Koala Karlous in Plymouth

Great coffee just very poor service. I’ve been twice to the Plymouth cafe and had horrendous waits for food and coffee. Called in there this morning to be told there was a 20 minute wait, just for two takeaway cappuccinos, which is absurd. Probably won’t bother going there again now, which is a shame because I really do like the coffee.

Had a really decent coffee to go today. Caramel shortbread was also really yummy. Didn't experience what the 1 and 2 star reviewers were claiming. It was all good from my perspective.

Really friendly staff & super delicious food!

Vegan cream cheese bagel is gorgeous. Coffee is roasted in house and is so good.

Lovely food and nice atmosphere. Good view and pleasant staff. The coffee was nice and "The Lox" salmon bagel was delicious 😋 Special thanks to Maddy for being friendly

We’ve been here before and enjoyed the food. Today was not so good. My salmon and cream cheese bagel was pre-prepared and straight out of the fridge! The bagel was cold and hard, the cream cheese was not creamy, that was hard! I had to look for the menus and find my own cutlery, and they wanted a service tip ? I won’t be rushing back.

Food and drink is very expensive for what it is. Staff are very rude. One member of staff decided to make a sarcastic comment because I decided not to give them a tip. I'm so glad I didn't tip them! The staff are either under paid or greedy.

Staff are always very welcoming and the food and service is impeccable!! We love visiting as many weekends as possible. No matter the weather we always love a visit, we either sit outside in the sunshine or inside toasty next to the fire if the weather isn’t as good. The Avo Halloumi bagel will always be my all time favourite, however the others are delicious too and the pizzas are the best pizzas I’ve ever had!! Of course you can’t forget about the coffee either, we love it so much that we have purchased bags of it multiple times to have at home for when we are unable to visit!!

Great location and decent views. BUT I am not paying the amount they want for a bagel!?!?! ranging from £8.50 to £12 And when I pay £3.20 for a cup of tea, yes £3.20 for a tea. A cup of tea I might add, not even a pot for one, I do expect it to be in a proper china cup/mug, not a paper cup!!?!? Especially when I am sitting on the premises, even if I am outside. Very poor IMO. Seemed popular and was busy on a bank holiday monday. But for those prices and for the reason of paper cups, I will not be returning.

I bought an iced latte here recently and although the coffee was lovely, the customer service was shocking. Inside, there was around 5 members of staff behind the till just talking amongst themselves, after a couple of minutes they finally acknowledged me and served me. I had to wait ages for the coffee to be made, even though I was the only person in the queue, not one staff member smiled once and actually made me feel uncomfortable as I could tell they were talking about customers amongst themselves. In the time I was sat waiting, 2 customers complained about their food order. There was also 2 members of staff outside clearing tables that were moaning about the job as I was walking in. Not a great first impression after wanting to try this place for a while. Maybe management need to read some of these negative reviews, they seem to have a lot of negative ones. there’s no point making the place look all fancy online when in reality you’re staff lack basic customer service skills.

The cookie, latte and flat white (not pictured because it was immediately demolished) were divine! And the atmosphere is so relaxed and next level, including the kindness of the staff members! A big recommend and thank you from some very happy customers.

This place is the definition of style over substance. I came here when it first opened and thought the issues we had might be teething troubles so waited until I tried it again to review. However, after waiting 15-20 mins for a bagel that was clearly pre-made (so why the wait?) and stale as hell, I thought it was time (and fair!). The staff were nice but the wait is confusing, the area and location is beautiful and the design of the cafe is stunning.... But that's where the good stuff stops unfortunately, the bagel looked nice on first glance but was so dry with soggy fillings and cost way too much for what it is, it reminded me of the sort of pre-packed sandwich you get in a dodgy meal deal, but not as good. I personally believe there are better places around Plymouth that make their food to order and deliver on taste.

