Ole & Steen — Restaurant in London

Many many years ago, in my ealry 20's, I used to work for starbucks (I know.... just sshhh) and the smell on my clothes after work used to drive me nuts, not the coffee (I love that smell... its like medicine for my soul) the smell of panini grill with the oils left on it and the grill still on the whole day burning that oil away even if left on low heat.... it was insane, the smell was embedded in everything I wore. So, all that to say that....

The only "observation", not complain, is that everytime I have brunch/coffe/cake/toastie here and get back home or the office, my hair and whole outfit smells of exaclt the same, and.... it doesn't drive me as mad as back then anymore, I just regret it every time if I have to get back to the office... I always say to myself, I will tell someone next time that there might be an issue with ventilation because I go to other branches and this doesn't happen in the same way.

But I love the staff, the cinnamon social and the table far back on the last corner next to a meeting room. The smell isn't as bad back there :-)

P.s. been coming here for a few (2-3) years but stopped for some time as the service had declined dramatically, tables weren't getting cleared, toilets were a disaster... (have a photo somewhere for the record ;-), staff seemed overworked, short of staff, service wasn't great, but only recently I started to go back more regularly and there has been a shift in many ways 😉 good...

Edit 27 march: STAFF IN THIS BRANCH LIKELY ENABLING THIEVERY - just spoke to the police officer handling my case - his contact to the cafe manager has been ignored. People running this place have shown very little decency - even after being prompted by the police to investigate the CCTV footage if the theft, they’ve failed to comply/communicate. Do not trust this place, it seriously makes me think the staff are complicit with the thefts happening here.

Had my rucksack stolen from this branch on 19 Jan. The staff behind the counter were very unhelpful except one female barista. She also told me that a bag had been stolen in their branch just the day before. Most of them were extremely unsympathetic and reluctant to help. Tons of CCTV but no one was permitted access. I contacted Bilal the branch manager submitting a subject access request in order to obtain the footage for the police. Crickets. Extremely rude and I would avoid in future as it’s obviously a hotspot for thieves. Food and drink is fine but the service is also usually extremely slow and baristas give you a funny look if you ask for extras. Avoid. Stullen cafe (white front) next door much nicer environment and I imagine less prone to crime because of the...

This is a nice chain. It’s a cafe with hot drinks and some snack options. We went there on a crowded day and got some seats at the bar. Even though the overall experience was ok, I found the managements treatment of us and the other customers not pleasant or empathetic at all. It was a very cold and windy day and they opened all the doors all the way. Basically it was as if we were sitting outside. A few customers kept closing the doors and the staff kept opening them back with an attitude. I asked to talk to the manager and explained to him that I was too cold sitting next to the door. He said he already anticipated what I was going to say and that because he reached maximum capacity, there was nothing he could do but air out the space. I told him to not get more customers then and he said he couldn’t turn anyone away. I told him that with the current conditions, I felt like I was being forced to leave and not even finish my coffee. He didn’t make any compromises, no apologies or any flexibility on the matter. All they seemed to care about was getting more customers so they could make more profit instead of keeping the existing customers...