Pear Tree Café

Have been really looking forward to the opening of this café since the summer. This spot has been poorly utilised in the past and has the potential to be a fantastic park café. Making my visit on the first Saturday morning after opening, I was fully prepared for them to be rushed off their feet and slightly all over the place. I wasn't wrong. Coffee took longer to arrive than the food. Health & safety was in serious jeopardy - roller skaters holding hot drinks, not a good combo. However, when the coffee did arrive it was delicious - a world away from the insipid offering the previous café produced. The food was also great - scrambled egg on sour dough with bacon (perfect for a mild hangover). I do think the owners need to think about their clientele here though - not everyone will want to pay the rather high prices of the food, however good it is - so they need to have some cheaper options that will appeal to the greater good. After all, this is a café in a public park, so it should provide something for everyone. The staff were a bit all over the place but that's to be expected three days after opening. Other than that, they were great - friendly, efficient and helpful. Once they've got to grips with the fluctuating nature of business in a park café ie quiet during the week days, bonkers during the weekends, they will be fantastic. By the time you read this review, the Pear Tree may well have sorted all the above tweaks and be the brilliant local café it has the potential to be.

Arrived at 10:00hrs on Saturday 8th October, to encounter a place in fluid chaos. No indication on how to order, the staff was running around looking very stressed, and the centre circular bar was full of parents with children. Buggies left every which way, without any consideration for the comfort or safety of others. The exterior still looks like a construction site. The interior, although pleasantly minimalist, feels very stark and sterile. At the entrance to the Cafe, there was a table full of pastries, totally uncovered and left for people to touch, sneeze and cough over it. It felt as if the establishment needed another month of proper planning, preparation, and training of staff before opening. This is a prime example of mistakes owners make, when "soft opening" a restaurant or cafe. Very amateurish attempt at adding a touch of class to this corner of Battersea Park. Maybe should walk across to Put in the Park, and ask for some tips on how to treat customers. Although a totally different concept, The Pear Tree Cafe could learn valuable lessons.