Stray’s at The Ossington

I visited Stray’s 21 January 2024  when it opened at The Ossington

I’ve visited bad coffee shops but Stray’s has the accolade of being one of the worst coffee shops I’ve ever had the misfortune to visit. It’s so bad, it’s in a league of it’s own.

Where else can you order

– espresso martini made with cheap vodka
– a cappuccino that looks disgusting
– coffee beans dark roasted and burnt

Where wait over 30 minutes to place an order and have to chase staff more than once. That is after on walking in have to wait until allocated a seat. Most people ignored the sign and walked in. Had to wave to catch the attention of a waiter and point to an empty settee.

Where when chase a waiter to take an order, shouted at to sit down and someone will come to the table. Not, sorry sir, can I take your order?

Where wait more than 30 minutes once ordered for the order to be brought to the table and have to once again chase staff.

Wrong order brought. It then went round every table. No takers. The coffee looked disgusting. Maybe a cappuccino, milk not frothed correctly, wrong size cup.

When order finally arrived, I’d long forgotten what I’d ordered, but what arrived, no idea what it was, and one sip, it was disgusting. A vile nasty taste in my mouth I could not get rid of. No water was brought to the table.

Water brought to the table with a coffee is called service. The norm in good coffee shops.

Looking around, the cappuccino brought to other tables looked disgusting.

Another long wait for the bill, once again staff chased. I went to the bar to ask if I could pay the bill? Told to sit down and someone would come to the table.

The bill was wrong. No one came back to enable the bill to be paid. Again long wait, staff had to be chased. Big argument ensued. Waiter had to be brought to the table and his attention drawn to what had been ordered. Also drew his attention to a tea pot, not ordered, previous customers, no one had cleared or cleaned the table. Then back to the bar, the bar where previously told I could not pay, to point out on the screen, to indicate what items, to ensure the bill was correct.

The previous bill he kept and would not hand back, he crumpled and threw in the bin.

It would have been quicker to hop on a train to Lincoln or Nottingham for a coffee. And get far better coffee.

Stray’s, according to the mural on the wall, established 2003. Twenty years on, and they still don’t know how to make coffee or know what constitutes good service.

A seating area alongside the bar. Further in a dining area. If this long to wait for a coffee, how long if order food?

Jazz was playing, loud, distorted, unpleasant, impossible to relax and hold a conversation. The problem was, piped around the building. Why not play in the dining area and let it drift around the building?

Whilst waiting for the bill, I asked the barista of the beans. They roast their own. He filled an espresso cup with beans. I took the beans back to the table to examine.

The beans I buy, have a wonderful aroma. These beans a very unpleasant aroma. Dark, over roasted, a slightly oily sheen. A note of burning embers from a wood fire.

The menu shows cocktails. Not a clue.

Stray’s had a coffee shop in the centre of Newark. I visited maybe four years ago. The coffee was undrinkable the service appalling. Nothing has improved.

The coffee shop in the centre of Newark went into liquidation a couple of years ago. The staff were not paid. Have they paid their staff monies owed from when they went bankrupt?

For coffee, make a trip to Lincoln or Nottingham or Butler’s in nearby Bingham.

For jazz and cocktails, visit Lincoln Jazz Cafe.

I revisited Stray’s  a couple of weeks ago. No surprise to find empty.

• PHOTOS Stray’s at The Ossington

Tags: coffee, coffee shop, Newark, Stray's, Stray's at The Ossington, The Ossington