One of the best coffees I’ve had. Staff are lovely and great service. The location is beautiful as well. Definitely worth a visit :)

Turned up at 6:45pm after a long days work to be told ‘We’re about to shut’ but still able to order food. So quickly ordered a pizza to share with my husband as didn’t want to put them under pressure to stay open any longer than necessary. I believe they are open until 9 but there wasn’t enough customers to warrant this. More customers arrived before our pizza did. Eventually 5 tables out of the 10 were occupied, yet I could still hear her saying ‘we’re about to shut’ but this time added ‘No more food! We’re out of pizzas’ A fabrication I suspect…… My point is, when this company closes due to lack of customers, they’ll only have themselves to blame

A really lovely place to come for a cuppa! Highly recommended! 🥰

Without doubt one of the worst coffees I have ever had the misfortune to drink. I ordered a Flat White. It was nowhere near a Flat White. A tepid latte at best. The coffee was also ridiculously weak. My wife ordered caramel latte, again, tepid, and not very nice to say the least. Thoroughly disappointed by what looks to be a lovely cafe in a lovely setting.

Excellent coffee and food at a fair price

Loved bagels,pastries and coffees yesterday Friendly staff Must be super hard work in this beautiful sunshine ☀️ we are all enjoying Perfect spot too looking out to sea x Love it We’ll be back Thank you Keep hydrated Thank you 😊 Edit .Don’t forget to support them through the chilly months and due to move into their inside premises we gather, mid November 🥰 added in 2023. Update - went in for a quick coffee and pastry today with my husband … both coffees rubbish … when I went back in to say cappuccino was cold , no apology, just “ do you want it remade extra hot ?!!!” I’m very aware cappuccinos are not made extra hot so I said No .. just a normal cappuccino! “ This is second time we have been in and received attitude, even emailed company and never got a response ! So clear now that the attitude from the top is flowing down sadly . Great shame as great spot for coffee but we won’t be going back 😎

Went into there today staff looked cheesed off, didn't want to doing any extra for you, I was in this sort of work myself and had to run abt all day,

Lovely clean and modern coffee shop, however, wasn’t impressed with the vegan lemon muffin which was dry and lacked a lemon taste, but nice cup of tea. I asked for some hot water, but was told that the teapot was bigger (it should have been especially for two people) just enough for two cups. The assistant didn’t seem happy that I asked her again for hot water, which she could have done at the beginning. No plates only a slate for them both so we used our serviettes to put our cakes on, which made a mess, no spoon or knife given. Only paper cups allowed outside! Far too overpriced, at £14.30 for two small muffins and two teas. Not much choice of cakes. Sorry to say, won’t be returning.

My husband and I had a lovely lunch at Koalas. We had the BBQ chicken in a bap, with cheese and caramelised onions. With freshly squeezed orange juice. It was lovely and tasty.

Second time here, and the first time wasn't a nice experience neither! Uncomfortable window seats, and cold coffee. More time was spent on the pretty leaf pattern than on the quality of the coffee. Will we come again??? I don't think so!!

Really nice but coffee never hot enough even when asking for extra hot

Nice ambience but the wedges were hard cakes bland and the coke is absolutely disgusting I know the modern thing is all plant based local etc but please put some decent cold drinks on the menu and let customers choose just bottles of diet coke would help the Luscombe stuff is bearable but the coke is downright disgusting it's also very expensive such a shame

Expensive, Coffee luke war m, bagel stale

My son and I decided to pop in for a drink, before we went for a swim. My son ordered an iced coffee for himself and a pot of tea for me. When it arrived my sons iced coffee was in a plastic cup and my tea was just a paper cup, no pot in sight. When we asked why we got takeaway cups and no pot of tea, the waitress said that's our policy in the garden and walked off. The garden was full of people with China cups and glasses. We were so angry and upset with the attitude, my son took it back in and we left. We obviously will never go there again 😕.

