henryf
Well-known member
Moored up on the Village Jetty last night and had a lovely Thai in the restaurant at the bottom of the hill, (best Lamb massaman in the world). We were having a night on the boat after a Med Cruise aboard Independence of the Seas so no food on board. Going for a bit of breakfast and we came across the Blue Star Cafe, (you actually see the kiosk from the mooring but there is a modern cafe round the back).
Full English, poached egg on toast, 2 coffees and a slice of toast with Jam. £17 and change. Asked for brown sauce to be told it's by the counter. Went up and the tight buggers wanted another 20p so I left it out of principle.
Daughter finished her toast and Jam and wanted another slice so sent her off with £1. Toast is 50p on the menu, jam portion 40p. Couple of minutes later she comes back saying she needs another 10p. That's odd I though but gave her some more money. Fearing I was going mad I grabbed a menu to check the menu and sure enough toast was 50p, a portion of Jam 40p. To my calculations that came to 90p, not the £1.10 they had charged Em's. Went and spoke to the owner, a fairly gruff old bird who told me they had to put it on a plate and so had charged 20p for the pleasure. I also foolishly mentioned I thought it was a bit mean charging 20p for brown sauce on a £6 or £6.50 breakfast.
I was then told how she'd washed "18 gallons" of sauce down the sink when they used to give it away and for some reason she told me her last electricity bill was £1,000 (presumably she thought I was trying to complete a business plan for my own cafe !!). She offered me 10p back so as to only rip poor old Emily off 10p but I declined.
On the plus side we weren't charged for the cups which held the coffee, only the £2.40 advertised on the menu and ditto the plates for the breakfasts.
I was tempted to ask for a partial refund as they hadn't bothered to fix their toilets which were out of order and so if you were being that picky we hadn't been provided with their full service - but I decided to cut my losses and run
Rarely have I met such a penny pincher and to charge more than your menu is odd if not illegal. My advice would be to avoid the Blue Star cafe and walk a couple of yards up the hill should you find yourself in need of a bacon butty whilst overnighting at the Hamble.
Anyway, rant over. A perfect end to a lovely couple of weeks and I even saw the Ice Cream boat as we left the Hamble as featured in this issue of Motor Boat and Yachting.
Keep smiling
Henry
Full English, poached egg on toast, 2 coffees and a slice of toast with Jam. £17 and change. Asked for brown sauce to be told it's by the counter. Went up and the tight buggers wanted another 20p so I left it out of principle.
Daughter finished her toast and Jam and wanted another slice so sent her off with £1. Toast is 50p on the menu, jam portion 40p. Couple of minutes later she comes back saying she needs another 10p. That's odd I though but gave her some more money. Fearing I was going mad I grabbed a menu to check the menu and sure enough toast was 50p, a portion of Jam 40p. To my calculations that came to 90p, not the £1.10 they had charged Em's. Went and spoke to the owner, a fairly gruff old bird who told me they had to put it on a plate and so had charged 20p for the pleasure. I also foolishly mentioned I thought it was a bit mean charging 20p for brown sauce on a £6 or £6.50 breakfast.
I was then told how she'd washed "18 gallons" of sauce down the sink when they used to give it away and for some reason she told me her last electricity bill was £1,000 (presumably she thought I was trying to complete a business plan for my own cafe !!). She offered me 10p back so as to only rip poor old Emily off 10p but I declined.
On the plus side we weren't charged for the cups which held the coffee, only the £2.40 advertised on the menu and ditto the plates for the breakfasts.
I was tempted to ask for a partial refund as they hadn't bothered to fix their toilets which were out of order and so if you were being that picky we hadn't been provided with their full service - but I decided to cut my losses and run
Rarely have I met such a penny pincher and to charge more than your menu is odd if not illegal. My advice would be to avoid the Blue Star cafe and walk a couple of yards up the hill should you find yourself in need of a bacon butty whilst overnighting at the Hamble.
Anyway, rant over. A perfect end to a lovely couple of weeks and I even saw the Ice Cream boat as we left the Hamble as featured in this issue of Motor Boat and Yachting.
Keep smiling
Henry
