Cafetaria Chelsea Coffee & Brunch — Restaurant in Faro

After initially being impressed with the fact they had 3 different beans in the hoppers, I asked what was available and was told only the Ethiopian option for filter coffee which was fine. When the waitress came to take my order she told me only the Colombian was available for pour overs - ok, no problem. After then waiting at least 25-30 mins for my coffee while the others at the table had already finished, I went inside to ask if it was still coming. A waitress came outside and started to lecture me on how a pour over coffee takes more time to which I started asking her how they prepare it as in my experience it shouldn’t take more than 10 mins max (assuming 2 mins to boil the water if they don’t have it boiling already which I assume they would, 30-45 sec bloom, 2-3 mins main pour and finishing after 4-5 mins). She replied with so much attitude and absolutely no idea about how to prepare a pour over coffee (which I wouldn’t expect a waitress to know but the way that she spoke to me she sounded like she knew after finally admitting that she didn’t have a clue). It wasn’t busy so it wasn’t like there were lots of orders ahead of us either. They had obviously just forgotten about it as when I went inside to see what was going on they had just started it and a few minutes later it was on the table. I was very close to asking for the Livro de Reclamações. The waitresses then very blatantly and unprofessionally talked about the situation several metres away. Then to top it all off, when going to pay they didn’t accept cards of which there was no prior warning so it meant a trip to the ATM to get cash and €15 for 2 hot chocolates and 1 pour over coffee. Definitely would...

Review ⭐⭐☆☆☆ (2/5)

We visited this café in Portugal after getting curious about their selection and decided to stop for a coffee break. Unfortunately, the experience turned out to be quite confusing and not very pleasant.

When we arrived, we sat down at the outdoor seating area, but from the start, it was unclear how the ordering process worked. We went inside to order and asked if they accepted card payments, which the staff confirmed. However, when we were about to place our order inside, we were suddenly told that we had to order from outside instead. No menu was given to us right away, and we ended up waiting around 15 minutes before someone finally brought one out.

Eventually, we ordered coffee and pastries. The pastries were okay but nothing special. The service, however, felt disorganized and inconsistent.

The biggest issue came when it was time to pay. We went back inside to settle the bill by card, but suddenly we were told that they didn’t accept cards at all and that we had to withdraw cash from a nearby ATM. This made our coffee break significantly more expensive than we had expected. When we mentioned that one of the staff had previously told us card payments were fine, they stepped aside, whispered among themselves, and then came back with a new explanation: the card reader had “stopped working” — even though we had just seen other guests pay by card without any problems.

Overall, the experience was quite frustrating. Poor communication, long waiting times, and the payment issue made us feel unwelcome and poorly treated. Unfortunately, this isn’t a place we would recommend or...

The staff were helpful and my breakfast came quite promptly considering how busy it was (Saturday morning). I substituted meat for salmon on one of the eggs hollandaise menus but it needed lemon and pepper and no condiments or dressings or anything were offered (which should come as standard) so wasn’t all that enjoyable. It looked good but tasted bland. I loved the caramel latte and it was a proper size, too. But when I queued up to pay I’d been charged an extra €4 for the salmon. When I told them I’d substituted the meat for salmon I was told they don’t do that and that I had to pay it! It was shocking! I didn’t get meat (as I don’t eat it) and the waitress had said yes to giving me smoked salmon instead, yet here I was being told it’s not possible (a favourite expression among the Portuguese) - sigh. How could it not be possible when that’s exactly what had just happened?! So I paid as I didn’t fancy standing having an argument in a busy cafe but I asked them to give me the meat in a takeaway box for my dog then as I’d paid €4 for it! I hate that they pulled a fast one, it’s upsetting when you’re treated like a criminal or difficult customer like that. Was a tepid review on Google really worth trying to rip me off €4? I have a bad taste in my mouth from that. I wouldn’t order the food again as it was bland but I might have gone back for the coffee had they not been silly about the meat/salmon exchange at the...