Blue Star Cafe Hamble - Be warned !

[Sultans_Kapitein]

What you say does not mean one jot as they broke the law by publishing a price and charging more. That is a crime and trading standards take a dim view of such practises.

Too true Major, does that not come under 'offer to treat' regulations?
I would not go near the place, with that kind of attitude they need to go down the pan, and quickly!

Mal

 

[timgriffin]

Have to say that I have only had excellent service from the cafe they also let me use their pontoon for a short stay.

The building work is now complete and looks excellent with great views of the river and it will be open all year round, now for me that is a plus the food is alway's good service is alway's good so perhaps you caught them on a bad day give it another chance before you right it off. Best place in the Solent for a Bacon and Egg sarnie and they make a good strong cuppa .
Ta Tim

 

[epervier]

Full English, poached egg on toast, 2 coffees and a slice of toast with Jam.

Must agree with what has been said before,£17 and change, that seems a lot of money for a riverside cafe. but not if it includes mooring fees

 

[l'escargot]

We used them the other week, turned up on a Sunday afternoon just as they were closing up but they still made us several rounds of nice fresh sandwiches and hot cups of tea. Prices didn't seem unreasonable for the Hamble either.

 

[old_salt]

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

It is only a shame you did not give them a bill of £1,000 for the charter yacht moored on their jetty.
When they retorted they did not use it, you could have said Well it was there for their use , Sorry pay up it's only your fault you did not use it.

 

[Wiggo]

I dont know how that occured - but £1.49 for a fresh large coffee and bacon bab is not bad IMHO.

I'm pretty sure there's a thread on PBO about some raggie who made his own bacon roll out of bacon and a bread roll he bought from the shop! Cheapskates!

 

[Major Catastrophe]

I agree entirely, full english should be £4.99. Just though if it was 3 breakfasts, just under £6 a piece wouldn't be bad darn sarf.
Hope the folk at PD look at this

I won't have breakfast at PD - it is too expensive and you can get a decent full English at the garden centre, up near the Ysbyty Gwynedd, for under £4.

 

[henryf]

Just to confirm it was 2 breakfasts with coffee and a slice of toast for Em's.

When she went up for a second slice of toast the gruff old bird, and she was a gruff old bird as well , asked her for £1.10 for an item that was clearly on the printed menu at £0.90. We'd sent Em's up with a pound coin so she had to come back and ask for another 10p at which point I went up myself to query the situation assuming an error had been made.

I was told in no uncertain terms it would be £1.10 because she needed to put it on a plate which was extra. I also questioned charging extra for the sauce and was told it was because she's washed gallons of the stuff down the sink when it was free.

I know how we were treated and will not return. They weren't rushed off their feet in fact I'd say quite overstaffed at the time for the amount of custom at that time of the day. We were in Hamble again for a couple of nights a few weeks ago and felt no urge to give them a second crack.

Henry