular day was not the usual front of house woman who is personable, friendly and efficient. Maybe it was just a really bad day.

We’ll go back as the coffee is good, but just make sure to follow up assertively if your coffees don’t arrive at the same time. Hoping it was just a bad day and that into the future there’s better communication between front of house staff and customers.

UPDATE: In response to the owner's reply below - she did not apologise, when I went to the counter to pay she said in a chirpy voice "You've come to pay for the trimmy". There was utterly NO apology at the end, and she still required we pay for a coffee that was 45 minutes late and completely their fault. Her response speaks for itself. I understand mistakes happen, but it's how you handle it that counts. WOW. Will not...

My first time going to this cafe that a friend recommended to me today. At first the service was friendly. We ordered two coffees and a scone. The coffees come out at a reasonable amount of time and I was nice. The scone however took a very long time, like long enough we thought they had definitely forgotten it. When I went to check if it had just been forgotten the woman snapped back at me that it was still coming. A minute later, we were presented with a burnt scone. Like black, totally over toasted. We actually didn’t want the scone toasted/heated but we weren’t asked. It was just annoying because clearly they forgot about the scone, burnt it and instead of just saying sorry it will and heating us another one they served us a burnt scone and acted like that was sweet.

Edit: After reading their responses I decided to contact the business. Let me make this clear because she blamed me for not saying I didn’t want it heated. I couldn’t have cared less if the scone was toasted. And hey maybe ask your customer how they want it like every other cafe does. I didn’t appreciate the gaslighting because she could handle getting bad feedback. At the end of the day, you served me burnt food, then you tried to make out in response to my review that I had a problem with the fact it was toasted when i actually had a problem with the fact it was BLACK!! They could’ve just said sorry will do better next time but instead you decided to lie and blamed me in your response...

What a great place!! This morning I arrived from Wellington for work and wanted a coffee stop somewhere between Hamilton airport and Huntly. On Googling, this has the most intriguing name and nicest-looking photos of the interior. I love vintage so was not disappointed by the cute old (but warm!) building. The best part was the they had a gluten free, dairy free and vegan cabinet with loads of options!! I discovered that by accident and literally said “Hallelujah!” - as I’d brought nuts up with me as snacks because I did not expect to find suitable food for me anywhere. I had a delicious slice of coconut-banana bread with coconut yoghurt and peanut butter to spread on it. Add a perfectly smooth black coffee, and the whole experience was YUMMM! Definitely going back when I’m next...