Neighbourhood — Restaurant in England

Extremely disappointing. I was inspired today to take my 3 children for hot chocolate as a reward as they had been so good trailing around after me all afternoon. This looked like a lovely spot and my father had been telling me earlier in the day about a fabulous experience he had had this morning at an independent cafe on Northgate St where the staff had gone way above and beyond to be helpful. It clearly wasn’t this one! We arrived at 4.15pm and on entrance informed the person seating us that we just wanted 4 hot chocolates. After they informed me that they would take my order once I was seated they made a great show of how they were closing at 5pm and would need us out by then. I informed them that this wouldn’t be an issue as we were expected home to eat at 5pm anyway. We were then asked to pay in advance for our drinks. I’m pretty sure we didn’t look like the kind of people to do a runner, let’s face it, one women with 3 young children would have made quite a spectacle trying to do so! I obliged anyway. As the cafe was empty 15 minutes seemed an incredibly long time to wait for the 3 available staff to make our drinks. When the hot chocolates arrived, they were barely tepid, certainly not even warm and they did not resemble anything in the photos on this web page. Granted we were offered marshmallows for an additional cost but at almost £4 each without I declined adding even more to the cost!!! I did raise the issue of the near cold drinks with the staff as soon as I tried them and was informed that they had been made cooler with the children in mind. I’m all for not burning kids but this was a stretch even for my imagination. Clearly my skin cream is working wonders and I’m now a child again too - my drink was no different to the other three. Am I asking too much for a mistake to be rectified? After all we are all human and mistakes are made but it’s the way you put it right that makes the difference. They did offer to make me new drinks and put them in take-out cups. I’m guessing that’s because it would have taken them too close to closing given that it’s takes 15 minutes to make them for them to do anything else. What really stunned me was the attitude that they “made the drinks cooler with the children in mind” but the same person was now expecting 3 young children to carry and drink hot drinks as they walked a mile home. Really, where do they find these people? There was absolutely no other attempt to offer any kind of compensation whatsoever other than wishing me a nice evening. I think they already ensured that they had spoilt any chance of that for us all. What was meant to be a nice treat turned out to be disaster, an event that left a bitter taste. Lesson learnt for me: ask my father the name of the place he had exceptional service in future instead of assuming that it’s commonplace. I won’t be going back here...

Extremely disappointed. Charges excessive amounts for small portioned bland, poor quality food. The cook/chef cannot even cook an egg. My fried egg arrived over-cooked. The bottom was dark brown and solid where the oil had burnt it. The yolk did not run at all. When I spoke to whom I think was the manager, no apology was made and I did not appreciate the attitude. They offered for me to keep my plate and a fresh egg brought out or to take the plate back and replace the egg. The plate should always be taken back, so I requested this, so the rest of my food could be kept warm whilst waiting for part of the main ingredient. The second egg arrived with the same issue, but the yolk at least was runny. Gordon Ramsey would have shamed this chef. The entire dish was extremely bland and oily. I could not even eat it as it was so oily. My sister ordered the eggs florentine. The poached eggs were solid, with a totally hard dried up yolk. After witnessing the way I was treated she decided not to say anything. We really did not want to ruin our day together by approaching the manager/owner a second time. Fresh juice was served in a very small glass, making it a very expensive drink. In summary: Totally pretentious atmosphere. Overpriced food - I don’t mind paying for quality, however this is not. I can cook eggs better and do on a daily basis. Manager/owner was just rude. Also this is one of those places where the staff do naff all - you have to go to the counter to order, they take your money before you eat, so it doesn’t matter if you complain and they never check back on whether everything is okay. Oh and when I say take your money, they actually refuse cash, which is a legitimate legal method of payment, so don’t get caught out on...

I walked in today to get a slice of cake as I saw it through the window and thought it looked nice. Walked in and no one was there to serve me. I waited for a bit and then someone walked in and said ‘what can I get for you’. No hello or apology for making me wait. I said I would like two slices of cake (1 salted caramel and 1 carrot, orange, and pecan).

There was a small slice (looked about 2.5cm in width) left of the entire loaf for the salted caramel cake and rather than just give me that, she decides to cut that piece in half. It was this point that I should’ve walked out and I wish I had. She then dropped the knife on the countertop and wasn’t concentrating before eventually handing me my slices. She did not say ‘bye’ or ‘thank you’ either. Poor customer service.

Luckily, the other slice of cake (orange, pecan, and carrot) was larger. Considering each slice was essentially £4, I was expecting a bigger slice for the salted caramel rather than her cutting an already small slice even smaller. I found it insulting honestly and I wish I had left, but you live and learn. I have put photos of the cake slices untouched - you will be able to tell instantly which one is the salted caramel slice.

I will definitely not be returning or recommending this...