Restaurant review - Sugar Apple Cafe - West Coast Barbados
- Karen
- Jul 10, 2023
- 4 min read
Updated: Jan 5, 2024
Location - Beach View Hotel, Paynes Bay
Overall Rating - ⭐️⭐️⭐️
Food - ⭐️⭐️⭐️
Drinks - ⭐️⭐️⭐️
Service - ⭐️
Atmosphere - ⭐️⭐️
I have been here a few times, and though it has a nice atmosphere and the food is fine, it does let itself down in some of the other areas. Read my restaurant review below.
There are some nights of the week when there aren't many restaurants open, so restaurants attached to hotels are some of the only ones open. Most restaurants in hotels welcome customers who are not staying with them, so we thought we would check it out.
The hotel is set back from the main road, so we headed up the side street and entered the complex saying hi to the security guard. There isn't much signage but the restaurant is up the stairs in the right-hand corner of the courtyard.
Food
There is a standard menu with additional specials on certain nights. We tried fish night and pizza night on our two visits here but they also have curry night and a Caribbean BBQ (high season only? as it wasn't taking place on the night we visited). The food was fine, it wasn't amazing but there wasn't anything wrong with the food either. Hence why we gave it a second chance. On the fish night, I had the flying fish 'fish and chips' and on the other night, we continued our quest for good pizza on the island and had the margarita with added pineapple and mushroom (well they were out of mushrooms but I tried) There is a limited dessert menu some of which are a little odd but I did try the banana spring rolls. They were a bit expensive for what they were, the same can be said for the rest of the menu, but sometimes I just want something sweet after my meal and Barbados does seem to be lacking in this area.
Drinks
There are the standard drinks on offer wine, beer, cocktails and soft drinks, with a happy hour offered Wednesdays and Fridays between 5 pm -7 pm. We had wine one evening as it was included when buying 2 pizzas. I'm not a big wine drinker but it was ok as a one-off.
Service
When we visited there were two staff working and a few tables maybe 12 people in total. Service was slow. It's the only way I can describe it. As soon as the larger table of 6 people arrived the rest of the tables were a bit ignored. This happened on both occasions that we visited. After our main course was cleared we sat waiting to be offered desserts or more drinks but after quite a wait (20 minutes at least) I got bored so walked over to the worktop to get our own menu. We then waited for even more time before we could order. I was so close to giving up and just asking to pay. The second time we didn't even bother, we just asked for the bill, then waited and waited, then had to ask for the bill again.
Atmosphere
The first time we visited there was a great guy playing guitar and taking requests. He had a fantastic variety of songs in his repartee, was very friendly and really made the night. The café has some nice touches in its décor and is next to the pool which is lit at night so it has made an effort.
Overall thoughts
Having worked in the hospitality industry, I sometimes think I can be a bit hard on what I expect when I go out to eat. I would expect two waiting staff to be able to look after 12 people without a problem, and for the customers to have a fantastic experience where they are well looked after. A service charge is automatically added to your bill here so you have no choice about how much you give the team. British people are a little slower to tip than our US counterparts, so it has to at least be good service for us to feel it needs to be given and I'm not sure I would have given the full 12.5% with the service on either of these visits. The most I would say about our two visits was that it was fine, nothing special. Would I suggest you go? Maybe not but I wouldn't say 'Oh no don't go there' either. Have a look on trip adviser we aren't the only people who have had the same experience and I won't be rushing back with so many other choices in the area.
Find more reviews for the West Coast of Barbados below
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