The Good Life Cafe Bistro — Restaurant in England

I wanted it to be great, I really did. An independent quirky cafe with a great view out to the beach and the sea.

It wasn’t bad, just it wasn’t good either.

The service was a bit awkward, rushed, and lacking a warm welcome. Might be being a bit harsh. Maybe.

We ordered coffee and a tea. It took a while to arrive. We ordered an omelette and also poached eggs on toast. Again, took a while to come.

Plus, I’d eaten half/most of mine by the time the other plate had arrived. My omelette tasted cheap and was luke warm. Looked rather sad on the plate. Not difficult dishes to make and to not have them at the same time was annoying.

I got the impression of a cafe where they were struggling to make money and tired of it all. Of course, I could be very wrong. That was my impression.

With so much choice of cafes in the immediate area, I’d not go back.

• Updated 26-04-25 Based on the Reply from the Cafe *

I have downgraded the stars because I believe the rating is based on the whole experience, including how a business deals with a review.

Overall, I found your reply below disingenuous, possibly sarcastic, and bitter.

I could have said, '...eggs were cooked to perfection with lovely runny yolks.' but they were not. The eggs did have runny yolks but that is hardly an unexpected feat of cooking. The eggs were ok. Nothing more and nothing less. After all, we are only discussing cooking poached eggs. I didn't take pictures of those, you are correct, because they were ok. Hardly, something to raise by you.

By telling me that my omelette was hot doesn't make it so. It was not hot. It was lukewarm. As the customer, and as the one receiving and eating the dish, my opinion is important. It doesn't work that you tell me it was hot and it was. It was not. Fact.

'Lots of people are happy'. Yes, agreed. Plus, 11 reviews in the last 12 months are 1-star, 5 are 2-star and there are 3-star reviews also. Largely, all saying the same thing about late food, poor quality food, and poor service.

Your reply is not the way to reply to poor reviews, by telling customers that they are wrong, and with an attitude that comes across so bitter.

I have written over 400 reviews, and as my bio says, I use this platform to support restaurants, cafes, and businesses, particularly independents, which is why over 80% of my reviews are 5-star. I only give a poor review when it is justified. This was. Checkout my Rockfish, Oliveto, Lobster Pot, or The View reviews, and many others, from our holiday in Weymouth, as they deserved their 5-star reviews. This was my only 1-star review from reviewing +10 venues whilst we were on holiday in Weymouth.

Having looked at the other cafes in the area with a similar number of reviews, I can see why every other cafe has a higher rating. Your rating is 4.4 overall, whereas all the other cafes average about 4.7. This is a clue and should be taken note of. The customers are telling you but you are not listening.

We will absolutely not...

We had an awful experience here over Easter weekend. It completely ruined our day. Visited as a family with my autistic daughter. Place was quite busy so we asked what the wait was for the food as we know that my daughter has limited capacity for hunger and waiting. We were told 20-25 mins which is at the upper end of her tolerance window but we felt we could manage. Seating only available upstairs - fine - although perhaps the grotty, damp smelling staircase should have been our warning sign. We ordered straight away and drinks were brought to us within a few mins. We waited patiently for food but after 45 MINUTES my daughter was really struggling to manage. We asked the waitress (the first we had seen since our drinks had arrived 40 mins earlier) when we could expect our food. She went to check and came back to say that there was an issue with the printer and they had never put our order in!! My poor daughter was beside herself and had a full meltdown which was extremely distressing for her and upsetting for us all. We had no choice but to leave (for the sake of other customers if nothing else!) so my husband asked for a refund. And then the icing on the cake was that they tried to short change him! I understand that mistakes happen but something as basic as getting orders to the kitchen needs a more robust system. This might seem like a small thing but for families like ours it derailed...

Recently reopened after new management took over, we popped in for lunch. The food was not great, the salad had no dressing and was very dry, the sandwiches were basic and the panini was not grilled or warm. The chips were nice though, as was the apple juice. It was served reasonably quickly, we would have been happy to wait a little longer for higher quality food though.

The real issue is that being a cash only business (which was prominently sign posted at the front of the shop), we worked out that we had enough money to pay for what we ordered. When we received our bill however, a £3.40 gratuity had been added to it, meaning we needed to use an ATM to pay. There is no mention of this on the menus anywhere. When I raised this (after we had paid) the server was apologetic, saying that the menus should be replaced. But she also told me that the gratuity can be taken off. This is the wrong attitude, it should not be added. A gratuity is optional, based on the quality of the food and service. The customer decides what, if any, tip should be given. To add it on and then only reply that it can be taken off ONCE it is questioned is just not on.

We will not be returning, at least for a good while. Maybe in a few months these points will have been addressed, otherwise two regular customers have moved on to...