I do not know what bobbybrown is smoking, but I concur absolutely with juzmoi's review.
When I went there on a Sunday afternoon, I saw that there was a decent queue waiting to be seated, so I decided to ask the waiter how long it would take to be seated. "Excuse me," said I, "I wonder how long ..." at this point, I was brushed off with a "just a moment, sir", and off he sashayed to do whatever he thought was only going to take a moment.
I proceeded to wait, to NO AVAIL, while he: Seated 3 other tables, printed two bills, walked over to a table he had previously seated to shake the hands of one of the customers. Have a discussion with another one of the wait staff. Throw his waiting list onto the bar top, and Pirouette 180 degrees away from me and walk in another direction.
Now, I certainly don't mind extremely rude service as long as it is EFFICIENT. But this was the antithesis of efficiency. If the waiter aspires to this level of pretentiousness, then he has to deliver service at a level that justifies him being so pretentious.
In this case, while he certainly may have spent his time smarming up to certain other people, I certainly had the feeling that he was making it a point to ignore me. I can't say how good the food is, or the value of the food, because I walked out in disgust at the Appalling way I felt I was being treated. It may be divine for all I know. What I do know is that unless your name is Bilsson for Tetsuya, I'm not going to put up with this level of service and I am NOT coming back.
I've been here twice now, once for dinner and once for breakfast and the food is excellent. For dinner the Angus beef and the zucchini flowers were fantastic. The breakfast menu is diverse and fresh and the poached eggs were perfectly cooked. The single origin coffee is also brewed to perfection.
Ate here for the first time the other night with friends, what a delightful little place this is. The staff were both friendly and prompt and the Italian waiter was good fun!
Although we mostly dine out at the more exclusive restaurants around town, we were not to be disappointed when it come to the food. Uncomplecated, fresh and full of flavour! The two entree's of tuna sashimi and crab ravioli were great, as were the scallops and the angus beef. But the highlights were dessert, a lucious crisp and sticky banana tarte tatine and pear crumble, delicious!!! Will be back...
My friends and I went to The Book Kitchen for dinner last week and left furious! The only positive thing I can say about the experience is that the room is gorgeous but it incites a sense of warmth that does not carry through to the staff or food - which were both extremely pretentious. To the bill...we were overcharged for our meals and corkage is a money grabbing $5 per person (although I had to unscrew and pour the wine myself).
The last review is a bit harsh, I have been to the Book Kitchen many times and the service is always friendly and the food is fantastic. I have never had a bad experience in the couple of years I have been dining there. I say give it a second chance as everyone can have a bad day no one is prefect. I love the Book Kitchen and I will be back many more times.
I'm normally not too fussed on service as long as it's rather decent (see my other reviews) and if it ain't I'm normally very forgiving. "sigh". After reading all the other reviews and knowing they cater Single Origin's coffees on a Sunday, this place seemed like a great idea. Well, bad idea.
I got there at about 2:50 but I was expecting to get takeaway. No takeaway for food but dine in only. Ok, I could live with that so I quickly went off to get my work so I could do it as I ate. Also asked the waitress if she wanted my order first so they could start cooking and she said no "just get a table and I'll be there".
Waitress ran after me (to my car) to say "I just need you to know that the kitchen closes in 8 minutes just in case you're going to the atm or something". This should be a sign that they were not very keen but I'm forgiving and optimistic so I thought wow they're so nice to come and tell me. My car was parked one house away from the shop btw.
I came back in a flash and grabbed a table...and waited.....and waited....
during which time, two lots of customers came in and got their orders taken as soon as they walked in. After 10 minutes, I had decided I'll give them 5 more minutes (remember, kitchen should have been closed). I tried to catch their attention but staff was too busy providing the people who had come in after me, with cutlery. I gave them another extra 2 minutes and gave up and left.
I rarely leave a restaurant, if ever because even I feel guilty about doing so since I work in the industry. The Book Kitchen sounded fantastic until I actually decided to try it. Maybe their food really is good. Maybe their service can be great (the waitress was definitely extraordinarily polite to all customers to the point where in some cases, it felt sweetly sickening). But for a place this small, with such overstaffing, it shouldn't take them 8 minutes to set out cutlery for a family table of 3 adults and 4 children (yes I counted) especially when you're that close/past closing time and knowing the kitchen is closing, even if you're trying to be nice and talkative with the customers.
This review may seem harsh but honestly, I did not even receive the normal water for the table nor any menus let alone anything else. Otherwise, I would feel too guilty to leave.
Eaten here for breakfast many times with my partner and have to say, whilst the service is a bit hit and miss the food is fantastic, tasty and healthy. Would definitely recommend to anyone that loves sitting with a paper on a sunday morning and eating a fantastic meal.
Went to the book kitchen for breakfast as I had heard only good things, I was NOT disappointed. The coffee was fantastic the best I have had in a while. I had bio poached eggs with a side of bacon and mushrooms. The eggs were perfectly poached and were like little rays of sunshine on the plate I just loved it all. We will be back to try both the lunch and dinner menus.
Been there twice, once for brunch and once for dinner. On both occasions there was something to be disappointed about. For brunch, the service was above average however my poached eggs with asparagus was over-cooked & rubbery.
I thought I would try the dinner menu. I had the tuna sashimi with the tomato tart and the blue swimmer crab crepe with prawns, which were both excellent but the service was dismal. They didn't top up our champagne until we asked nor our wine. Then we waited for a long time for them to clear our plates.
So whilst staff were friendly & when asked they responded promptly, they probably could've been more attentive. Overall, on both occasions I had great expectations & twice have been let down in some way. I won't be going back.
This is a very a unique cafe. We came in one Sunday for breakie/brunch. The place is nice and cosy with lots of books to read while you wait for your food/coffee. The food was alright but just a tad pricey but absolutely like their coffee and the BOOKS.