Another day, another new venue to try!
The Dame stepped in for breakfast this sunny morning, on the way to Greenwich. Even at about 10am there were several people already enjoying the sunny and pleasant ambience, lounging on the big leather sofas or reading the paper at one of the tables.
The welcome was friendly and attentive, and as I waited to be served, I marvelled at how the woman behind the counter managed to be extremely patient and polite with a customer who was doing his best to patronise her. Yes, she explained, that WAS an Americano, it's just that the hot water came out with the coffee from the machine, it wasn't added later. Yes, that WAS cold milk she was using (and she brought it over to show him so that he could say exactly how much he wanted). You could tell he didn't think she knew what she was doing, and as I stood there wanting to say something sarcastic to him, I was reminded that that's why she works in a customer-facing environment and I don't! She even resisted the temptation to roll her eyes as he left the shop!
I was in the mood for a fried egg sandwich or something equally breakfasty, and although they couldn't offer me my fry-up choice (apparently bacon sandwiches are coming next week), between them the two members of staff gave me a few options until I settled on a panini with mozzarella, ham and pesto, and an Americano to drink, at the extremely reasonable price of £3 in total (coffees are around £1.60). The Americano was excellent and the panini, while made in a softer bread than is usually used, was tasty and fresh.
I sat in the window and watched the traffic go by; it was lovely and sunny and although I couldn't linger, it provided a pleasant stopover for a break. A nice one to return to, although unfortunately it won't be often until/unless they extend their opening hours to weekends or evenings.
4 comments:
Ah, that solves the mystery of why it looked so closed on Saturday! Might be a little while before I make it down there on a weekday...
I happend upon this post after reading the one about the walks up deptford creek. Then realised the person ordering the coffee was me(long black coat, scruffy hair, green scarf).
I wasn't trying to patronise the staff. I work in customer facing jobs - and have done for years and years. To be honest, since i've never seen an americano prepared like that and since they were using jugs normally used for steamed milk, I did get the impression I was not about to be served what I had ordered. Turns out I was wrong and my breakfast was very good. But I was certainly not trying to patronise the staff and if it was interpeted like that then I regrett it and it wasn't my intention.
JK
hi JK, and thanks for commenting! Perhaps it just seemed that way from where I was standing; like I said, I'm not cut out for customer service anyway, maybe because I take offence where none is intended! At least the staff didn't seem to mind - or if they did, they were too professional to let it show. Glad you enjoyed the coffee and it's nice to know that you only intended to patronise the establishment as in give them your patronage, not any other way!
I go to The Hoy quiet a lot and I'm a student, i find the price extremely reasonable. But when I read that they couldn't offer you breakfast I was like 'whoa' Claire (the woman who owns The Hoy) now does shepherds pie, lasagne, soups.. the list goes on. Yesterday due to the snow I felt like i needed some comfort food, and Claire was there. I had salmon, scrambled egg on toast and a mug of tea, it was just what I needed, I stayed there for about an hour catching up on coursework. and Claire and the Girls didn't mind at all!
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