The CAFE : BAR by Benugo at John Lewis

UPDATE: Thank you so much for the lovely response, Claire. Your great comms made a huge difference. I've increased the rating to reflect this. I'll be back next month and would love to come and try your offer. Thanks again! PH Visited today to ask about the vegan option for the cream tea 241 offer we had. One member of staff was terribly rude, telling us that there was nothing for us, in a very abrupt manner, despite us being friendly and open. The younger staff member tried her best to help, but I had to specifically ask to speak with her only, as the rude staff member was hovering about (to ensure her helpful colleague didn’t dare be accommodating, I imagine). The friendly staff member told us that she’d really like us to have a vegan option, but she’d been in discussions with her manager on this matter, and they were told that this was a nationwide offer, and no vegan option was available. We thanked her for trying her best, but we’ve just checked, and the offer clearly states that a vegan option is available on request (see photo). A definite contradiction here, between the offer and staff awareness of the terms of the offer.

Came here as we had a John Lewis reward which was for a buy one get one free offer on a scone and tea. I do feel for the staff as when a promotion like this is given, they must be rushed off their feet and can be quite stressful. Im not sure why someone would provide the lowest negative score when the offer doesn’t reflect all aspects of a review, especially if the cafe didn’t have any vegan options available. Plenty of staff working and very busy but we managed to get a table. Scone was great (plus the other food options looked nice) and a pleasant atmosphere, would certainly come back.

I was very surprised to the pleasant atmosphere I found in this benugo cafe knowing the reputation that the above cafe (actual John Lewis cafe) has, I was very welcome by an amazing staff members I think their names were Cain, Courtney and Aaron, they were absolutely amazing, even had some nice banter over the pronunciation of a latte. Very welcoming and relax, I had a perfect Latte, the artwork on the were spot on, even better than well known cafes out there, and a croissant; I was even asked if I wanted it warmed up or cold, very nice gesture of them. I only give 5 because there is not 10, keep it up the hardwork and thank you, will return soon!