Cold coffee and uncooked potato wedges

The food and coffee here is to die for. I would recommend this to family and friends and and it's all year round great place to eat

If your looking for a stop at a picturesque location and want to be treated with absolute contempt by disrespectful staff, then this is the place for you. Having arrived with my mother, I went to the bar, ordered a pot of tea for 1, and a caramel iced coffee. At the table waiting for our order, we discussed the cost, at first seemed fair, (but this is a different story. £11 for a bloody bacon and cheese bagel). Then our drinks arrives, in plastic and paper cups, (I can accept this with my iced coffee, but, not the tea, and more to the point I asked for a pot not paper cup) I mentioned this to the waitress, and said that I never ordered takeaway, she looked around, then said because we were in the garden we had to use paper and plastic. I then looked around for myself, to see every table with real glasses and low and behold, ceramic cups. Not 1 person was interested. Avoid places like this. The measure of an establishment is how they treat their customers, everyone's entitled to a bad day, but when I'm paying for service, I expect that service, if you can't leave your personal life at home, get help!

Ordered v60. Staff had no knowledge of coffee for a coffee roasters. V60 was poorly made tasted thin and under extracted. Also contained loads of sediment and overall was a badly made product. Fresh orange juice wasn’t actually fresh. Cakes were good which saved from a 1 star. But embarrassing to be a coffee roaster and so bad at making coffee though.

coffee ok overpriced poor bagel, my bacon was scraggy undercooked poor quality streaky, non existence chilli jam, well not enough to taste if it was there, and most of the lettuce was hanging out the side of my bagel so had to rebuild it, sloppy kitchen, hutong bagels way better, felt robbed.

Very overpriced for what they offer. Bagels are expensive so expected them to be great but the fillings are lacking. Plenty other bagel shops around Plymouth which offer better quality products. Some servers don't even bring you cutlery or napkins and my plate arrived dirty. Bacon was undercooked and rubbery. Shame because the location is great but overall very disappointing experience and careless staff. Checks should be made before the food leaves the kitchen.

Went to go and eat and they were closed on a Friday evening despite advertising being open until 9pm. This is a prime location and it’s such a shame they are making the most out of it.

Our 2nd visit and still not impressed! A lovely location with stunning views but a lack lustre cafe. Wait to be seated the sign said so we waited and waited until we were spotted eventually. We started off in the window on uncomfortable stools but managed to grab a table with proper seats. The waitress cleared the table but didn’t clean it - disappointing and unhygienic. Our bagels arrived before our drinks and didn’t taste very fresh, no knives to cut in half, no milk with the Earl Grey and no glass with my Luscombe cold drink! Was I supposed to drink it out of the bottle?? It cost £25 for 2 bagels and 2 drinks, very expensive and definitely not value for money. Will we be back? Not sure 🤔

Really lovely, dog friendly great view in and outdoors

Went here with my wife for a cappuccino and a brownie, people sat inside were served the usual big cups associated with having a cappuccino but as we were sat outside we were given two small and i mean small disposable cups like from a service station , all for £15 as well (for reference the day previous we had exactly the same in torquay harbour for less than £9 and in nice suitable cups) would not recommend .

Service very slow and staff rude and ignorant

Cold coffee stale bagels very disappointed

Excellent food, fantastic vibes and outstanding views, the cafe was full so consequently there was a small delay with serving the food, but not unreasonable given how busy it was. We'll definitely be back for more...

Oct 2023: 15 minute wait for a regular coffee on their first weekend. Will try again and edit review if better. update: Apr 2024 - Just a few minutes wait for the coffee this time. A little over priced compared to other coffee outlets around.

Brilliant place, lovely scenery. Great variety of coffees from simple to complex, great for everyone if you just drink it or love it. Staff were lovely and helpful.

Very nice location, with great views. Young informal atmosphere. Good pizzas. Quick service.

Excellent service with great coffee and pizza. Arrived at lunch time and it was really busy, but the staff were great, very chatty, and helpful. Although it was very busy, the staff were not phased. I had a bodhi pizza which was kindly made by the chef, and a flat white which both came to me promptly, considering how busy they were. They have loads of outdoor seats too which is amazing as they were so busy they needed it. Will definitely be back

Lovely, clean cafe in a beautiful location. Drinks are always delicious and well presented. Was sad to hear the bagels are premade and not fresh, but the people I've visited with have always said they taste nice. I'm not a bagel person, so can't offer a personal opinion! The staff are always polite and professional.

