Benugo Waterloo — Restaurant in London

On 7th August at 8.30am I visited for coffee. was told 9am is open time. I turn up at 9am and 2 staff , male and female didn't look happy to see me and told me they weren't ready yet to open, because coffee machine is not ready. What is amusing is that there were 4 staff to assist with opening so plenty people for what was a 2 person job. I then said I would only take food and as long as fridge and till is open then that is okay. Reluctantly they let me in to choose my food. At the till point i expressed dissatisfaction that they couldn't set up their espresso machine and grinder despite having many staff.

Next, one of the colleague switched on the machine, and pulled a shot which ran for less than 10 seconds resulting in under extracted coffee. It appears that the dial in process of weighing coffee, timing the dose was not done correctly due to an under extracted espresso. I explained this to the male Barista and said he would need to adjust the grinder setting to extract a quality tasting espresso. He refused to do this and said I had to take the shot that was already made - (the poor soup like under extracted espresso shot ) he also said he had set up the espresso machine, but his colleague female, said it wasn't set up. This male also said you dont know nothing about coffee. I am super confident in my coffee knowledge. I submitted the complaint online via Benugo website. No reply.

Maybe the front of house staff are not to blame. Maybe there is a deeper issue around poor managment. Maybe the leadership is so poor that staff feel neglected.

If you want coffee, its better you have one were the staff care. Pret and Starbuck although not my favourite, I would rather go to them if in Waterloo. Otherwise another artisan coffee vendor should move in and give Benugo a run...

I have been buying my coffee and pan au chocolat from this place every day for the past 2 weeks but today's definitely the last time! The staff is so grumpy all the time. There is not one member of staff that will ever smile at you. I even tried to smile excessively and be extra nice but no, nothing is gonna put a smile on the face of any of them. It's almost like talking to nasty robots. And most of them don't even listen when you place your order! I always ask for half shot latte, always! It doesn't matter the coffee shop, I have never had to explain what half shot means. Well not in the Benugo! Here I had to explain them that I know they put 2 shots of coffee in their lattes and no, I didn't want one shot but half shot of coffee in mine. Half of the time they still made it one shot. Because why not. And today they went out of their way to make sure I will not come back. Lady at the till looked annoyed, I almost felt like apologising for disturbing her. The lady making the coffee was grumpy and slammed my coffee on the other side of the counter shouting out "one shot latte" like in a busy place even though I was the only customer waiting for the coffee, and the only customer they had in the last few minutes. Of course they totally ignored me every time I said "thank you" to any of them. And the big surprise came minutes after I left when, while sipping my more-coffee-than-I-asked cup, I noticed that half of the liquid was going down on my shirt and trousers. I removed the lid in shock not understanding why it was leaking. Well, the cup rim looked like someone chewed on it. The lid didn't close properly as the cup rim was all distroyed! Why would they chose to use a cup that is visibly damaged is beyond my understanding! Worst place to get coffee in...

Its one of those places ideal to be included in a spy thriller! Most people walking in and out of Waterloo possibly misses out this place as it upstairs, and we usually never look up, unless someone else is. This is a surprising find, all because I missed my train and I couldn't be bothered to queue up on Costa, Nero or upper crust for a coffee.. that's when I saw it.

It not only has a decent menu for a station cafe/bistro it also has a great view to the hall where the hustle and bustle of the daily commuters life taking place right underneath your seat. There are some bar stools near the edge of the railing from which you can enjoy this view and also get a great view of all the platforms and the ins and out of trains. If you look even further up from your seat you can admire the great architecture that's made this waterloo station such a success.

The place can be easily accessed via an escalator or stairs, so if you have luggage don't worry, you don't have to drag it a long a flight of stairs. It is also in the middle of the station.

Service might be a tad slow, as the new comers from Central EU haven't really gotten use to the London's crazy need for speed, but they do try. . I am sure it can only improve with time. As all commuters wants to get in an out of a station.

If you on the other hand have time to kill, could take a moment to enjoy the scenes that contributed to Bourne Identity, the movie. You can easily see how you can get lost in this sea of...