GAIL's Bakery Hampstead — Restaurant in London

Gross..I apologise in advance for how sour this all may sound, but I have never been served in a more pretentious manner than in this bakery. Upon politely asking if the quiche that we just purchased could be heated, I was met with a sniggered laugh, alongside a condescending response of “no.. we don’t do that here”. That’s cool! Each to their own right. After one bite, this ham and cheese quiche tasted exactly like washing up chemicals and mould. When biting the anxious bullet and telling the lady that it tasted rather bad and that it may have cleaning chemicals spilled onto it, I was met with plain silence and one hell of a judgmental glare. So I decided, in the even more! anxious moment to just order a chicken breast bun as no help was offered as an exchange or even a refund. No joke, the chicken wasn’t cooked! I could feel the uncooked tendons, like a tough ball of string. When walking toward the “prestigious” Gail’s bakery, I was being looked at like a piece of dirt from the staff… well F that! Haha I know these parts of London can be sprinkled with a delusional sense of entitlement for whatever reason, but I think I’ll stick to my local. I am the kind of guy who walks into any establishment with a smile, manners, respect and empathy (like most of us), so i hope you can tell how bad this had to be for me to write such a negative review. Good luck Gail’s! £20 down the loo Barista was a lovely...

Baked goods almost always great. However, the almond croissant I ordered once was hard, made me think it was an old one mixed up with the rest. And once the smoked salmon roll was hard too, I had to take it home to microwave... Won't be buying these again. But the coffee is a proper hit or miss, most miss. I don't know how many times I need to ask the staff to make it HOT! I order extra hot, then to be sure I kindly and with a smile (!) remind the barista to make it really hot because many times they didn't get the idea of 'extra hot'. The 'extra hot' coffee comes tepid...and even after kindly asking barista to make it really hot, they still serve it barely hot...(??). I've been very kind and always polite about it and gave them way too many chances. But you know what, I'm done. I won't be having coffee there any more. By the way, staff could at least fake a smile, sometimes. I feel like an enemy entering the shop. I've been spending lots of money recently there but since the staff can't even make a simple order right, thanks but no thanks. Other coffee shops can somehow manage to heat up the milk properly on the first go without...

Americano was meh. Mocha was bleh. Food was acceptable. Like any other decent cafe can offer. Cafe scene in the area is strong so this is not the only one to spend your time and money. The Saturday staff on Oct 29 was grumpy, Not what paying customers want to see. Everyone had a frown of some sorts and did not respond to any requests with a nod or any acknowledgement. It seemed like they could smell something under their noses. For our next time I'd rather go to the good ol'Starbucks next door. At least I'm guaranteed a commercial yet decent experience.

Note: we spent 35 GBP between 2 adults on a takeaway, and had to remind them twice to give us a bag. They begrudgingly seemed to give us one in the end. And of course- forgot cutlery, napkins etc.

Do yourselves a favor and give this place a miss if you can. Plenty of other cafes in Hampstead, with better service from people who actually seem to...