Visited with a friend yesterday morning. It was my second visit but it was my friend's first. A lovely welcome from someone called Matt. He was so friendly and asked whether we had visited before. As my friend hadn't, he explained clearly how to order, and asked whether we wanted a window seat or not. The drinks came promptly and the bagels were amazing; I had the Bacon Swiss and my friend had the Avo & Halloumi. Matt delivered them to the table with a friendly smile and another chat. The venue is awesome- free parking and a place for a lovely walk, particularly on a sunny day as it was yesterday. I hear they are doing pizzas now so I'll definitely return!!

Two stars because the coffees okay and the position is lovely. Staff aren't anything amazing, you'd think being new they'd make a bit more of an effort. The bagels are grim, premade and taste stale with soggy avocado, disgusting. No salad or anything on the side. Awful for the price, could get a better one in a Tesco meal deal

Friendly place with tasty bagels and delicious coffee. Very dog friendly definitely recommend.

What a fantastic use of a building that was empty for ages. Its in a beautiful spot with sea views , lush coffee, and bagels ,super friendly staff always very welcoming and I love that it's dog friendly .

I waited 40 minutes outside for one single hot chocolate. Wasn’t even that busy.

Really good coffee. Friendly staff

Really cool coffee shop with views out over Mountbatten pier. Coffee was absolutely delicious, nicely presented on a wooden board, and served hot. There’s a lovely wood burner which makes the coffee shop lovely and warm and a welcome restbite after a walk. The merchandise looks really cool but was very pricey. Shame as we would’ve bought some coffee cups or a tshirt. Definitely worth a stop. Cool, clean place with great coffee and dog friendly.

Sunday 3 March good weather. Walked from Jennycliffe looking forward to a bagel and coffee at Koala. I expected it to be busy, but not to wait 45minutes for my order. There seemed to be no urgency within the staff, especially in the takeaway cabin, the person serving didn't seem to know what they were doing. Many people got fed-up waiting and left. More staff required and better training needed.

Tea and a bagel with a view and awesome service. I come down here on Sunday mornings and the team here are super friendly and even open early sometimes. As with most things these days it's not cheap but then even a Subway meal deal is £10+! The food is decent and worth the spend in my opinion, I'll definitely remain a regular customer 🥰

Waited in the queue for about 20 mins which is fine, it was busy. But got to the front of the queue to be told they weren't taking food orders for another 5 mins to catch up with other orders. Ok, so can we wait at the till or preorder what we'd like? No, we'd have to go the back of the long queue again and wait ANOTHER 20 mins? So people who came in after us get served before us? Staff had a air of total indifference. Doesn't really make sense and just a waste of time. Maybe have someone telling people waiting in the queue that they're not taking food orders currently to save people waiting for no reason? Or is that too much common sense. More staff needed and better service. We had coffees instead which really weren't great.

Lovely coffee, bagels, and views. Will return!

Food is very overpriced and premade Price for fresh bagels is to demanding, it should be £7 not a whopping £12 for the fully loaded which had an undercooked hash brown in it, probably because it was simply re heated. Coffee was good, but portions were stingy. Music atmosphere was nice but music was too loud on some tracks. Seating is not pram accessible and oddly positioned around the venue. The 'wait to be seated' request simply does not work as there was no one who even took notice of us until we claimed our seats after 3 minutes waiting ourselves. Staff seemed to be new and not compitenant with knowing which order were where. 3 in the 30 minutes we stayed. The system for getting behind the till by lifting a heavy latch is unsesecary and customer's like myself mistook it for a surface to put finished orders onto. Some staff did not wear uniform but had jackets on which did not match the black and white uniform. Recommend gray uniform as its called 'Koala'. Positives included - Coffee machine was interesting and added to a unique experience with a see through exterior. Food is good but needs to be fresh if charged for the requested price. Its a bagel not a full english. £7 is more than enough for the fully loaded bagel. Music was nice and a change to radio or pop music. Fire stove was a wondeful touch. In conclusion this place has so much potential but needs to be more welcoming, less corporate and above all cheaper. You are running a Bagel Coffee shop not a Restaurant.

