Wonderlust Bistro — Restaurant in Oldham

I have been once before and loved it, so decided to bring friends for Sunday lunch today. Very disappointed and upset with the attitude from staff. A few staff members were lovely but the young slim Asian girl who took our order was almost stand off-ish. I am not sure why. She did not smile a single time, and was impatient taking our order. We had 2 toddlers with us, so some patience is required. We did nothing wrong and she was absolutely miserable throughout taking our order. At one point, my friend had his elbow on a menu that she wanted to pick up, she was stood behind him so he couldn’t see her, and rather than asking him to move his elbow she stood there with a very hostile expression looking at us until we asked him to move his elbow. I was shocked by her mannerism. Similarly, at another point my toddler accidentally dropped a glass, and they made us pay £3 for it which is very unpleasant. I’ve never been to a restaurant before where we’re paying around £116 for food and they make us pay £3 for a glass accidentally broken. When I asked for the glass to please be cleaned up, the female waitress who I asked did not even do that properly so I ended up using baby wipes to ensure none of us cut ourselves on the glass. I did not feel comfortable asking her to wipe the table again as she seemed hostile/fed up again. Not a family friendly experience in my opinion.

The male staff member who took our dishes away was nice, and one or two of the girls were too, but a few of the Asian girls were not nice at all, there was a bitchy atmosphere created by them. There was no need for that at all, we are pleasant and nice customers, and they ruined our meal with their passive aggressive attitudes. A real shame because the food was lovely and the decor is very nice too.

P.s, I am Asian myself so please do not mistake my honest feedback for any...

Review for Wonderlust Bistro

During our recent visit to Wonderlust Bistro, we had an overall pleasant experience with a few notable ups and downs.

We had booked a table for 2:45 PM but, despite arriving a little earlier, we were not seated until 3:20 PM. This delay was somewhat frustrating, especially since we could see several empty tables that just needed a quick clean.

The staff seemed a bit hectic, which might have contributed to the delay. However, Sarah, who attended to us, was friendly and helpful.

Regarding the food, we had mixed experiences: The chicken dinner was a solid 8/10, flavorful and well-prepared. The beef dinner was disappointing. It was dry and slightly tough, not matching the appealing photos we had seen on Instagram, as it seemed to be a different cut of beef altogether. We rated it 6/10. We also ordered an avocado poached egg, but after placing the order, we were informed five minutes later that poached eggs were not available. We had to choose between fried or an scrambled instead.

As for the drinks: The strawberry lemonade was brilliant, a true highlight. The raspberry lemonade was decent, enjoyable but not exceptional. The orange juice was underwhelming, lacking freshness and flavor.

we opted for the £25 roast offer. we picked the chocolate cake - assuming it would be a big slice of cheese, it was underwhelming, but definitely was nice and moist.

Despite the hiccups, we would consider returning to Wonderlust Bistro to give it another chance, hoping for a smoother experience and more consistent quality...

Honestly, I don't like to leave a bad review. But i was just so disappointed especially after falling for all the hype.

We ordered the full English breakfast, eggs Benedict, Wanderlust mocktail, English tea.

Good points:

Beautiful tableware Fabulous decor Great service Perfectly poached eggs with rich orange yolks Prompt arrival of food Lovely cocktail

Not so good points:

Cheap beef sausages most likely from a packet of Shezans from Asda. Cheapest possible limp turkey bacon which was undercooked as well. Cheap baked beans Cheapest possible wholemeal bread from supermarket Hollandaise sauce from a packet Cheap muffin

For the prices charged I would expect nothing less than proper sourdough toast sourced locally, proper beef bacon, better quality halal sausages and homemade hollandaise.

It is obvious how much love and effort has been put in to make this place a success, and the colourful art brings alive this otherwise grey and depressing part of Oldham. But unfortunately I regret to say that the food just doesn't match the rest of the place. The pancakes and waffles that other customers were eating did look delicious along with some of the cakes and cookies and I may bring my children back to try those. But the breakfast really needs to be looked at again by the management. I will be returning back to...