Bean Bliss Cafe in Canterbury

Turned up at half 1 on a Saturday and the place was closed, despite the opening hours on Google. No note on the door explaining why they were closed either. Not a great first impression.

This is a great spot for a coffee. There is a play-room for young children which really adds to the happy atmosphere. Great cakes too.

Things have gone downhill here since the new management took over, and you can tell as the customers have voted with their feet, the place is quiet to empty most of the time. There are a number of issues, the name is thoroughly confusing, is it Bean Bliss or Blean Bliss? At least you knew where you were with the previous name and branding. The biggest issue though is the service. On one visit I noted that, despite the place being nearly empty, many tables had uncollected dirty crockery, glasses and cutlery left on them. Customer's ahead of me at the counter were wanting to order but were unacknowledged while the serving staff member was making a coffee, they left and I in turn was unacknowledged while the serving staff member went about her business. Even though nearly empty food service was tortuously slow, I got to the point of demanding service or a refund after 20 mins of waiting. When food turned up (I had a jacket potato) there was no cutlery prompting a farcical exchange, I asked for cutlery and was brought a fork, asked for a knife which had to be hunted down, asked for a napkin with same result, asked for a spoon for my tea and had the same result. I thought about asking what I was supposed to do with the tea bag I had to fish out of my cup but thought better of it and chucked it on the table where it no doubt sat for a while after I left. This place was, and should be, a valuable community hub and it sits in an enviable position next to the busy village store , doctors surgery and new sporting goods shop. Feels like a wasted opportunity to me.

Our first and, sadly, last visit. My companions had been here under previous ownership. We chose to come here, as there is a play area, perfect for the little ones. We were quickly aware of the lack of customer service engagement. Once seated, I was served a scone with no butter and jam and had to go and ask for some. Not a big deal, although I noticed from reviews on other sites that this has happened before. The big problem was that, within less than 10 minutes of being served, we were asked to leave as it was past 3pm, their closing time apparently. No offer to finish our purchases first, but to leave immediately, with them offering to put our partly eaten food into a box! Astonishing. Why serve us at all, if time is such a pressing issue. If your shop is open until 3pm, the expectation would be to be served until then , with sufficient time to consume. The staff really do need customer service training and, perhaps, the proprietors need to pay the staff beyond the 3pm closing time, which is how all hospitality works.