Sweet Carolina Kitchen & Bar — Restaurant in London

Was so excited to see Sweet Carolina open on Norwood High Street a few years ago, but every time I go there I am so disappointed! When it first opened, we tried about 5 times in a month to have lunch there and each time there was one person at each table with a laptop with an empty coffee cup, so no go. The last 5 times we've been, all in the last 3-4 months the service has been shockingly bad. I mean beyond bad. The place is staffed with utterly clueless young people. The last visit, we were given the menus without being told that one of the options wasn't available which we wanted to order. Then when we asked what the soup of the day was the waitress had to ask her colleague, both had a discussion as they didn't understand what the other was saying. It's a soup for goodness sake, how hard can it be. Then she came to take the order without a pad and pen, then she brought me the wrong drink, then ten minutes later she came back to check what we had ordered (it wasn't busy by the way), then the baguette comes with the caramelised onions missing. By this time we were in a rush to get back home to work, so we asked for the bill at the counter, we had to wait for the two girls to stop chatting and actually help us. I asked for two pastries to take away. One girl went to get the pastries whilst the other totted up our bill, or so I hoped, but no, it took the two of them to work out how to put two pastries in a takeaway box. I mean, put them in the box, if they don't fit, get another box. Finally we got out of there. The almond croissant was really stale, the brownie was very good. The veggie focaccia I ordered for £9 was really really poor. The bread was cold when focaccia could be nicely warmed or toasted. It had roasted veggies with hummous, but the veggies weren't warm and to boot, only half the bread was covered, a tiny spreading of pesto. Come on! Veggies are cheap so pile them on. Just a really poor experience, the worst so far, as despite the terrible service on all the other visits, at least the food was good. To be fair, my boyfriend's baguette was delicious (once they'd taken it back to add the onions). I just find it weird that they staff the place with clearly untrained people, they barely say hello when they come to the table, they barely speak at all, and look so nervous, or are just slow. Who knows, but if you are running a cafe, make sure your staff are trained. It's not...

Where do I start. What an amazing place and what a kind hearted owner Carolina is. After letting the local community of West Norwood know about the sad death of local celebrity Jessi Veronica Morgan and of a memorial/ celebration of life that I was helping to arrange with his best friend Elaine and Fr John from St John the Evangelist. Carolina immediately messaged to say she couldn’t come as she was away but would like to donate some cakes to be enjoyed by the congregation after the service. When I collected her generous donation I was blown away when I was presented with 3 large boxes of the most delicious homemade brownies and banana cake ❤️. The staff were so kind and friendly and despite it being a busy Saturday morning, they took the time to talk to me about Jessi who was often seen at the West Norwood Library situated opposite the cafe.

Having read about their coffee on the website I had to buy a cup. OMG it really is the most beautiful blend. ☕️ I am now smitten and will be back to raise a cup to Jessi 🌺👠.

I sadly didn’t take a photo of their amazing cakes and there was definitely none left by the end of the event. If you see out of the corner of your eye a pair of long amazing legs cycling past you in a tutu and sky high heels - that will be the spirit of Jessi 👠 🚲🌺🙏🏼.

Don’t hesitate you must visit Sweet Carolina Kitchen and Bar in...

Gorgeous cafe with a great vibe and very good coffee! The food is pretty good as well (although a bit pricey)... But my main concern was the customer service. The man behind the till who I can only assume is the manager had an extremely foul attitude and seemed utterly incapable of a smile. He would get visibly annoyed at the sight of new customers entering the cafe (for some odd reason), and whenever someone walked in and closed the door behind them, he would angrily march to the door and fling it open again... Perhaps he was just hot or having a bad day, but we are in the middle of winter after all, and it was quite uncomfortable to watch.

In contrast, the female waitress with glasses was a breath of fresh air! Jolly, full of energy and eager to take everyone's orders. She was the complete opposite to her arrogant and rude boss. Not sure that I would go back again, as there are plenty of other coffee shops in West Norwood and the manager could do with some customer service training. I left with a bad taste in my mouth after spending quite a bit of money only for the manager to take my cash without uttering a simple "thanks" or "goodbye" lol....