I am a regular at Bubalu and was in front of you in the queue today. Before you placed your order for food and drink, the member of staff very pleasantly asked you to take note of their no tolerance policy (clearly in view on the counter) regarding food brought in from outside (a fairly reasonable request from a food and drink establishment wouldn’t you agree?!!) You quickly told him you had already read it… so I don’t understand why you placed an order and immediately proceeded to take out your own food for your child? I don’t see the difference between a handful of raisins versus something more substantial… food from outside is food from outside. Unfortunately for customers like me (who is also a mother of a young child), people like you are in the minority and your lack of respect for the small business owner results in strict policies like this being necessary. The staff at Bubalu are always incredibly pleasant and welcoming and the food is all fresh and made to order. Ironically the staff always give free raisins to people with small children which you would have discovered if you’d adhered to their policy for long enough!
Bubalu Bristol
Bristol
Star distribution
27 reviews
- Address:
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79 - 81 Gloucester Road, Bishopton, Bristol BS7 8AS
- Contact us:
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01179 245381
- Opening hours:
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Monday - Friday, 08:00 - 20:00
Saturday and Sunday - 09:00 - 18:00
| Owner's info |
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| User's info |
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27 reviews of Bubalu Bristol in English
Well! I won’t be back….. Today I was humiliated. At the counter, the man making coffee whispered to the man serving and I was then asked “you can only consume food bought on the premises”. I was shocked and responded. “Do I look like someone who eats food in a café that I have not purchased?” The man at the counter apologised and said he noticed I had a child and said it was company policy, if this were the case he should have said this straight out and not insult me initially. This is not a child friendly café and the customer service is appalling.
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Greg - Portishead
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Mike and his team are fantastically welcoming, friendly and helpful. The food and smoothies are delicious, fresh and well-sourced. And the coffee....try it.... :-)
I think it offers something really unique and its so disappointing to see people complaining about something which seems so obviously reasonable - i wouldn't dream of going in to a restaurant and ordering some of their food and then combining with some i brought along from the supermarket. I don't see why cafes should be any different, and i have huge respect and understanding for someone who is passionate about what they do and is working hard to make their vision a success.
Keep up the good work, it's a fantastic place.
David, Swing Dance Bristol
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My
two young children have been going to Kung Fu for Children at Bubalu
for a year now. Amy, who takes the class, is excellent with the
children; both gentle and inspirational. It's lovely to see the
increase in all the children's self-confidence, concentration,
co-ordination and fitness.
Last
weekend, some of the children did their first grading. It was a big
deal for them and at the end Mike and Amy threw a party for the
children at Bubalu.
Mike
(on top of his usual hectic week) put a lot of effort into making the
party work; making sure that special diets were catered for and the
children had a good time. In fact Mike spent the 36 hours leading up
to the party emailing and texting me to make sure that he had the
vegan option just right.
Mike has created a real sense of community around Bubalu and each week we feel at home and welcome at the cafe.
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Comment 3 comments on this review show all
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AmeliaE, 4 October 2012: -
ybcmark, 4 October 2012:Hi there. I am not so regular in Bubalu, but was in there yesterday and am going in again today. I actually came on Qype to write a review. And then read this one.
I have two children myself, and I’ve bought them into Bubalu a few times.
I couldn’t disagree with you more about the level of service and quality of food. The staff are friendly, welcoming and show humour (which is more than can be said for the other “estabilishments” you are talking about). The smoothies are amazing. And you should try the Frogartos.
This is not part of a chain, and as far as I can tell, coffee is very ethically sourced, food is carefully prepared and there’s been a lot of thought put into making the place great for a wide mix of people.
Every time I’ve brought my kids here, there has been a great selection of food on the menu to meet my/their needs. And if all else fails, a smoothie is a hit! If I want to feed them my own food, I don’t bring them in. Simples!
If you don’t like the place, move on and make space for people like me who do. Perhaps you might think about the impact of giving a great place a one star rating because you’re angry that it’s not perfectly suited for you?!?
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mikebowen, 4 October 2012:Due to incidents like the one you mention on here, we are very clear about our policy on food and drinks in Bubalu. As it is clear that you have read the last bad review, you will have read my response to that incident and the responses of all the others to it too, so hopefully you will realise what we are and can see the other side to the story too (?).
