Dough Artisan Bakehouse — Restaurant in London

Update: The defensive-with-a-passive-aggressive-tone way this company responded to their customers shows that they don’t care about quality. My main concern when I contacted them was not that their food was not to my liking because I knew that taste was subjective. But it was of a bigger concern of whether their food had gone bad and thus the bitter taste in their banana bread!

If the conversation I've had with Dough Bakehouse was testament to anything it’s that they couldn't take criticism.

• Original comment *

I cannot find their Boxpark (Croydon) listing on Google Maps so I am commenting on here instead.

I just got a banana loaf and a hot chocolate. While the barista was lovely, the food and drink were terrible!

Banana loaf didn't sweet at all - I suspect they forgot to put sugar in the batter! Not just that, it actually had a hint of bitter taste!!! I had 3 bites just to make sure I was not mistaken but could not finish it anymore and threw it away! Because it was BITTER! If it simply didn't taste sweet, I could have still pretended that I was eating bread.

As for the hot chocolate, it was made with Cadbury's hot chocolate powder!!!! I do understand that this was not the barista's fault since this is most likely a management's decision! But making hot chocolate out from Cadbury's hot chocolate is unforgivable!

Update: I originally gave five stars for the barista’s service but have changed it to one star for the ridiculous reply Dough Bakehouse gave me on Instagram. Not only were they defensive, but they also did not read my comment at all! They rebutted that their banana loaf was supposed to be “not very sweet” and was “sorry” that it’s not to my liking! but I have said very clearly that the banana loaf was not sweet at all AND was bitter, I didn’t say it was not sweet enough! For me if a pastry were “not very sweet”, then it would be just the way I would like it because I don’t like things that are too sweet!!

See screenshot for their reply! Why can’t people just take responsibility instead of finding excuse? Good luck with this attitude!

You don’t need to rely to me here and give me any more of...

I have been going to Dough since the bakery rebranded and reopened after the fire and I can honestly tell you it's the most welcoming and delicious bakery/coffee shop I've ever been to! The bread is always so fresh and they have such a large selection of hot drinks (different coffee and hot chocolate flavours etc), and of course milkshakes and smoothies! The seating area is great with several plugs (including straight to USB slots) to charge your phone or laptop if you're sitting in for a period of time, which you may end up doing once you taste their pastries. Not only do they provide custom-filled sandwiches/rolls/baguettes (and everything else), they also have a buffet-style sandwich section which for an extremely small price, you can help yourself to as much self served bread and spreads as you like with all your typical favourites (nutella, peanut butter etc). Aside from the food and drinks, the staff are always so welcoming and friendly towards me and it's clear that other customers get the same treatment. There is a lovely girl called Jade who I mostly see when I pop in, and she always makes sure to double check if my pastry or coffee is okay. The shop is always decorated too, be it themed (Halloween, Christmas etc) or just generally lovely looking decorations all year round. I can't really critique the shop for anything that can be helped - it would be nice if the shop was bigger to fit more customers on a busy day, however for the space provided they have done well to fit in as many tables as they have done without the feeling of being squashed. It's a nice location right next to Herne Hill station for commuters to easily pass by and pick up a coffee or sausage roll to go. I leave the shop with a big smile on my face every time and I'm 100% sure you will do the same once you visit! I'd like to say a big well done to all the staff especially the two sisters in charge, who made the shop what...

So I have been here on a few occasions and on every visit i have encountered some kind of issue but with them being so apologetic, i have always let it slide. I have encountered several issues with my vanilla flat white coming cold with an inch of coffee, 5 inches of froth and no vanilla, I've had what appeared to be, a dusty doughnut and to be honest, the place isn't as clean as a bakery should be. Theres dust and dirt everywhere. Today was the final insult when i put my stuff down on my seat, went to pay for my bottled water only to be asked, ‘Is that all? Only we are busy on Saturdays’. When clearly, there were other customers sitting with just drinks. If it wasn't conveniently located near the dance school, i wouldn’t have gone back after the first incident. Staff are clueless, unprofessional and lack social skills. Very...