WellingtonNZ.com,
New Zealand 

JC
23rd February 2012 2 star 

This was my second time at Beach Babylon and was not impressed this time……
Location, food and the ability to bring your dog out and have a drink is perfect. Food was yummy as it was the first time.
My problem is the service! I have worked in Hospo for near to 12 years now and i am a waitress in top a Wellington restaurant.
Never have i had such lazy service. Someone needs to give your staff a talking to.
We waited 20mins and no one came outside to see us, even though there was only 2 tables of people, also every other table had dirty cups on it.

I went in and got menus myself in the end, to find TWO staff just talking and didn’t even bother to look up and say hello. Told them we would like to order and they said ok will come out soon to take our order. This did not happen, i had to go in and do this myself, get water ourselves, no cutlery was brought out so when our food came it was dumped and had to get that myself too. This was what it was like right up to when we left.

I don’t mind if it not table service but it was last time and i was told to take a seat and then was forgotten.
I think you should know that after talking to some friends they said yes it’s like that all the time. Great place but the service and staff are rude.

Woo 1.
19th February 2012 4 star 

I like this place way more than I thought I would. My friends and I all imagined it to be a cynical corporate take on retro kitsch before we went there but the decor is actually done really well and we loved sitting at the big booth at the back overlooking the rest of the cafe. It gets really busy, but the service is still good and the staff were friendly and had a laugh with us. Their homemade hash browns are really good. Coffee is good too. I would suggest they have a bit of a garnish on the side of the eggs florentine as it looks pretty sad and lonesome when it gets delivered to you. Aside from that it was great.

Magz C.
10th January 2012 1 star 

I visited the place on Friday 6 January and decided I would never come back again. Between 4 and 5.30pm they do not serve lunch or dinner menu items but only some “small plate” food which is over-prised!
I have a small dog and few weeks ago I had a chat with a person who introduced himself as the owner of this cafe and said that people with dogs are welcome inside the cafe as long as we ask the staff and the guests do not mind. Well, I did so on Friday as we were with an infant who was getting cold outside . Unfortunately I was unlucky enough to talk to the gentleman with a pony tail (apparently a manager) who said it was “I am the manager ….. and it is absolutely” not possible. It is not the issue that I can not bring the dog inside, I have a problem with people who talk to me in a rude way and with an attitude way. Also, dear “Beach Babylon”, if you advertise your cafe as “dog friendly” I would expect the water for dogs to be changed regularly as my dog would not drink it.

Comment from Lydia S.of Beach Babylon 10/01/2012   Hide »

Magz, We are sad to hear you did not enjoy your experience at…    More »

Magz,

We are sad to hear you did not enjoy your experience at Beach Babylon. We welcome dogs at Beach Babylon with a dog food and drinks menu, trained staff and facilities designed for the comfort of dog owners.

Although we are dog friendly, dogs are not permitted to come inside as it is against health regulations & we hope you understand why our night manager wouldn’t let your dog in. We offer our indoor-outdoor seated area with a plastic zip down screen & heaters as a warm area where dogs are able to dine with their owners in comfort. Small & large dog beds can also be found in this area for their comfort.

We are also sad to hear your dog did not drink the water offered. We change our water for customers and water frequently throughout the day. In addition, all the dog bowls are rinsed and cleaned as we have a large number of customers with dogs. We even have a number of different sized bowls available so that owners can select a bowl and pour fresh water for their dogs. I own a pure breed dog myself & he is a daily Beach Babylon regular so I am very particular about the dog facilities.

In regards to our menu’s hours, Beach Babylon is a large operation open from 8am until late 7 days a week. We have counterfood available at all times, serve brunch from 8am-4pm and small plates and counterfood between 4-5.30pm so our chefs have time to prepare for dinner which starts at 5:30. We pride ourselves on the fact we offer food from early til late, Monday to Friday with some of the longest kitchen hours in Wellington. You would be pressed to find a cafe that continues to serve brunch at this time or starts dinner before 5pm. We believe our small plates are great value as they range from $8-$14 for quality, fresh dishes such as salt and pepper calamari with housemade saffron aioli and house-cured gravlax.

We hope to see you return to Beach Babylon.

Regards,

Kelly Chappell, Maura Rigby & Lydia Suggate
Beach Babylon Owners

Reviewer007
15th September 2011 5 star 

We have been here twice within two weeks. Once for lunch and once for afternoon tea (4.30pm) and both times were great. They change their menu during the day.
The staff were very friendly and helpful with my toddler, by giving him a basket of toys and colouring pencils.
After 4pm, they have a wonderful tasting platter with cheese fondu, bread, stuffed peppers, olives, salsa and crumbed haloumi for $34 and it was so tasty.

For lunch, I got a vegetarian big breakfast and it had an assortment of beans, hasbrowns, toast, eggs and tomatoes. very nice too.

I really enjoyed going here and would happily go back again.

A note would be that they dont really advertise on their menu gluten free or dairy free, but they say to mention if you do have any allergies.

Isabella
31st August 2011 5 star 

I came here for brunch for the first time on Sunday and the place was humming. Nonetheless the staff found us a table pretty quickly, and we settled in. The kids menu is great, with colouring in and a kids sudoku on it kept my grouchy kids happy, and tasty food options which they enjoyed. Hubby had the mince on toast, which he loved, I had the quesidilla which was also fantastic, plus with the added benefit of being nice and quick! Coffee was great, will definitely be back.

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