Because of that and rumblings / incidents that followed last review, we have a sign that clearly states what is allowed and what isn’t and we always ask people to read it before we take any money.
If people feel aggrieved by our stance as a health and fitness business (providing healthy, locally sourced produce), they are free to find, somewhere that suits their needs better, without cost, prejudice, or aggravation. The good thing about Gloucester Road is that there are some completely unique places like Bubalu and some big chains, so people have an amazing choice and can find places that they feel comfortable in.
I served you yesterday, so I can clear a lot of this up.
You were made aware of the sign, asked to read it and you acknowledged you had read it “Yes, I know“, so the order was completed. But then you had packaged foods that we don’t sell (we don’t sell, therefore don’t allow packaged products, as stated in the sign) and food stuffs that we both sell, have on display and are mention in said sign (raisins).
The explanation given was fair, polite and unconfrontational and simply repeated what you had acknowledged you had read on the sign. This seemed to cause dismay, that led to anger.
To calm the situation, a ramekin of free raisins was given as a gesture of goodwill, so you had something from us for your little one whilst you ate (a gesture that nowhere else does, or would do).
As our raisins weren’t packaged, pulled from someone’s bag and in one of our ramekins, it wouldn’t have led to a scene with anyone else in the front (as it has done before), so that is why we gave them to you. I think at this point the explanation of the gift and the whole situation became misconstrued.
You mention the food was “mediocre at best”, but when I responded to your email and asked what eaxactly was wrong with the food your response states, “I did not even want to eat the food I ordered after I was told I could not give my daughter anything in a very rude and abrupt way”. I am sorry you thought it was rude and abrupt, it wasn’t meant or delivered in that way, it was , as mentioned above a simple explanation of what we do and why. On the foods, we make our foods with fresh ingredients and as I made your food, I know what herbs, seasoning and foods were put into it, so was pretty sure that it wasn’t “mediocre at best” and as the food was left untouched, am relieved that this comment doesn’t hold any real substance.
After the last review on here and a few other instances with people bringing in sweets, crisps, fizzy drinks, packaged foods etc, all things we don’t sell and won’t allow in this health and fitness business, we have a fair, upfront and one rule for all policy.
Is a real shame that you decided to write your review on here, then email it to me after posting it. I would have liked to have had the chance to discuss this fully before you posted it, but now the damage is done. Venting publicly without giving someone the chance to prove themselves innocent is wrong. So wrong! You are only as good as your last job and because of this misunderstanding and the knee jerk reaction that followed, we look and will be verbally portrayed as terrible in front of the local community (it always happens round here like that!).
I buy all my fresh produce from Gloucester Road traders + source everything else from Bristol.
I do and have done so many free things for the local area and community at huge expense to the business.
I employ 21 local people as staff.
I am a father of 3 under 10’s and planned my health and fitness business for 5 years and fought tooth and nail to get permission to get it open in the end.
I have absolutely everything on the line (as everyone does in a double dip recession) and reviews like this can close businesses down. Unfortunately there are other like minded people who think the same as yourself (not the first instance and probably not the last!), in that as they can’t eat raisins or other foods that they have brought in, they have the right to ruin a person’s dream, passion and livelihood.
So, in light of this, I stand by my stance and I will defend myself, my ethics, my family and my business. Bubalu is about doing what all other health and fitness businesses should do as standard. Please read the other reviews see what Bubalu is about (or have a look at www.bubalu.co.uk and see for yourself), what it does and what it means to so many people.
Disgruntled people who cannot feed or eat their own foods in a place that sells those foods (the only real complainers and staunch damage doers), then go out of their way to cause problems for that business are really not Bubalu customers.
I thank you for your trade yesterday and am sorry that it has led to this unnecessary wrangle. I do hope you (and anyone else who supports you / thinks you are right) find somewhere that allows you to consume foods that are sold in that business.
I’m afraid, I can’t and won’t here at Bubalu.
Best wishes.
Mike and The Bubalu Team.
What I love most about Bubalu is the fact that it's nothing like going to the gym. We go to plenty of classes here and they have all been fantastic, really fun and full of energy and enthusiasm. On one occasion, we showed up to find out we're the only people there and rather than cancel, Mike ended up giving us what is basically a private training session. I don't know anywhere else that would do this, but Mike is genuinely a really great instructor who always makes you feel welcome. The same goes for all the other instructors we have had there.
