Jamaica Blue — Restaurant in England

I’m not sure if there has been a change in management, but this establishment has noticeably declined in quality since my regular visits several months ago.

Over the past few weeks, I’ve visited three times. On my first visit, I ordered a flat white and a sausage and egg breakfast roll. Unfortunately, the experience was disappointing. The male staff member seemed untrained, offering no interaction beyond telling me the cost. When my coffee was served, I had to return it because it was overly milky and lacked froth.

The food was also below standard. The egg was burnt on the bottom and excessively greasy, which didn’t feel fresh or worth the price. Although I was disappointed, I didn’t say anything at the time because it had taken too long and I had other commitments.

On a positive note, the female front-of-house staff was polite, responsive, and seemed somewhat embarrassed about the quality of the food and drink.

I decided to give the place a second chance, as I understand everyone can have an off day. This time, the female staff member greeted me warmly and took my order properly. The coffee was great, but unfortunately, the food still didn’t meet expectations for the price.

I couldn’t help but notice the kitchen staff seemed uncoordinated, which made me wonder if they are undertrained.

On my final visit, I only ordered coffee, which was once again prepared perfectly by a different female staff member. However, I opted not to order food after seeing the same kitchen staff, now joined by another individual whose appearance raised concerns about hygiene. In an open kitchen, maintaining high cleanliness standards is crucial.

Lastly, I noticed the door poses a safety risk as it shuts quickly and jams, which was an issue on all three of my visits.

Regrettably, I won’t...

We arrived at around 2pm, with the café half full, and everything initially seemed fine. We were greeted warmly by one of the waiters and seated promptly. After choosing our food, we placed our order. However, we ended up waiting over an hour and fifteen minutes for the food to arrive!

There was a clear lack of care from the chefs in the back, who spent most of the time standing around, joking, and laughing. Hot food was left under the heat lamp for up to ten minutes, waiting for other dishes to be prepared. My partner’s chicken Caesar salad arrived after an hour, while I continued to wait for my panini. I was told it would be another five minutes, but those five minutes came and went – and then another five minutes passed.

When my panini finally arrived, the waitress slammed it down without a word of apology. There was no offer of additional drinks, no acknowledgment of the fact we had to eat separately, and a complete lack of customer care throughout.

As for the food quality, it was mediocre at best. My partner’s poached egg, having sat under the heat lamp, had essentially turned into a hard-boiled egg. The overall lack of flavour and poor presentation reflected the indifferent atmosphere in the café.

I would strongly advise choosing another place to eat when visiting Rushden Lakes. There are far better options where your money will be...

I have been coming here for years. Today I experienced such poor customer service that it needs mentioning. Firstly I had a 1 and 2 year old that need feeding and secondly I have a wheat intolerance and hypoglycaemia. Many tables came and go and our food had still not arrived, me and my 2 year old were getting so unbelievably hungry and irritable, yet each time I asked I got a glance and was told that we were next. We were not. When I got to the point where I was unfortunately angry and on a hypo I was then told, well you are on a special low gluten order so we had to put yours last for safety. No one told me this, and there was not much in the way of an apology either. One nice girl at the till saw I was struggling and gave me some gf cake for my blood sugars. I am upset because whilst I was a difficult customer, the staff should be trained on basic communication and customer service and also how to deal with scenarios such as mine. The coffee and the food here are lovely and I have never had an issue before, but families and young kids especially need to not be waiting so long and I could have at least been told if they had to wait one hour for their food whilst everyone else only had to wait 15 minutes, which was the case with us....