Wild Yeast Bakery — Restaurant in England

Bad food and poor customer service :(

Went to buy bread and lunch, arrived at 12:45 to an almost empty bakery. Had to wait almost 5 mins for someone to come and serve me from the back, the original item I asked for “hadn’t been made yet” and it sounded like it wasn’t available. I quickly ordered the mozzarella and pesto toastie. When it arrived the cheese was like orange burger cheese and tasted bad, I have never in my life taken food back but it was that bad! I quietly told the worker (because there were other customers that eve) that the cheese wasn’t mozzarella and tasted bad, and asked for something else in replacement. They told me it was vegan cheese and I should have read the board, I said even so it was poor quality and tasted bad. I also pointed out that they didn’t have my original order (tuna focaccia) so I had to change it quickly. I wasn’t blaming the worker, I even said I understand they don’t order the food (cheese) but it tasted bad and I’d like something in replacement. Their response was to say I only didn’t like it because I wasn’t vegan, I’d had to pay for something else to eat and I should have read the board. I left my food by the til and left.

I try to buy my bread from wild yeast when I can because I want to support a local business, but lately it’s seemed understaffed with long waiting time even when not busy. Given that I arrived before 1pm today, with literally 4 other people there (almost empty) I would expect lunch items to be available and either made or able to be made (that wasn’t offered as an option to me), and service was so disappointing - a new toastie could easily have been made at little expense given it was dead in there and they would have food waste anyway. I would also recommend changing the name of that toastie to “vegan cheese, tomato and mozzarella” and investing in better quality ingredients.

Sadly won’t be returning for bread or lunch again, a lost loyal...

Have been going to this cafe for ages, used to be amazing, sadly has gone downhill, I think possibly with new management.

given that it’s a bakery it’s a shame pastries and sandwiches being kept til next day so not fresh, a travesty on the fantastic pastel de natas that they’re famous for! Often soggy and stale, and no labels to identify each item staffing reduced from 2 to 1 person, means service is poor, especially at peak times. Wait time today was so long that I watched several customers leave before being served outside area not accessible for prams/disabled

On the bright side: cosy atmosphere, warm, pastel de natas are fantastic when fresh, coffee is good, toasties ok although usually under-filled, dog-friendly, has...

Is it under new management? We used to love wild yeast, but we just stopped to grab some lunch to go and it's really gone downhill. We ordered 2 toasties, one was salami which was Ok, and the other was supposed to be brie and chutney. I added a photo to show the amount of brie included, which was almost none. Both toasties were very dry, and the cinnamon bun we ordered was also very dry/stale and didn't really taste of cinnamon. The other thing worth noting is that there was very loud religious music playing. Each to their own, but it gave the place a different vibe to usual.

After this experience I don't think we'll be getting lunch from wild yeast...