Ollie Polly Play Cafe — Restaurant in London

I have attended Ollie polly before on two occasions with my son and niece and nephew and it has been a lovely experience. I had the jerk chicken and rice which was lovely so much so I told my husband he must try it! So I called Ollie Polly at 2pm and said I would be there in 20 minutes and of the off chance could I have a table for two and my nine month old son. I was told yes sure you can we would have to pay the entrance fee- which was absolutely fine with me despite the session was going to be finishing at 15:00ish however we were also told we would then have to pay another entrance fee for staying over the time and being in the cafe for the next session! When I said that doesn’t really sit right with me considering we we’re happy to pay the entrance fee knowing we weren’t going to be there for the whole session as it was due to end and we were also buying food. The lady on the phone stated she would only charge half the entrance fee for being there for the next session which again didn’t sit right with me as I don’t feel we should’ve been charged twice for an entrance fee knowing that our nine month old was only probably going to play for about 20 minutes, we were planning to eat and then leave which I did explain on the phone. There was no movement on having to pay this extra entrance fee so I said I would go elsewhere which is what I did.

It’s really disappointing as I have been to Ollie Polly previously and it has been a really nice afternoon however they have lost my business and will not be going there on principle as I will there again , as to me this is just money grabbing and I could understand if it was a clean environment but it’s really not. The toys are very grubby and could do with a full clean.

The soft play at Crystal Palace at the leisure centre is lovely, clean and friendly and they have a...

UPDATE - What you’re saying is completely untrue. I wasn’t informed you had run out of baguettes until 11.55 (once my little ones pasta was already served). I had been there since 11.15am. With regards to the lady on the table next to me she in fact told me they were leaving because it had taken over and hour to get some hummus and pitta out. Like I said it’s not the first time I’ve been and none of the times have been great which is a shame.

Original - Third and last time I will be visiting. Great for kids however the service and attitude needs some attention. I went this time with low expectations and I was right too, 40 minutes after we originally ordered our food my daughters pasta was bought out to be informed they had actually run out of baguettes which 2 of us had ordered (why not inform us right away?) also who runs out of baguettes at 11.30 on Monday knowing full well you’re fully booked that day? Re ordered some nachos which took an additional 40 minutes to come out when surely they should have been a priority seeing as you failed to inform us you had run out of what we originally wanted! I questioned where our food was to be abruptly told nachos take a while when there are a lot of orders (there’s 8 tables in total and everyone has been served by this point). We eventually got our food 20 minutes before our session ended which we had to rush and eat as the staff were busy cleaning around us ready for the next shambles session. The tables are far too close together as well, we might as well have been sitting on each other’s lap. I’m not the only person who agrees with me today as I noticed the table next to us left without paying as the food took over an hour to get out. It’s a shame as it...

The staff at this cafe were lovely but the experience was very much let down by the state of the toys in the playroom. The toys are in a very bad state. Quite a lot of them are old and dirty and some looked like they hadn't been washed in about a year (there were black marks all over quite a few of the toys).

I was particulary let down by the fact that none of the staff seemed to pay attention to any potential choking hazards (especially key for babies and toddlers). One of the train sets had pieces glued on but the railway bridges had come off with lots of solid glue around the edges. I (or, more concerningly, an unwitting baby/toddler) could have easily pulled the glue off and a put it in their mouth. I mentioned this to the staff at the end of the session who seemed to suggest that it must have come off during the session - she didn't seem too concerned. I attended the session right at the beginning and did not see any child yanking off pieces of the train set (which would/should have taken quite a lot of force) and the pieces seem to have been there for the whole of the session.

The space isn't very well thought through and slightly cramped with lots of toys scattered on a few playmats with not much space for babies/toddlers to freely roam around and have fun with the toys. It is also not cordoned off or well separated from the main section of the cafe which means that babies/toddlers could come frequently into the path of hot drinks/waiters.

I feel very disappointed writing such a review as play cafes are much needed and the staff were so friendly but I think more work needs to be done for this cafe to be truly...