We'll continue to use Bubalu and would encourage everyone else to drop in and try it as it's a really fantastic independent operation. Exactly what Gloucester Road needs more of!
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17 reviews
I’ve visited Bubalu many times since it opened earlier this year. It works very well for me.
The coffee is great. The food is very good (although I haven’t tried the new menu yet). Free internet (which is usually important to me). And the staff are great.
Mike, the owner, is working really hard to get Bubalu pumping. Taking lots of feedback and putting on a good range of classes. The fact that he buys in premium coffee (which has won awards etc etc) shows that he really wants this to be a great little cafe …
… which it is cranking up to be!
[Added 4 Oct 2012 …]
Bubalu has continued to be a great place to visit. I am not here frequently enough, but each time I am, I am pleased and impressed. Great smoothies, excellent coffees, the food that I’ve tried has been tasty, and the atmosphere is very good. Would thoroughly recommend the place.
Oh, and free tinterweb. Very good ta.
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Mike is a bit crazy but such good fun and works his doughnuts off!
He's been very accommodating to me and my colleagues with letting us work from there for a few hours even at times when it may be out of opening hours.
It DOES annoy me slightly reading the negative comments above when this guy works very hard to build his brand and trade.
Bubalu is not designed for small kids and doesn't claim to be so why anyone would get all hot and bothered about small policies about bringing food into a CAFE is beyond me! If you want a picnic go to St.Andrews park!!!
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I had a chat with the owner Mike. I wanted my kid to come to a class, but he has some learning and behaviour difficulties, and we've been kicked out of a fair few classes before now for disrupting! Mike was encouraging, and so we went turned up at the Combat Class. Ignore the title. This class is about parents and kids having fun together, and giving kids a bit of self confidence, and skills to handle themselves in the playground - a harsh place for many!
We've been back several times, and I don't have a bad word to say about the place and retract any notions I had about this being an exclusive cafe for people with far too much time on their hands. This is an inclusive place, (They hosted a Bristol We Are: Proud LGBT social), and as welcoming to adults who haven't stepped in to a gym before as it is to kids and the fitness fanatics.
Mike has a positive attitude and has been the only one to welcome my kid and provide genuine praise, encouragement and support. The kid loves it, we both have fun and if you work hard enough you might even get a free smoothie.
I'll be back for more classes for sure. I can see this place getting addictive. My only complaint is that I have to travel across from the other side of Bristol, but it's totally worth the effort.
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Comment 1 comment on this review
Bubalu is a unique health & fitness business. You can see what we do and what we mean to people on here and on www.bubalu.co.uk. We source the majority of our ingredients / products for the cafe from Gloucester Road and have a menu that will cater for pretty much everyone (if they want to be catered for). As a health &fitness business we provide fitness classes and nutritious foods to lead a healthy lifestyle. We do not sell packaged foods, crisps, fizzy drinks, sweets etc. As we don’t sell them, we don’t allow them in. After a few unreasonable and very damaging incidents, we have had to adopt a very clear policy of no food or drinks from outside and we have this displayed on a large sign as you walk in and a smaller one right on top of the till. Some see them, some don’t, some see them and completely ignore them. Unfortunately for us, it seems that the majority of people with children object to not being allowed to feed their children what they like in Bubalu (and for some, let their children do what they like in Bubalu). So, we ensure that everyone is aware of our policy – with adults, we approach and address if consuming, with parents we point out the sign at the till. Yesterday we had people in a class, people eating and some drinking, so when juggling all that, an operational question / comment from myself to my staff member whilst I was serving at the coffee machine was not personal or sinister and I’m sorry you feel it was. As I was serving at the coffee machine, I know that my staff member made you aware of our policy (politely and without prejudice), I made your drink as you ordered it (so you didn’t have to wait any time at all), had a polite word with you as you collected your drink, then you sat and drank and we said goodbye when you left. Fast, efficient and informative service, so I am very sorry you felt humiliated and insulted. I am even sorrier that as you are clearly upset by what happened you didn’t choose to take this up with either of us when you were in Bubalu and have decided to unjustly comment online. I would have happily refunded your money for your purchases (am still very happy to do this if you would like?), but as I fear it has gone too far, would like to end with thanking you for your trade and giving us a go and sorry that you have decided that Bubalu isn’t the right place for you. Best wishes. Mike