Scout Cafe — Restaurant in Hibiscus and Bays

A very chic, fresh eatery on the North Shore, Scout seems to tick all the boxes. The interior is invitingly decked out in contemporary pastel shades and light wood with a sprinkling of greenery throughout. And one cannot ignore the startling number of pretty pink accents from the menus to the table vases.

The menu is a cafe-hopper’s delight, classics aplenty along with signature twists to invite exploration, to say nothing to say nothing of the tempting treats in the cabinet which were demolished by the Saturday lunch crowd in the time we dined. My two companions enjoyed brunch from the kitchen while I had a chicken bagel. Their breakfasts were stunningly presented, although a request for no hollandaise seemed to have been forgotten. The bagel was generously filled and just right for the morning.

Service was friendly, but not as efficient as it could have been. A lengthy wait for our coffees and we witnessed the waitress having a chat while our drinks stood getting colder. Our second round of drinks we had better luck with. Coffee definitely good enough to enjoy seconds. I tried a matcha latte. Very on-trend and made with coconut milk, a little sweet for my own taste but worth a try.

I ventured in for a second visit on the morning of my departure just as they were opening. Again, a lack of efficiency in service but the salmon bruschetta was absolutely stunning. If the youthful staff just recieved a touch more training in service, this would be a 5/5...

UNMASKED STAFF AND NOT CHECKING VACCINE CERTIFICATES.

I will not be coming back to this establishment even though I only live down the road. An unmasked staff member had a lengthy phone conversation while standing at the counter directly in front of a customer, then proceeded to start making drinks, only pulling her mask up part way through. The staff member who was going to take my order was not going to ask to see or validate my vaccine certificate. I asked her 'would you like to see my certificate?' her response was a casual 'oh, yeah' at that point I just said no thanks and walked out.

Throughout the pandemic hospitality businesses have been asking for understanding, empathy, support and the right to open their doors and continue to make a living. In most cases rightly so. This specific business however lead customers to believe that they have the mandated safety protocols in place, indicated by a 'please present your vaccine certificate' sign and I made the choice to support this business based on that. The fact that they don't bother to follow the necessary steps to protect their staff or their customers tells me that they don't deserve any support or to still be operating.

I will continue to support and spend my money at businesses that do the right thing , put the effort in to operate safely , and do not mislead...

The lady behind the counter was incredibly rude and impatient (got our order wrong, got mad at my fiancée when he tried - unsuccessfully - to correct her), and was racist to my fiancée. When we told her we wanted take out and not have here she snatched the number she gave us back out of my hand and asked for his name… when he told her, she actually scowled! He spelled it out to her (and it’s a common Tongan name of only five letters!) and she continued scowling and went “huh?” making it out like it was a very difficult thing for her to do. I couldn’t believe what I was seeing and, despite now living pretty locally and frequenting Long Bay Beach, we will never be returning. I have left my name and number with the business and hope that they will call me both with a sincere apology and action plan as to how they will ensure this doesn’t happen to...