Friday 8 February 2013

Housing Units, Hollinwood

A quick little visit to Housing Units of Hollinwood ended up in the inevitable visit to the cafe for a coffee and a spot of lunch.
The quality of homeware and furniture in the store is exceptional (and the prices reflect this), and it is a pleasure to browse such quality products, get ideas, and make up an imaginary wish-list. On this occasion we did not come away with anything, but made some mental notes for when we move into our new home (hopefully quite soon).
The cafe was busy (normally a good sign!) so we left our lunch until after we had looked around, and managed to time it just right, as the main lunchtime rush was over by the time we got there.
I ordered a steak and cheese pannini with a cappuccino (no surprise there), and my wife went for a "Half-and-half" soup of the day and sandwich with a latte.
I have to be honest, the standard of food and drink in the cafe did not reflect the quality in the rest of the store. The cappuccino came with plenty of froth, but the coffee was not at all inspiring and chocolate powder was sprinkled with the finesse of a grit spreader. The pannini was rather too well done, which made eating with a knife and fork rather hard work. Fingers it had to be (not a major complaint as I prefer to eat sandwiches that way). My wife's soup was not particularly hot, contrasted with a tuna sandwich that did not give the impression of the Tuna having been chilled right up to preparation. Slightly disconcerting, and the psychological effect detracted slightly from the overall enjoyment.
The cleanliness was without question, and the standard of service and turnout of staff was in keeping with the Housing Units. I can only assume that we caught them at a bad time, and it will not necessarily mean that we do not go again.


2 comments:

  1. You are not alone. We had a similar situation, but on advising Housing Units (Catering) they advised that no one else had complained !!!
    Have not visited again - nor intend to do so - given the response.

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  2. lurvvvvee coffee too, and have always been in pursuit of the ultimate cup, until........ I was presented with a nespresso machine as a retirement gift. Now no other coffee compares. Whereas I used to enjoy trying out various cafes I know I will be disappointed so don't bother.

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