I'm going to be honest and go straight to the point. I have never been to "La Maison du Cafe" before because the name and logo were never an inspiration. A place called "La Maison du Cafe" always gave me the impression that it is a place for the rich.
Today I met with a friend, at 4pm to discover a place I'm so happy I didn't visit before.
Below is the experience as it is.
We arrive at 04:30pm, one waiter was smoking his cigarette on the sidewalk next to the entrance welcoming you all stenched with smoke. Of course he didn't feel the need to help with the door. Another one was sitting at the bar like a guest. He stayed seated while the third was opening a discussion with a client with no interest for the other customers.
The place, newly refurbished uses the same colors of Shakespear&Co, grey, concrete and purple.
Two menus are distributed, one for tea and another for coffee. Two menus are torn apart, old and close to disgusting. Seven pages of coffee, coffee all the way. Asking if I can have lunch or savory food items, the answer was no followed by, "We only have one cheese croissant and one zaatar croissant which we get from Pate a Choux." Euh! If a client arrives at noon, can't he have lunch or nibble on something while having coffee?
The most unprofessional staff I've ever witnessed to date. With nonchalant attitude, red sleepy eyes, they throw menus on the table like cards, call each other out loud, take their time in answering the customers, send the bill ten minutes after your order it and forget to add the cake we had to the bill and asked us to pay on the side. With arrogant attitudes these waiters better go find another job and save customers from their negative vibes.
The menu is loaded with suggestions, hundreds of them, no photos and no descriptions, it's hard to read and understand; at the end of the third page, all lines start to look the same.
- Today, I've tried the Espresso shake; a cold espresso mix that's too sweet for me, a light bitterness and no coffee flavor. That's a drink for kids.
- Carrot cake: What a lovely way to wrap the fork with a napkin like cheap Lebanese restaurants up in the village. The cake looks dry and feels dry, lacks cream cheese, has a milky and brioche unpleasant flavor. Where are the carrots? Not recommended!
- Now for the Lebanese coffee, served on a metallic tray it's accompanied with a complementary lookoum bite and a toothpick. That toothpick is disturbing.
Nothing much to write about. An empty display, coffee machines roaring like trucks, arrogant staff, no food, average cakes... Surely not recommended. How can the a popular coffee brewer accept to have a coffee shop like this one!