The most amazing bagels and great coffee with wonderful service, clean facilities, and a lovely view. Quickly become my number 1 cafe in Plymouth. I've had the halloumi, avocado, and chilli jam bagel a couple of times and it is phenomenal. Well filled and great quality ingredients. Deliciously cinnamon-y chai (I'm picky) and a lush iced coffee. Lush looking baked good although I haven't had a chance to try them yet and I can't wait to try the pizza! I'll soon be buying some (handmade) mugs and a sweatshirt from their shop. Really lovely stuff that looks to be very high quality. Cannot rave about this place enough!

Popped in with my partner on a rainy day whilst exploring mount Batten, we grabbed a couple bagels, the fully loaded was incredible. The fire really warmed us up, and the staff were super friendly. Will definitely visit again.

I came here with a friend, really lovely atmosphere and friendly staff, The gluten free flapjack was delicious and so was the iced coffee

Amazing bagels and lovely staff, will come back again 🙂

Absolutely love this place. A perfect location for a walk and a great coffee! Staff are friendly and welcoming, a lovely atmosphere with a warm fire.

Really good coffee and bagels, better than Hutong. Really busy

We went for a walk around Mountbatten with our toddler and stopped by to have some coffee and try the bagels. The coffee is ok but definitely not worth the price unless you're paying for the nice presentation and stylish mugs. The bagels are ok (ish)... you get more for your money on the other side of Plymouth where the bagels are tastier and slightly cheaper. I would probably go back if the service had been good but to cut the long story short, they messed up our order and we sat there for ages waiting for 2 bagels while everyone else around us was being served, even those who arrived after us. I had to go to the counter and ask for our food or a refund and ended up bringing the bagels home. One of the members of staff was very apologetic but to be honest I was just bored and didn't want to be there anymore! The ordering system needs improvement, perhaps numbering the tables would be a good idea... Having worked in one of the busiest restaurants in London, I can say that it's not that difficult to serve customers what they ordered within an acceptable time frame.

Relaxed and friendly atmosphere. Served very quickly by friendly staff. Bagel and coffee was very good & worth the price as best egg & bacon I’ve had!

You won't find better coffee, yoga, bagels or music!

We had a lovely take away bagel and coffee a few weekends ago. We returned today to be told we could not have a bagel to take away on the weekends but only on a weekday. But where happy to serve a takeaway coffee & cake! Extremely disappointing as we had driven quite a way to enjoy another lovely bagel but work couldn’t allow us to stop and eat in.

What an absolute gem! Very nice atmosphere, good service. Very good coffee and delicious food. Thank you guys!

Brilliant position for a coffee cafe, right on Mount Batten Plymouth. Over the water from the barbican, inside or out, we'll worth a visit, not the cheapest but the position and view, you will not be disappointed. Very efficient staff.

Nice coffee & lovely place/view , but they didn’t have many things from the menus, it is better to make customers aware or just change the menus if you don’t have 4/5 items not available ( it happened already 2 times) 😣😖

Great bagels and coffee with a fab view of the Sound. Have been coming to the pop-up for a while but now the indoor cafe space is open this is a really great spot. Bagels are fresh and filling. Coffee is great and the views beautiful in the sunshine.

We weren't lucky. 2pm Tuesday. We could get last 3 bagles. Bagles were at least from yesterday, maybe older. Very hard. But coffee was great.

The coffee is absolutely brilliant, from the presentation to the taste. If you're a "must have handles on my cup" person make sure you ask for it. Otherwise it comes in a beautiful hand crafted Japanese clay coffee cup ( no handle). Unfortunately I can't say such positive things about the bagels. They are dry and distinctly not worth the money. Saved by the cakes however. The carrot cake was awesome and the peanut butter brownie slice was amazing with the coffee. Over all, great place to go, but save your money on the bagels.

