Jamaica Blue — Restaurant in Eastbourne

Visited with my mum for some lunch today. I’ve been several times before and it’s been okay, but never great - you often end up chasing up food or sending stuff back.

Today, the whole cafe was filled with smoke and an overpowering smell of burnt fat (this should have been our sign to leave). We ordered something simple - poached eggs on sourdough toast, to get told they can only provide fried or scrambled due to limited staff. There were 6 very young members of staff there, for only a small amount of people to serve, so my guess is that no one was experienced enough to cook poached eggs.

My mum just opted for toast which was £3.40!! (this is Eastbourne shopping centre, not Kensington high street). It turned up and I asked what the bread was as it definitely wasn’t sourdough and looked and tasted very processed - after asking a few members of staff I discovered it was gluten free bread, which I wouldn’t have paid for, had I’d known. I ate some of it but had to leave most as it was revolting and definitely not worth the money. I asked for a partial refund as we should have been informed that what we had ordered wasn’t available, but the sarcastic waitress refused as I had eaten some of it, saying I should have sent it back before eating. I then asked to speak to the manager but she refused to come out of the kitchen.

So, basically, if you go to Jamaica Blue, the likelihood is you’ll pay for something you didn’t order, which will the be prepared, with the expectation for you to send back for a refund. A huge waste of food and money. I’ve finally learn my lesson and will be going somewhere else from now on, that’s managed and...

I've been here a handful of times before and if I'm honest I would have given it 5* but.... My most recent visit was shocking. I ordered a toasted sandwich and a coffee, I was having trouble with paying with contact less so I excused myself and asked them to hold my order until I had popped out front to get signal on my phone to check my banking app. Anyway I came back in and my coffee was still piping hot so I wasn't gone long. Probably about 1-2 minutes. When I came back and paid for my coffee and toastie I checked with the waitress behind the till who originally took my order that my toastie order had gone through. (I've worked in food establishments before and know kitchens hold food back if a situation arises like a payment doesn't go through) she assured me, without checking with kitchen that all was OK and my food was on the way. Around 60 mins later still no toastie and as I watched the server and on duty manager walk out I decided to ask the new waitress what's happening! She asked the kitchen staff and they came out and apologised and said the order got cancelled and asked if I still wanted it. I said yes please and asked for a take out. 2 mins later I was surprised to see my order being handed to me in a lovely cardboard takeaway box. I was very much hungry by this point and looking forward to my sandwich. But ohhhh no!!!!! So for their mess up I got my original sandwich "that they didn't get the order for" previously toasted brie and bacon over an hour old. Can you imagine melted cold brie and bacon sour dough toastie. Needless to say that...

We went there for breakfast this morning. The service was less attentive than it could be. We both had the ‘big brekkie’ my partner didn’t want beans or eggs so replaced these with extra hash browns. The hash browns on both of our breakfasts were so under cooked they were’t edible. The bacon on both was undercooked (rare, but possibly edible, if you like it that way) the baked beans on mine were cold. The sourdough toast was lovely but didn’t come with any butter…. Not an issue for me as I had poached eggs on mine (perfectly poached) as my partner didn’t want eggs his toast was dry. The vine cherry tomatoes are a lovely touch, however, I had about 12 on my plate so I felt they were there more for decoration to make a poorly cooked breakfast look more ‘fancy’. The coffees were amazing tasting, however… I had a latte and he had a flat white… the difference was the cup/glass they were served in. Too much foam on both…. Essentially they were cappuccinos in different sized cups. We weren’t asked if we wanted sauces when the food was delivered to our table, I went to request them from the counter and the server when to get them in the kitchen but she was chatting to the chef for so long she forgot until she came back out and saw me still waiting there. I work in the town centre and have passed this place many times and have wanted to try it…. I’m left quite...