Real Eating Company Canterbury — Restaurant in Canterbury

After visiting the Real Eating Company several times in recent weeks, I feel it is important to write a 5⭐️ review in order to highlight the behaviour of the kind, polite and always friendly members of the team there, so ably led by the manager, Lyra.

The quality of the food, cakes, pastries and drinks alone is enough to tempt anyone passing into the café, however, in my eyes, what sets it apart from the many other coffee houses in the city is the manner and behaviour of the staff.

Last week I witnessed ‘Emily’ finding the time to engage in a wonderfully caring conversation with a older lady, who appeared to be visiting the café for the first time in several months.

Although Emily had been busily engaged in maintaining the cleanliness of the outside tables, it was a truly heart-warming sight to see how she engaged with the lady and made her feel at home and settled at her table, especially as one sensed the customer was slightly nervous at being out in public again after the recent lockdowns. Emily’s charming manner, totally natural, kind, and thoughtful exemplifies the positive ‘feel’ one gets upon entering the establishment.

Every member of the team deserves credit for the way they contribute to the genuinely welcoming atmosphere of the café, but I would like to highlight Lyra, Emily, and a young man, Bozhi, in particular, due to their stand-out professionalism, and totally engaging manner.

Thanks for being such positive individuals in the most difficult of circumstances. You are truly valued by your customers.

Best...

Oh dear. We entered the empty shop and I was surprised to see how big it is.

We approached the counter and found that the 2 members of staff that weren't particularly inviting.

Things didn't get better. We had to tell the staff that most of their cakes had flies on and they didn't seem to care. A half arsed attempt to shoo them away and a pathetic excuse when he pointed to the fly zapper near on a wall some distance away. Other coffee shops in town have methods to protect their food that are very simple.

After making the prompt decision not to get anything to eat, I decided to have just a hot chocolate. Alas, we were told they didn't have any. So i decided to try a latte. This too, was a wrong decision. The coffee was too hot and tasted burnt. There was no lids and nothing to protect my fingers from burning. It quickly made its way to the bin.

I won't he returning. There are far superior coffee shops a...

The toilets were far dirtier and smellier than any I’ve encountered on a train. It didn’t seem like cleaning products were used frequently. The hand dryer didn’t work, I had to use the loo roll that was balancing on top of the loo roll holder to dry my hands. The one that everyone else had already handled. The staff didn’t tell me that there is a lift for us disabled people to use. It’s quite obvious that I have mobility issues. Otherwise the service was good and the mango iced tea was lovely. I wouldn’t go back again as dirty smelly toilets make me wonder what the...