Busy on a sunny winter Sunday. Great location, decent coffee and cake and a cheerful team of staff.

Please be careful as their opening times differ to what they have on their website. We planned a walk along the south west coast path on Sunday with the goal of dropping in for a coffee and a bagel but they closed at 3:50pm (not 5pm). Really disappointed as there wasn’t an option for take away either so can’t give a review yet. Hopefully another time

Wonderful location with great views of Plymouth - and lovely coffee.

Highly recommended, a visit 👌 Bacon bacel & latte coffee very good .

What a welcome relief from the biting cold of today. To enter a well appointed modern yet non pretentious cafe was a welcome from the bitter cold. Solid everything, tables, chairs and a smooth clean floor. Bright and light. Coffee ordered and delivered by a smiling young woman who was genuinely cheerful and didn't offer us the opportunity to simply "enjoy". She engaged nicely and was smart and polite using proper non Americanisms. Toilets are unisex separate cubicles and we're clean, smart and modern. Coffee was really good, well made and was hot. A great place that has outdoor seating as well. Dog friendly. Recommend this as a spot to stop

Coffee great, real tea a treasure of a place with friendly staff, an asset to the area.

Excellent food and service, lovely staff

We arrived as a group of eleven for a bevel lunch at 11.50 to be informed that they had run out of bagels (pretty much all they sell). They weren’t even apologetic 👎🥴

Lovely new establishment that we will be returning to tomorrow! Bagels (maple bacon with cream cheese for this guy) are to die for and the decor is very very pleasing to the eye. Top coffee and lovely staff. A rare, but genuine 10/10

Fantastic place with fantastic bagels! Highly recommend

Delicious coffee, friendly staff, yummy bagels and an awesome atmosphere! Not more to ask for really

The BEST bagels in Plymouth by far, super fresh and full of flavour! The staff are so lovely providing top tier customer service! Thank you to Kat, Molly and Suzie for making my morning visit so enjoyable! A hidden gem for sure!

Such a nice place for a quick bite to eat with great produce and venue. There's only a few main issues: - 2 Coffees and 2 Bagels was £26. I'm not entirely sure how that price is justified but it just seems too much. The bagels were great but in my opinion I was expecting more for the price. They could either reduce the price to make it more attractive to others or give the bagels a side of something or even making the drink included in the price would be great. - You're really open to the elements no matter where you're sat. That's either good or bad depending on the weather. It would be nice to have a indoor seating area or at least an area that has a shelter to protect from the sun / rain / weather that isn't just an umbrella. - The ordering system doesn't work as well as it could for 2 reasons. We were sat down by the enterence (gate) and we could bearly hear the staff shouting out orders. But also when they shouted the orders they were naming the product not the persons name or order number. This meant a lot of people kept walking up thinking the food was their's when it was actually mine. This made for an awkward conversation.

Coffee to die for, super fresh handmade bagels, stunning views. What more could you ask for! Cant wait for inside to open up

Nice place, nice view. BUT waited in 3 person queue, for 25 minutes for 3 coffee's. Slowest service I've seen for years. Coffee was average.

Great place for a snack and drink,

Just a coffee and food outside cafe, No indoors. Coffee expensive. Nice view of sea and Mt batten pier.

Great bagels and coffee made while you wait, and it's hard to beat the view.

I have never had a fresh baked bagel before this place. Superb. Mines a flat white by the way. Delish. Cant wait til the indoor cafe is ready....

Great coffee, bagles and pastries! We had the Italian and the vegan pesto, both were very good! We also tried a doughnut an chocolate swirl, again, fresh and delicious. And the location?👌👌👌

Fresh, gloriously chewy bagel. Friendly staff, and situated on the more "picturesque" side of Plymouth. I can't share a picture as it was too tasty and I scoffed it down too quickly.

Amazing place.Cant recommend this place highly enough. Good food , coffee and amazing views.

Have you ever had a fresh-baked just-out-of-the-oven bagel before? Me neither! It was really really really good. Great coffee and friendly staff also. And you won't find a more picturesque location. Wonderful experience, highly recommended!