FROSTY RECEPTION
As I faced into the blustery, frosty, light rain on Seaton prom yesterday I was surprised to see that only a couple of dog walkers were out and about. I turned round at the West End and with the wind behind me I strode back along thinking I would go into the well-advertised TIDE CAFÉ for a warm up and a teacake. Well that was my hope but I was soon to be somewhat disappointed. A big poster on the side of the bus shelter gave the opening time as '9 till Late' and it was now twenty to four.
Ten minutes later as I came to TIDE the opening times for Monday were now displayed on a front window and were reduced to '9 - 5'. 'Plenty of time for my coffee then,' thought I.
The long faced young lady at the counter was clearly not pleased to see me and she mumbled, 'we are closing'. 'Yes at five,' I suggested. 'No four', she snapped.
To this I responded with, 'so will I have time to have my coffee and teacake before you chuck me out?' Heads of the other six couples present, and one miserable looking vicar, turned as they listened to my conversation at the counter. 'Your choice,' said the waitress. In the background a dismal pounding of electronic quasi-music noise added gloom to the unhappy atmosphere.
To be fair, as I always am, the coffee and teacake were hot and they arrived by about ten past four and during the wait another six people came in looking for service and were turned away. What a way to run a business. The price of my two items though was a reasonable £6.20.
Continuing on the positive side for TIDE I imagine that it has a sound customer base of locals who will pop in during the day for drinks, cocktails, food and enjoy a warm, friendly chat, with friends. The place was spotlessly clean throughout. Disabled access was wheelchair friendly. Parking is always available in Seaton particularly if you have a Blue Badge.
So will I return? Probably YES, but only if it is convenient to me to be there well before their advertised closing time.
This REVIEW is automatically sent to the business and they can comment here.
Thank you for reading this and my thanks to Trust Pilot for this useful platform. If you found this review helpful and could spare a quick 'like' I would be grateful.