Cliffs — Restaurant in Thanet

Where do I start... The atmosphere seemed intriguing with a retro feel and a hipster vibe, but that is where any modicum of positivity ends.

I ordered a mocha, a simple yet classic coffee, and after taking two sips realised I was doomed. This was the most bitter tasting thing I had ever experienced; the bitterness completely annihilating any sense of enjoyment from my palate. I could not continue and had to express how bad it was.

Next up was the food. My wife ordered a salmon crumpet slider and we had a good five minute discussion over whatever a 'mumbled egg' meant with the waiter, who struggled to explain what it was. With the understanding that it was a sort of poached/fried thing we opted for scrambled egg instead and made this as clear as humanly possible. What we received was their usual 'mumbled egg'. When I explained that we had instead asked for scrambled egg, I was met with a torrent of confusion from the same waiter we'd had that five minute conversation with, instead he tried to present us with a separate order of scrambled eggs on toast that we hadn't even ordered.

Instead of trying to rectify a simple mistake the waiter seemed to take personal offense and said we had not made it clear to him. He raised his voice at us and involved the rest of the cafe in the dispute. It was embarrassing and made us uncomfortable.

At this point, my wife and I agreed it was pointless to argue further, paid for our coffees and left. The staff blanked us as we left. It was like a walk of shame!

This has to be the worst customer service I have ever experienced anywhere and I would never return. It's a shame, because it wasn't like this...

There are 2 youngish guys with long hair serving. The Shorter one with darker hair has a serious attitude problem that lets the place down. I have visited twice at 3 weeks apart and experienced both times. I made a polite order and he was curt, passive and obnoxious. I tried to make gentle conversation with him and got nothing back. The coffee was quite good and I ordered another but the milk wasn’t steamed enough and was lukewarm so took it back. No apology. When I left I said thank you and was polite to see how he would react. He was stuffing his face with a huge family pack of crisps (which I found slightly unprofessional). He muttered something to me without looking. By contrast , the other long haired man with lighter hair and taller was polite and open. I wasn’t looking for a full on chat. Just a few nice words as I was paying / making my order. I’m from london not Margate and wonder if this was a special treatment for obvious “Down From Londoners”. The place itself is interesting and nice interior. I have to say though that On both occasions what I hoped would be a relaxing coffee was ruined by screaming kids. It seems popular with mothers with toddlers. So if you are hoping for a chilled rest bare this in mind. The management/ owner should address the attitude of the person in question, it’s not what I expect when spending £12+ on drinks and cake. There is no place for blunt obtuse rudeness in cafes where people just want to relax and put money into local economy rather than nearby Costa. I won’t be coming back here and I will also tell me London friends there are plenty of other good independent cafes in...

We had breakfast/lunch at Cliffs on Saturday morning. We got there at 11.50am. I wanted to order a salad bowl but was told this wasn't available until 12pm and they couldn't put the order through as the kitchen staff get a bit funny if they put it through earlier which I thought was fair enough. So I was asked to come back to the till after 12pm to order then.

As I have a severe nut allergy and the fact they proudly displayed lots of signs saying 'please ask us about food intolerances and allergies', I thought I would check if the salad bowl had any nuts in, because then if I couldn't have it, I could order something else straight away from the breakfast menu without having to will until 12pm. The female member of staff behind the till told me to ask her when I come back at 12pm which I was a little irate at but dismissed as I knew I wouldn't have to wait too much longer.

When I went back 5 minutes later, again I asked for the salad bowl and once again asked if it had any nuts in. The same female rolled her eyes at me and went 'no of course it doesn't'. Well I don't know that, that's kind of why i'm asking and could she not have said this 5 minutes ago? Also just as a hint if someone says they have a severe allergy it might be polite to say 'I don't think it does but i'll check with the kitchen' as it just reassures the customer a bit more. Aside from that the food was...