Le Cafe Journal — Restaurant in England

Awful service! What has happened to this place? Greeted by a robotic waitress who, after seating us, proceded to ignore us completely in favour of a couple in the next table who were obviously her mates. We watched, as they were served their meal promptly ( their order was taken quickly, while we were left just sitting there, and we had limited time.) We were very annoyed by this complete ignoring of us, as we had been sitting there for nearly 20 minutes , whilst the other table had 5 star, chatty treatment. The waitress, sensing that we were far from happy ( I wonder why?) asked what was wrong. We had no wish to elaborate. The meal eventually arrived. It was a ciabatta, and we had no problem with the food as such; it was ok - par for the course- nothing special.. On being pressed yet again, we stopped eating and told her that we were made to feel neglected second-class citizens in her restaurant. She then started a tirade about how our meal took longer to prepare. That was not the issue at all, and we explained that we had been sitting at our table waiting for our order to be taken by her, but she was far too busy chatting to her friends on the other table who had arrived after us, and was making sure their order was taken, and that they were looked after. We, on the other hand, had sat for a long time without any notice being taken of us. Complete second class treatment. She continued to argue on and on with absolutely no apology, just trying to justify her poor treatment of us! This rant of hers with no apology upset me so much I couldn't eat the meal at all. Disgraceful behaviour on the part of a rude argumentative waitress. If she didn't want to know what we REALLY thought, she shouldn't have asked!! Surely if we were new to the cafe it should be us who she should be trying to impress, rather than her cronies! In the days of cost of living crisis, many people do not eat out, or if they do, expect it to be a bit of a treat. This was certainly far from a pleasant, peaceful lunch we had expected and spoilt our day. We later went on to a lovely little cafe up the road, and explained what had happened. Their kindness and courtesy went some way to making up for the awful treatment we had received. I had only been into the restaurant once before, and it was ok, but nothing special. I don't remember the rudeness then, however, otherwise I would certainly not have tried for lunch! I am in the hospitality business myself, and wouldn't dream of treating my guests in this way. Too many establishments are going under in this day and age too, and Warminster is no exception! I suggest the waiting staff review the way they treat their customers, and certainly NEVER ARGUE BACK with customers, when trying to justify poor, discriminatory service, thus making the situation even worse! We shall unsurprisingly not be returning, nor do we recommend the cafe to anyone else. Hopefully this situation might...

If you want to feel irked and as if you are in some absurd tv sketch, this is the place for it. During the week the day I went it was open only 12 to 2:30. The hours on google have not been updated. Food was okay to be fair but the rest has put me off ever coming back.

We were told we could only have lunch as they are a bistro and not a cafe! Fair enough but someone needs to tell them to rename it Le Bistro Journal for a start. The place had one other table in and then it was only ourselves. Despite not being rushed off their feet, neither the cook bringing the food to the table or the lady owner bringing more drinks took the finished with glasses/bottle away for well over an hour.

I saw delicious looking gluten free chocolate brownies staring at me (two massive platters of them) but had had lunch there. The owner told me I could buy one to take with me. Another day I said.

So today at 2:30 thinking Saturday they might be open to 3pm as per hours in Google I called to check they were open n did have gf brownie left. I was informed they were closing now. She also said I could not come in and just buy a brownie to take away - they did not do that. I pointed out she has invited me to do that the other day. She said only lunch customers can buy to takeaway.

This really makes so little sense as you would think rather than a pile of brownies going stale someone buying one while not creating washing up or taking up space would be a fair idea. Only if they have had lunch there prior apparently is within their rigid rules.

I expect to see in the next episode a sign on the door “zee rules are to be obeyed” or “go away - we hate you all with your expectations of the cafe to be a cafe”. They don’t seem to understand the hospitality part of hospitality. You could not make it up.

I understand they may have decided to make changes for personal reasons but don’t call yourself a cafe then (call it Le Luncherie), be consistent, be logical and update your hours on google maps.

Don’t spend your money here or entertain this kind of service unless you want Basil Fawlty and Manuel. They clearly don’t really want your money anyway. What an...

Overall the food was nice, and reasonably priced for a decent portion. It was interesting to see the proprietor (as indicated on her badge) announcing loudly when people walked in “it’s lunch, you can’t just have coffee” which is odd for a cafe on a Saturday. The layout was strange, the tables are big and take up most of the floor, you’d not be able to get a wheelchair or buggy in here (maybe that’s the aim…). You’ll learn the soup and quiche specials off by heart as you’ll hear them from each member of staff. We didn’t enjoy the glove wearing from all the staff members, as there was a dedicated chef so it didn’t feel necessary for the waiting staff to be wearing them - particularly as they were touching the card machine, till, glasses etc without changing them. The proprietor seemed very stressed/slightly erratic, she was seemingly micromanaging a poor teenage waiter and it was very uncomfortable. It’s an interesting experience and not a bad cafe but the proprietor maybe...