The Garage Lounge — Restaurant in Portsmouth

Visited this cafe early one morning as a birthday treat with my very young family. We were invited in and sat at a table in the corner with no other customers in there. About 10mins into our experience, a large, older-aged (late 60s) loud mouthed ‘gent’ came in and stared at us, before proceeding to swear at staff that they had let other customers sit at “my regular table!” He spent the next 10 minutes staring at us from across the cafe, swearing and muttering under his breath, to the point that I got up, walked over to his table and asked him to explain if there was a problem - which there clearly was - or to stop trying to intimidate my wife and children; at this point he stopped swearing and began to smile, saying there was no issue. However, when his mates later arrived, it began again, and to make the situation even more farcical, the (I assume) manager of the cafe started joining in with the staring and laughing towards us - to the point that I called the manager over and asked again if there was a problem that needed resolving. The manager tried to backtrack by saying that it was all a misunderstanding, it was “just a joke” and that we were sat in the man’s regular seat so “he would need to get over it as you got here first.” I requested that, if that was how the ?manager felt about the situation, then why was he joining in and not throwing the man out for swearing at a table including women and children; he did not answer, and no action was taken against the other customer. In fact, the manager didn't come back over to our table for the rest of our time there.

Having visited this cafe many times over the years, this will be my family’s last visit for the foreseeable future. Prices have rocketed and the experience has been slowly declining, however nose-dived after this visit. If you’ve read this far and are wanting to know which table to avoid (or maybe try out, should you want a slightly more colourful coffee experience): it’s the one next to the piano. They only got one star because of how nice the young girl serving us was, was the only person to apologise for the other customer’s behaviour and asked if my wife and children were alright. I’d recommend the management review if they’re aggressive, swearing customers (and their apparent tolerance toward them) are really that good...

This was a lunch for a colleague who was leaving us. we had been in beforehand to acquire menus as we only had an hour and a quarter for lunch which we explained. We arrived, sat for ages until i asked for our order to be taken to be curtly told " order at the front desk" we did and asked for some water. We got a small warm pitcher and warm glasses and no ice. Food was Ok bit overpriced. We were left completely alone no one asked if our meals were ok or came to take our dishes away. we would have had pudding but no-one seemed bothered to clear the table or ask us! i then went up to the extremely rude owner and asked for some coffees. guess what "order at the front desk! we left! How arrogant and rude to be treated like this when Southsea is so competitive with their restaurants. The owner knew we were a local business and he could have had return business but just couldnt be bothered to be courteous. please dont patronise this pretentious...

Quite a nice cafe/restaurant, with kind staff, good food, and cosy decor. We were a bit put-off by how busy it was, but we did go around 12pm so that was to be expected. I was quite disappointed by the complete absence of vegan options. Our server was very kind though and served me the veggie breakfast with no eggs or halloumi (though I'm not certain it was 100% vegan like that, but by this point my partner and I were too hungry and frustrated from looking for somewhere to finally have breakfast to check). The food was delicious, though the portions were on the smaller side. We both thought the hashbrowns were amazing! Overall a nice place, but would be better if they had specific vegan options again - not sure why they were removed altogether, considering the other review about this had a reply suggesting they planned...