Trading Post Coffee Roasters — Restaurant in Lewes

Been coming here on and off for a couple of years, sadly appears to have rapidly gone downhill in the past six months or so.

In general, the food was good, the service was decent, so we stopped going to Bills across the road for breakfast and came here instead.

First issue arose around six months ago, ordered Eggs Benedict which came with so much soggy spinach that the entire meal tasted like water, was really disappointing. Put it down as a one off and still continued to visit.

Next time, my partner orders the full English as she normally would, and it came with some kind of pesto spread across the plate which wasn't mentioned anywhere on the menu and wasn't there before (she doesn't like pesto), and it made the bread soggy. Again gave the benefit of the doubt.

Two visits ago, I ordered pancakes and bacon as I have done before. Pancakes come out - three pancakes and bacon. I was sure that normally it is five - but I thought I must have been getting confused with Bills, because surely they wouldn't give me almost half of the meal they'd normally serve. I left still hungry.

Then our most recent visit was a disaster from start to finish. Found a table that had presumably just been vacated as there are still dirty plates (you don't wait to be seated, you sit wherever). We move the dirty plates and cups ourselves out of the way, still on the table. Eventually someone comes over and clears the plates, leaving the spills and crumbs on the table - we had to go and find someone to come and wipe the table down.

I go up to the counter and order, and someone (presumably the manager?) is arguing with one of the other staff members at the till which is a bit awkward, but whatever. I then get called over to order by the presumable manager - I start placing my order for food, and was met with a pause, a look, and a "it's a 45 minute wait for food". Now you might consider this good service to set expectations, but it was not delivered in this way and has been said to me on the past three visits, with the food taking 20 minutes or less each time. It gave me the feeling I was inconveniencing them by ordering food.

Anyway, order the food, about to order the drinks, and without saying anything, the person serving me turns round and starts talking to another staff member - for a good 30 seconds to a minute, while I'm just standing there. He then turns back round and looks at me so I assume I should continue. Order an English breakfast tea and a coffee, pay, and go sit down.

Drinks take an age to arrive, and for some reason peppermint tea arrives instead (probably because he was distracted talking to his colleague). Have to go and find someone to get the correct tea. While I am sitting here waiting, another table receives their food - five pancakes!! I wasn't going mad, I was just short changed on my last visit for no reason!! Our food arrives moments later, the bread in my partner's sausage sandwich was so thin it was falling apart and had to be eaten with a knife and fork. Knives and forks which we had to go and hunt down as the ones on our table had not been replenished. Meanwhile, while eating, staff repeatedly walked in and out to the outside seating area, leaving the door wide open each time (this is winter). Ourselves, and other guests, had to stand and close the door, probably four or five times, and the staff continued to open the door and leave it wide open.

I finished my food, my partner was still eating her sandwich, someone comes over and asks if we are finished while my partner is mid mouthful.

I genuinely think everything that could have gone wrong, did go wrong - resulting in probably the worst dine in experience I've ever had. Each visit has got progressively worse which is sad to see as we did really enjoy visiting, but we'll look...

This place seemed to have decent vegan options so we popped in for an interesting sounding “plant–based rarebit”.

After clearing up tables ourselves to seat the three of us, we anticipated our meal. What we got was not a rarebit at all – described as a hot cheese sauce on toasted bread, what came was burnt plasticky plant based grated cheese on two pieces of very overdone bread for just under £10 each. It didn’t even look like food and I am shocked the cook would have been pleased to serve this.

You can get very good plant based cheese now which melts well, and rarebit isn’t cheese on toast, but a cheese sauce, which could have been easily made in the kitchen.

I went to order drinks, but because the table numbers are reused and you take these numbered cups to your table which are then taken away after clearing (very strange idea), when I went to order another round of drinks – I gave my previous table number and my drinks I paid for in advance were accepted at another table.

The staff kindly amended this mistake, but the re–made drinks were sloppily put together in a haste to keep up with the service.

The tables were piled with other customers food, having to clear it yourself with nothing to wipe the table over, hunting for cutlery and menus, it was all a bit shambolic anyway which is strange for a weekday, but the food was unforgivably bad.

We were also dining with a person who wasn’t vegan who told us her food wasn’t great either, bread overly toasted to the point of being quite difficult to eat and menu items not being included in what was served.

Having said this, the coffee was good and the plant based cake options were tasty and in abundance. The staff were pleasant too, even though they appeared to be overworked, but we...

Wandered inside to get a take away coffee. The queue was long and I waited patiently for about 20 minutes with my kids and friend waiting outside. The lady infront of me had a dog and was told by 3 members of staff at different times that the dog wasn't allowed in. She explained to each of them she was getting a take away. She eventually got to the front of the queue and ordered a coffee and was told (by one of the same members of staff who'd spoken to her a few minutes before) that the wait time for coffees was 25 minutes. She left irrate, and the server then welcomed me. I asked it is 25 minutes for a coffee? He said yes. I said (politely) it would have been nice to be told that as we've just waited 20 minutes in the queue with staff passing by. A man working at the coffee machine span around and had what I can only describe as a hissy fit. Almost shouting above the noise that it is new staff and that everyone is really stressed, repeating this over and over. I said that my comment was a suggestion but he kept talking loudly over me waving his arms around. I had no idea who this man even was! So I again stated that it was a suggestion. But he kept having a fit. Again I said, that we had been waiting a long time it would have been nice to know, bear in mind several staff members had passed us whilst waiting. He was aggressive and at his limit with everything it seemed. Not sure what on earth was going on there today but I can 100% say that I will never go back to any of the stores!!! Awful experience. Staff need some serious customer service & communication training. You are stressed, I get it, its busy, I get it, there's a delay, I get that too, but having a fit at a customer is unacceptable. Surely there's a better way to...