British Patagonia — Restaurant in London

Very, very, very upset. I felt discriminated against.

I walked past this place when I was working in the area a couple of weeks back, and I saw this crazy looking nice ice cream that people where eating. Today, I was back in the area working, and all day I was looking forward to 5 pm when I could go and get this ice cream. I was even hyping my friends on the phone telling them I was looking forward to it, especially as it was a hot day. So I stood and looked at the menu trying to work out which it was that I saw people eating, and I saw on the menu a croissant ice cream, something called ferroro rocher and a cookie ice cream. So I looked at the people sitting outside to see if could spot someone eating it, and there was one. I walked in and saw the lady with dreads working behind the counter, and I asked her how she was. She totally ignored the question and she then asked what I would like. As it was my first time, I asked her very politely - 'What on the menu is that person outside eating?' pointing to the person outside. She replied to me - 'here is the menu' in a very very demeaning manner. I said, 'oh thanks... but could you point on the menu what that guy is eating?'. She said again very in a demeaning way like I was stupid ' here is the menu' I then asked 'okay... so is what he is eating this croissannt ice cream?' she again pointed to the menu and I felt so stupid that I had to justify myself - 'sorry, it is just that on the menu there is a ferroro rocher product and...' she cut me off and started pointing to me what was what - I felt like I was stupid. She then turned away, and i just left soooo disappointed without ordering anything.

I really felt demeaned and spoken down to and I left feeling like I was discriminated against. Maybe I wasn't but that is what...

Nice vegan pastries but pricey for what they are.

EDIT: I decided to revisit the bakery with hopes of trying their ice cream croissant. However, my experience turned out to be quite chaotic and disappointing. Upon arrival, I discovered that the ice cream machine was encountering some technical difficulties, resulting in a 15-minute wait. Despite the inconvenience, I patiently waited.

Once I finally placed my order, I joined the queue outside to receive my ice cream. To my dismay, the person in front of me hadn't even placed an order inside, causing her to leave the queue momentarily. Astonishingly, the staff allowed her to cut back in front of me, disregarding the fact that I had been waiting for a total of 20 minutes prior to joining the outside line. This blatant disregard for fairness and customer satisfaction was completely unacceptable.

To compound my frustration, when it was finally my turn to receive my ice cream, the machine abruptly stopped working. Rather than expressing any form of apology or understanding, the staff appeared indifferent to the inconvenience I was experiencing. This lacklustre customer service left a sour taste in my mouth.

Moreover, I must admit that the ice cream croissant itself, when I finally got the chance to try it, was rather underwhelming. I've had better vegan ice cream and croissant options at other...

Updated after revisiting in Sep '24:

I've recently revisited British Patagonia after not going to the area for about a year or so - it's still a lovely place decor-wise but has become very busy and has lost the personal touch that made it so unique. The signature pastries are still very tasty but I did raise my eyebrows at the bill - I guess it makes sense that you have to pay for quality, but it did feel over-priced.

I used to chat to the owner, Matias, all the time as I went in often when they first opened - he wasn't in the store when I visited so I asked one of his staff members if he was in, who confirmed he was downstairs. I told him my name as he might remember me due to our common heritage, and I waited while having my hot chocolate and pastry, but he didn't come out to say hi.

I'm sure he was really busy, but it's a shame that this shop has basically become a victim of its own Insta success and lost that personal touch that made it so cool to visit. You can see a theme in the reviews and the rating has dropped from 5/5 to 4.1/5, which makes sense to me given what I saw in my most recent visit.

I doubt I'll come again.

Great new café & bakery - love the closing time of 7pm. Decor and atmosphere super, and the owner was super friendly too. As a half-Argentinian, love to support the business so will be...