Coffee Bean — Restaurant in London

I have lived in Barnet for all 21 years of my life. I've tried almost every place that is a known entity in this town and yet had never tried the Coffee Bean. Why you might be asking yourself, no idea. I'm always tottering about the Spires and have never been here. So on an unseasonably hot day and in need of a break from the sun, my partner and I came in looking for a half decent sandwich, croissant and some water. And with how busy the place is I thought that would be a non-issue and have a rather uneventful lunch stop. Dear lord how wrong I was. After waiting in line and being stared down by the patrons of the cafe I placed my order. Salt Beef sandwich on rye bread (which apparently this place is famous for), tuna sweetcorn, croissant and a bottle of water. £14. So I expected something half decent seeing as I had to remortgage just to afford the two sandwiches. Me and my partner waited for around 10 minutes, not too long. The food arrives. The most pathetic looking plate I have ever seen in my life. But I don't like to judge a book by its cover so I went in with an open mind. Only thing I noticed was that the pickle and mustard was not in the sandwich. eh whatever, the salt beef has to be good right? right? WRONG. Strange bubbles and holes filled the meat and I could taste its age, it wasn't horrible to eat but my lord it was the worst thing I've ever eaten in Barnet by a country mile. A long country mile. Now you would think that would be the end of it and how could they mess up two sandwiches. In my partners sandwich, was a hair.... sorry no I'm being silly that would be absurd with hair nets being visually worn. How did that happen? No, no friends the HAIR WAS BAKED INTO THE F'ING BREAD.... HOW DOES THAT EVEN HAPPEN!? Now for the croissant, it wasn't a croissant it was brioche playing dress up. Absurd. my partner pointed something out on the water bottle which I feel is apt for both the patrons of the place that bizarrely keep giving this place 5 star reviews. "may you live long" well you know what I don't think I'd like to after...

My husband and I looked at the specials menu and ordered the Eggs Benedict with smoked salmon. We were looking forward to getting something to warm us up as the day had turned chilly out. When the dish arrived it was not what we were expecting. The eggs that were on top of the salmon were undercooked and the whites were still in liquid form, we sent them back to be cooked until the whites didn't move around but not hard boiled.When the dish came back I asked where the hollandaise sauce was and the waitress said it was in the tiny pot on the plate. I looked into the pot and there was about a teaspoon of thick gloopy stuff with a yellow tint, I smelled the contents of the pot and it smelled like lemon mayonnaise and it was stone cold and I took my finger and dipped it into the pot and tasted it. It wasn't a nice flavour and I thought it might be off. I told the waitress this and said that the hollandaise should be hot and poured over the eggs. There wasn't enough sauce to cover one egg if it had been warmed, much less the two we were served. The manager/owner came to the table with a jar of 'velvety hollandaise sauce' from Waitrose and showed it to us and asked if we wanted the pots of sauce we'd returned back and we declined his offer and he proceeded to tell us he sells hundreds of these every week and didn't try to find out why we were unhappy with the dish or apologise for our dissatisfaction. He then went back to the counter and proceeded to empty the pots back into the jar, which is a hygiene issue on its own as I had stuck my finger in mine. It was clear to us that the cook didn't understand what Eggs Benedict were and it probably would have been cheaper to make their own sauce. If you are looking for Real Eggs Benedict do not order it from the Coffee Bean, it will leave you with a nasty taste in your mouth and it was expensive for what we were served. Our experience was not a good one and will avoid them...

Have been here many times with no issue, however this time, went up to order, the staff gave us such a disgusted look for interrupting their gossip session- I work in customer service and understand you need to chat sometimes, but the second a customer is in front of you, you greet them with friendliness and enthusiasm, not a dirty look. We then ordered a chocolate milkshake, two custard tarts and an americano. No fault on the custard tarts, they were lovely, the milkshake was grainy and tasted very strong and the americano was very bitter (my mum drinks americanos exclusively and has not had a problem) When they handed the order over it was put down and no comment was made; not a “there you go, enjoy” nothing, they then went straight back to gossiping. Incredibly...