Ole & Steen — Restaurant in London

Never again. I came here today with my husband and our young child for a bit of light breakfast- something we don’t get to do all together very often, and it was a little bit of a treat after a medical appointment.

Got inside- the queue system is messy and doesn’t easily allow people to get in and out very well. SERVICE: Service is slow and the ladies behind the counter (there were three in total) did not seem very friendly or interested. Sorry- but it’s true. I placed my order and we were given a table number to take to our seats. It must have taken a good ten mins at least until I heard ‘2 cappuccino’s’ so I went up to collect them. In fact only one drink was ready. I said I had ordered two, and the lady proceeded making the other. Whilst I was waiting there, 2 other customers were also there saying how they were waiting a long time as well. People seemed generally disgruntled. I took the drinks back to the table. Not a cosy atmosphere but whatever. Table wasn’t especially clean. FOOD: Finally my order of eggs on sourdough came out. Nothing wrong with the food. Tasted great, but was fairly cold. One prong on the fork was bent which made things amusing and interesting. Lack of attention to detail there! My husbands toastie still wasn’t anywhere to be seen. I went back to the front of the counter where the staff were chatting and I called out to them to ask if the toastie lying on the side was ours (where all the customers can basically just breath all over it). I asked one of the staff if it has been there for some time (she didn’t actually answer me) and I said that it’s now likely to be really cold, and how I didn’t hear anyone calling out. I was then told told sarcastically how ‘well, you were called several times’. And she turned away. They knew we had a small child and went somewhere to sit down. They must have seen that nobody had come up to collect it. All in all: Nobody tried, nobody cared. Zero customer service. Sarcastic way to talking to someone. I wouldn’t feel good to treat customers this way. Cappuccinos were lukewarm. Not hugely impressed.

Ole and steen: People pay good money for your food and drink and to get a decent service. We didn’t quite get that experience. Richmond is full of coffee shops- chain and independent. You gotta do better to be a place that people will choose!

Won’t be going back here again. Cannot recommend your branch at all. Feel we wasted our money and time. And that makes me saddened to say it because frankly, money and time...

I’m writing as a loyal customer and a huge fan of your Copenhagen Bread, which is the only bread my household consumes. I’ve consistently had excellent experiences at your Oxford Street and Clapham Junction branches, where staff are always helpful and the bread is cut on request without issue.

However, I’ve been disappointed by the ongoing situation at your RICHMOND branch. Despite repeatedly requesting my bread to be sliced, I’m often told it’s “too hard to cut” and that the slicing machine “can’t handle it.” This has been an issue for over a year now. If your machine genuinely can't cut your own bread, how do you expect customers to do it at home?

Even more concerning is the inconsistency. Occasionally, depending on who’s on duty, the bread is cut—so clearly the issue isn’t as black and white as claimed. What’s more, the way the manager dismisses these requests feels unnecessarily unhelpful and dismissive, which adds to the frustration.

As a Richmond resident, I now travel to the Clapham Junction branch just to buy my bread—something I shouldn’t have to do. I hope you will address this ongoing issue by either updating the equipment in Richmond or ensuring better consistency and customer care from the team.

It’s a real shame, as I otherwise love...

I was visiting this brunch on Sunday afternoon and I have no words to describe how bad was my experience. I’ve ordered almond iced vanilla matcha. Instead I was given iced mocha in paper (hot drink) cup. I understand mistakes happen and it’s not a problem, unless staff is nice, but baristas were very rude. First of all they reacted as it was my mistake even tho, a girl who placed an order made a mistake. Later I’ve asked to put my drink in plastic cold drink cup, but I was told they ran out of these. When barista started to make my drink, I’ve noticed they scattered ice over the table which later was put in my drink. As I noticed that, I’ve asked if I can get ice not from table, but ice machine and were given side eye, lots of attitude and was laughed at. When I got my drink, I decided to double check if it was with vanilla, after that got an attitude from barista once again. I understand busy days happen and working in customer service can be tough, but this is unacceptable. If I wouldn’t notice that my ice in my drink is contaminated, I might get an allergic reaction which might be extremely dangerous. Also, why should I beg baristas to make a drink I paid for and get attitude every time they’ve mistaken?...