Nine Hostages Coffee — Restaurant in Northern Ireland

My girlfriend and I came back here for the first time since the renovation and the overarching theme seems to be that they don't have the resources to deal with the new capacity. Was very fond of the relaxed atmosphere and high quality coffee/tasty simple grub before, but today's experience would make me very disinclined to come back for anything bar a takeaway coffee. I'm from Derry and live in Dublin and my girlfriend is from Kilkenny so it was especially disappointing that one of the few cool places in derry that I would show off to her on our rare visits here gave us such an unpleasant experience.

We accepted a table outside on a cold day as we were told that there were none free outside though when we went to the toilet there was an empty and clean table tucked away for 15 minutes. When our coffees arrived the server walked past us (being the only people outside at the time) and didn't acknowledge us, complaining that the wrong table number was written to another staff member as she spilled one of the coffees while placing them down. My girlfriend had to ask for a napkin to clean it up as the staff member seemed not to notice. (The flat whites hemselves were very tasty and otherwise well presented).

We then waited what I would guess was another 25-30 minutes for our food (a fry and banana french toast with bacon) before asking what the delay was as we had a bus to catch- so we had a fair idea that we weren't exaggerating the wait time. We were then asked if we wanted a takeaway box rather than checking on the food and were told after that it would be another 10 minutes.

We were charged before our food arrived.

The food arrived, my fry was tasty enough but my girlfriend's French toast was fridge cold and didnt have bacon. When we mentioned this but said we didn't have time to get it heated we were offered a complementary takeaway coffee only to be then told that there was a wait on coffees and asked whether we would take a cold drink instead- we really had a hard time understanding how there could be a wait on free coffees and found it frustrating to be offered and then denied it.

The staff were mostly friendly and chatty, but seemed to be so in the wrong way, chatting about themselves to the customers but failing to check on us in basic ways or communicate any delays etc.

I get that everyone is having a hard time getting staff at the moment but I really think that has to be considered when expanding a business and might be worth holding back a few tables/reducing the menu until you've got the team working well together or at least doing the basic things right- (I'd rather a waiter who can make sure my order is right and food is warm than one who has a great connection with my dog!)

Hope they can get it right and make me excited to show the place off to friends on visits to Derry but today's experience has left a bad taste in the mouth. Until then, will only be back for the admittedly high quality...

I have been to Nine Hostages three or four times in the last month and enjoyed my other visits. The pour over coffee, which I got every time, is normally very nice and the cruffins they have are gorgeous. This time, however, I had a very poor experience.

I sat outside and it took a few minutes for anyone to come to my table, even though I was the only customer there and one of the staff was outside, talking to their friends the whole time. A different person came to serve me and I ordered a pour over coffee and french toast immediately as I knew what I wanted. A coffee was brought out immediately, when a pour over takes a few minutes to make, so I sent it back for the right coffee which came a few minutes later. The coffee on this occasion wasn't nice at all and tasted very weak, watery nearly....very similar to how batch brew often tastes funnily.

About twenty minutes after sitting down my server came out and inquired as to whether I had ordered sweet pancakes to which I replied that I had ordered french toast. Five minutes later they returned empty handed and told me they would check on my food. At this stage my time frame for lunch was quickly coming to a close. I went to the toilet and upon my return my server greeted me again and told me that my order had gotten lost in the pile (of the non-existent customers orders?!). They then asked if I wanted the french toast to be put on now and I declined the offer as I had already spent the guts of half an hour there and had to go to work in the afternoon.

As they took me inside to pay, I notified them that the coffee wasn't good this time either. It was at this point the owner of the establishment interjected and told me that this is how pour over coffee tastes. As I started to explain that I drink three or four pour over coffees a day, he walked away from me and left me to pay for the coffee.

Needless to say I won't be visiting this establishment again.

PS. Got the Korean waffles a couple of weeks ago....still the...

Used to love here before the renovation but me and my girlfriend visited 2 weeks ago and it wasn’t the best. We were really excited to see the new place because they deserve all the success and having a nice new shop. I had the Korean Waffles and my girlfriend had the Smash Burger. Food took really long to come. When we ordered we ordered coffees and cold drinks, my flat white came straight away but my girlfriend’s cappuccino came out with our food which I said was quite a long wait. We didnt ask for hers to come out later? so I was done my coffee while she was sat with nothing? We got half way through our meals and then our cold drinks came . We didnt bother to ask the waiter where it was because we both work in hospitality and knew the struggles and/if they were busy but it didnt look busy as there was only us and 1 other table of 2 in. Nevertheless in terms of food, The Korean Waffles looked amazing but was the driest thing i’ve ever tasted!! The menu here before the renovation was amazing, would love to see the return of the pulled pork toasties as they were unreal !! The service wasn’t that good and the young male server must have only started in hospitality. The entire time we were there empty dishes on every table without any member of staff attempting to clean it? just disappointed as we used to love this place and we would have came in weekly for a coffee and a toastie. On a plus side the coffee is still gorgeous , feel like i might just get takeaway coffees from here for the time being. Sorry but wouldn’t go back to sit in until i heard things...