If you know me well enough, you would know that I love love love love LOVE desserts! :P I've passed Jones the Grocer on level 5 Westfield Pitt St Mall countless times and I always stop to admire the pretty little desserts and the fancy interior but I never ended up trying it. After lunch and shopping with my friends we decided to find a nice place to just sit and relax and as soon as I brought my friends here they were drawn to the desserts as much as I was! :P (I guess that's why we are friends :P).
So we weren't too sure how the set up of the cafe/ restaurant was like, if we had to order at the counter or sit down and then order. We asked a waiter where to order and that we wanted to eat inside and he told us that we order at the counter and then we go inside, he then said someone else would help us as soon as we decided. We decided quite quickly but then getting the attention of the waiter was a pain! We indicated to her several times we were ready and she just continued doing whatever she was doing. We then saw a sign that said we order inside and that's when we got a bit confused so we were just walking back and forth with no one telling us where to go. Finally then waiter finally attended to us and we told her what we wanted and she then informed us we were meant to sit down and order if we wanted to dine in. Bad communication right there. We were eventually taken to a table where we were given the menus which didn't even have the cakes/ tarts on it..... luckily we remembered what we wanted except we had to explain which doughnut we wanted because the waiter just gave us a blank and confused look.
To the food....
So we weren't too sure how the set up of the cafe/ restaurant was like, if we had to order at the counter or sit down and then order. We asked a waiter where to order and that we wanted to eat inside and he told us that we order at the counter and then we go inside, he then said someone else would help us as soon as we decided. We decided quite quickly but then getting the attention of the waiter was a pain! We indicated to her several times we were ready and she just continued doing whatever she was doing. We then saw a sign that said we order inside and that's when we got a bit confused so we were just walking back and forth with no one telling us where to go. Finally then waiter finally attended to us and we told her what we wanted and she then informed us we were meant to sit down and order if we wanted to dine in. Bad communication right there. We were eventually taken to a table where we were given the menus which didn't even have the cakes/ tarts on it..... luckily we remembered what we wanted except we had to explain which doughnut we wanted because the waiter just gave us a blank and confused look.
To the food....
Banana Cheescake | $6.00
The first cake we tried was the banana cheesecake and this was the one I chose... worst decision ever! The cake might look pretty but it didn't taste nice at all! As my friend said "it tastes like plastic..."- I totally agree with her. The cheesecake tasted very artificial and there was no evident cheesecake or banana flavouring at all.. I was definitely very disappointed by this. Paying $6.00 for something that none of us could even stomach.
Lemon meringue tart | $5.50
The lemon meringue tart looks extremely captivating but taste wise it was not very captivating at all. The meringue on top too also had a very artificial taste to it. However the lemon filling was not too bad, it lacked the citrus hit that some lemon tarts I have eaten before had. The pastry was also very hard and when it flaked up every time you tried to pick it up with your fork. In the end all of us just scraped the meringue top off and ate the pastry and lemon filling.
Caramel filled doughnut | $5.50
I think out the three desserts we got, the caramel filling doughnut was the best one! I'm glad that at least one of the desserts we ordered was actually good. The doughnut was light and fluffy and evenly coated in cinnamon and the caramel inside gave a nice creamy texture to the dessert. I would of liked the caramel to be runny but nonetheless it was very tasty.
Iced berry tea
Overall, I was quite disappointed with the experience here at Jones the Grocer- the service at the start was very bad due to the miscommunication and it was impolite of the waiter to ignore us for so long before attending to us. The quality of the desserts were very poor and lacked a lot of genuine flavouring, however presentation wise they did very well. I may go back to try their savoury menu. The atmosphere of Jones the Grocer is very relaxed so it is a perfect place to hang out and catch up with friends or family.
Happy eating x
Disclaimer: This review is only my personal opinion and experience of/at the restaurant, this review is not intended to damage the reputation of the restaurant.
Happy eating x
Disclaimer: This review is only my personal opinion and experience of/at the restaurant, this review is not intended to damage the reputation of the restaurant.