Mote Park Café — Restaurant in Maidstone

Management should reconsider proper training and maybe some optimisation in the kitchen area. There was no single person when we arrived, ordered a toast sandwich with a drink and ice cream. Literally a minute after I placed the order it started pouring down outside and everyone went rushing inside. Anyway what happened after that was a complete shock for me. I got my coffee and ice cream and stood aside to wait for the sandwich. I spent more than 7-8 minutes while I decided to move back as the queue was ginormous and everyone kept waiting for their orders. Meanwhile I noticed a lady coming out of the kitchen and talking to some of the staff serving at the front but still there was no sign of my sandwich. After couple more minutes I noticed a boy serving the tables so I moved just before the bar and waited for him to return, so I can ask him if he can check what happened with that sandwich. A minute later I started looking around wandering where that boy was gone and I saw him chatting with some customers and petting their dog. I waited for another minute or two and when he finally decided to return to his station, I stoped him and asked him if he can check for my order. He went to the kitchen without washing his hands and then a minute after that he returned at the front and started serving customers, completely ignoring me and still without washing his hands. It was disgusting, I saw him serving ice cream to a toddler with those hands. As a last resort I went back at the queue and waited for my turn. When I managed to get to the till again I asked another staff member if it’s normal to wait more than 15 minutes for a toast (and again I want to point that there was no single customer before us when I placed that order). The staff member when back to the kitchen and after a minute came out with my sandwich and just handed it to me. Worst part is, they didn’t even apologise or acknowledge what happens and how wrong was that.

Whoever runs this place needs to know that first and most importantly cross contamination is really serious issue and you can’t make any compromise on that matter. Health and safety standards should be followed by all team members at all time. And secondly, customer service is something that you can’t learn from a book. You need to spend some time with your staff, train them, show them how to prioritise and make quick decisions. I know from personal experience how hard it is to work with young kids and teach them some values but you have to keep trying.

If you need some help in terms of training or HACCP, please let me know and we can discuss some...

Visited the cafe on a lovely sunny Sunday, busy as expected but didn’t have to wait long in a queue. Ordered hot food and was told that they would be serving it in 10 minutes. As I was deciding what to do, a plate of hot chips was delivered to a table. I asked if that counted as hot food, and she said, ‘yes, we were serving it about 20 minutes ago, but we’re not now’. I asked why and she said it was because they were too busy, but behind her someone in the kitchen was scrolling on their phone. I then ordered cakes and the assistant kept turning away and talking to the other staff (5 behind the counter yet only one taking orders), this meant I had to keep repeating my request. Food was disappointing, cakes nondescript flavours, dry and overly sweet. Toasted paninis, ready made up therefore we could have them, soggy and chewy. Staff were dismissive and confrontational when I politely questioned the hot food ordering issue. I had to smile and apologise to prevent an argument. Absolutely terrible experience, badly trained staff, disorganised, chaotic, expensive...

Absolute shambles!.. I feel sorry for the staff working there, the place is so poorly designed, what a wasted opportunity. Visiting today, on one of the coldest days of the year to date, there was obviously a queue about 25 people deep for coffee.. why isn't the coffee hut outside open?!! Every time I've been to the cafe, they are queuing out of the door. Despite taking years to build, it's poorly designed and no where near big enough, there aren't enough tables. When it first opened, the side till was for customers in the restaurant so you could order food without having to wait behind the massive queue of people wanting coffee. I queued at that till today and was told by a staff member that was no longer the case so we'd have to wait outside in the freezing cold at the back of the queue to order food?!.. so we decided to give up and leave, at which point 2 customers grabbed our table with having just placed a food order at the side till?! 🤦‍♀️ Management - I think it's about time you sorted...