Osom Coffee Cantine — Restaurant in Madrid

This is the first time in my life I had the need to write a review. For some bars or restaurants I can just say they’re bad, but this is a whole new level of just doing things wrong. Definitely the most pretentious bar I have ever been to. They pretend like they’re a fine dining restaurant serving caviar while they’re basically serving not that special coffee and low-quality pastry. This was my third time here this month, but the first one that I sat inside. You don’t need to fake smiles, but still being so not welcoming is annoying. The reason we returned is because my kids love the playground close to the bar and my husband and I, we love specialty coffee, so we had coffee twice before and it was fine, still below Madrid's average.

After we entered through the first doors, the tall waiter stopped us from entering further by putting the huge wooden sign in front of us, almost in our faces, that said we had to wait to be seated. It would be fine either to keep that sign on that spot all the time or just to approach us by saying that, since he was already there. Any welcoming word would also work. I’ve heard him saying to an older lady that wanted to sit at the window table that the table is too big for one person and that there are more guests that are waiting to be seated. There were only us and 3 more tables were free. When we arrived, 2 adults, one toddler and one baby with 2 prams, I could tell by his appearance that he didn’t want us there, since he wanted to sit us at the table away from the other guests. I guess he assumed the kids wouldn’t fit his pretending-to-be-posh atmosphere. When I asked for the window table, he said that it would be hard to fit two prams there. My face changed because I felt that was not the real reason, since the cafe is pretty spacious compared to others. He saw my look and suggested to put one pram away and finally seated us next to the window. My girls were super quiet, but so was the whole place. Deadly quiet. It felt like we were in the class. My husband and I were laughing at how weird it was.

And then the coffee arrived. One had some latte art, the other was just mess. The taste was nothing special. My girl ordered a cookie because the day before she had eaten one freshly baked in the other specialty shop. She was expecting the same but this one was COLD (like fridge cold), hard to chew, and you could feel sugar that didn’t melt. The cinnamon roll was made out of puff pastry and looked like somebody already had a bite. Nothing special either. Tostada with ham and cheese was super greasy, you could just squeeze the grease with the fork. All of that cost us more than 20 euros. Not welcoming stuff and that weird deadly atmosphere plus the products that were NOT GOOD. The interior is beautiful but I would never return...

Incredibly unfriendly service. I went there to enjoy a morning coffee and as I entered their first question was “are you going to use your laptop” ?! I was very surprised to be greeted with this question instead of a warm welcome. Firstly I was NOT there to get work done I was just there to enjoy my coffee secondly Why do I even have to explain myself ?! when I set down I had to send an email so I took out my laptop to reply to an email. And before I knew they came again telling me to move from the table because where I was sitting wasn’t allowed for laptops. I told her that I’m not here to work and I’m just sending an email. She forced me other close my laptop or move! Also to mention that the entire cafe was empty only 3 tables were occupied. I didn’t enjoy my coffee and my whole morning was ruined by someone’s horrible attitude towards a guest that was just there to have a coffee. Serving coffee and food should come with a kind attitude and not strictly rules what’s allowed and what’s not while I already informed them that I’m not...

Stale bread and poor service. On a Saturday afternoon, when the shop is more than half empty I was told I couldn’t read my book because it was on my tablet. If I had a paper copy they would permit it. I wasn’t working on a laptop, simply trying to quietly relax and read my book. They can have any rule they want, maybe they even have them posted by the door (I never imagined reading a book would be in violation of some rule), but this was very poor judgement of the staff (including the owner) to enforce such an arbitrary rule when the store is mostly empty. I always thought a coffee shop was a safe place to relax and READ A BOOK. But hey, they got their 8 euros, and that’s the last euro they’ll get from me. Also, the lemon bread was rock hard. Please cycle out the food if it’s no...