Pawsitive Cafe — Restaurant in London

I traveled from Nottinghamshire to celebrate my dogs birthday at the renowned @pawsitivecafe in London, March 2024. However, I must express my slight disappointment regarding the staff's overall attitude during our visit. While most of the staff members were not particularly friendly, I do recall a waitress named Cat (although my memory may be slightly blurred by the passage of time) who stood out for her exceptional politeness and friendliness. Upon our arrival at the cafe, we noticed that there was only one other customer present. As we had brought a dog pram along, we kindly requested to be seated at the far end of the cafe to avoid the frequent draft caused by the door opening. Unfortunately, the waitress responded rather rudely, informing us that we could not be seated there due to the presence of the dog pram. We would have gladly left the pram at the front where there was sufficient space, but this option was not considered. Consequently, we remained seated at the front, and our dogs stayed in the pram for the duration of our visit, except for when we took some photos. Whenever we interacted with the ball pit and the egg chair, we made sure to hold our dogs in our hands. Regrettably, we found ourselves wrongly accused by a waiter of not cleaning up after our dog. In reality, our dog was not even present at the time. My husband noticed that two other dogs had passed by and left a mess, but our dogs were mistakenly blamed. Let me clarify that I have no issue with cleaning up after my dog, and under normal circumstances, I would promptly take care of any accidents. However, if the cafe prides itself on being dog-friendly, it is crucial to acknowledge that accidents may occur and to adequately train the staff to handle such situations. The dog ball pit displayed clear indications of poor hygiene and dirtiness, with noticeable accumulation of dust, hair, and miscellaneous debris. Notably, not only dog hair but also human hair was found, contributing to its unappealing and unsanitary appearance. It is highly advisable to promptly restock the dog ball pit with new balls, as several of the current ones were discovered to be chewed and damaged. In addition, it is recommended to ensure the presence of courteous and welcoming staff, as well as provide on-site equipment for customers to address unforeseen dog-related incidents, such as cleaning up dog urine. Alternatively, it would be advantageous for the staff to be trained in handling such situations, considering that the establishment is oriented towards dogs and their owners. Thank you for taking the time to read my feedback. I hope it can contribute to the improvement of the overall experience at...

APPEARANCE The first thing that struck me was, although the cafe is bright and colourful, the place is a little grubby. The seating is stained and their fixed cushions gnawed and split open. The dog equipment, was badly stained; and many of the balls, (in the ball play pit), flattened, which makes them inefficient, and superfluous. The cafe needs an overhaul. The whole cafe, I could tell, isn’t thoroughly cleaned on a regular basis. Much of the staining, is caused simply by dog rubbing against walls, leaving a residue. This could have been very easily resolved, with a daily wipe over, with a damp cloth and disinfectant. On close inspection, it was a shabby place.

FOOD

My meal, an English Breakfast, was barely warm. It was bordering on cold. I was very hungry, so I ate what I could. I insisted on a discount for the meal, and received one.

It was a small portion, that, frankly, looked very unappetising. Although it was beaf meatballs, my Pekingese turned his nose up at it. I had to coax him, feeding him by hand, which I normally never have to do. The meatballs were dry; there was no gravy, just a tiny amount (a few, thinly sliced pieces of courgette, as embellishment.

THE SERVICE I visited on a Wednesday, at 3.30pm-ish. I was the only customer there, in this large cafe. The staff, (two), were grossly unprofessional. They kept to the opposite end of the room, by the counter and, instead of coming to ask how the food was, or, if I wanted anything else, I had to speak out in a loud voice, so they could hear me, from one end of the room, to the other. This was not customer service, this was customer negligence!

FINAL WORDS With the discount on my meal, and after adding two cappuccinos to my order, the bill came to £31. Frankly, I would have done far better, in terms of quality, had I gone to a standard cafe, buying my dog a tin of food off a supermarket shelf. Instead of willingly offering me a discount on my cold meal, I had to insist on it. I was told, “I’ll have to speak to the shop owner”, who, incidentally, was no where to be seen. I would never recommend this place, and most certainly, they will never receive my custom again! Instead of being a dog cafe, when I asked the male member of staff about the cafe’s ethos on dog, he told me, ‘it’s a standard cafe, that accepts dogs’. Well, in that case, in addition to improving the cafe, the owner needs to also improve the website! The site has a dominant Dalmation (spotted dog), wallpaper throughout. That flies in the face of being a ‘standard cafe’. And, the name, Pawsitive should be changed too. BITTERLY...

Avoid! Firstly the location of this cafe is extremely hard to get to, especially in consideration that you’re bringing your dog(s) with you, with the nearest station at least a 10 minute walk away along a busy and narrow high street. Upon entering, a woman greeted us to which I was surprised to find the place completely empty even though it had been open an hour previous. Once seated, they brought my dog a water bowl and the woman who served us had someone she was training with her. The woman took our order and then got the person in training to bring over our drinks, to which she then instructed the person in training to do it this specific way and not the other - if you’re going to pull someone up do this in private as it’s not fair on them!

I ordered from the Dog Menu and to say the portions were tiny would be an understatement - I know they’re for dogs but regardless, if I’m paying £8.70 I’d expect more than 3 pieces of meat and some vegetables on the side. The menu also stated sweet potato but looking at the meal I ordered, we got regular potato. The two dishes for my dog were brought out at separate times - the first being a pup cake with ice cold bananas and peanut butter, making it hard to pick up and eat. Then a few minutes later came the Healthy Bowl which didn’t make sense as to why a dessert would come before what could be considered a main.

Two other people entered the restaurant and staff, and even the owner, were more attentive to them and even went as far to make conversation and pet their dogs. Upon wondering why I didn’t receive the same treatment, I overheard the customer suggesting that as she has an Instagram, she could ‘make an arrangement’ with the restaurant and help them. It makes sense! Because we weren’t bringing anymore than paying an unreasonable fee for food, they didn’t care for us. The English Breakfast was also one of the worst I’ve had - I ate a few bits but the sausages were sweet for some reason.

We paid £3 for a coke which was the smallest I’d ever seen, I was shocked when they brought it out. £13 for an English Breakfast was also shocking, not to mention the additional Service Fee placed on top. For one meal, two drinks and two smaller dog meals this was nearly £40 - an absolute rip off!

The icing on the cake is that when leaving, one of the staff members seemed absolutely petrified and jumped at the sight of my dog - a small French bulldog who had been nothing but well behaved. Why work in a dog-friendly restaurant if you’re...