Chez Nous Café - (Near Camden, South East)

5 /5 Jason Campion: The cutest spot in Belsize. Family owned. Retro but cool decor and the sweetest owners you could wish for. A hidden gem.

1 /5 Wiktoria Baczyńska: I visited this café today with a friend, and unfortunately the experience was deeply disappointing. The food was of very poor quality. I ordered a steak medium rare and received an overcooked, extremely tough piece of meat that was impossible to chew. I then exchanged it for tomato soup, which was completely bland and thickened with flour, giving it a heavy, unpleasant texture. My friend ordered a crème brûlée, but it bore no resemblance to the dessert it claims to be. Instead, it was a melted, cheese-like mass with noticeable sugar granules. Neither of us was able to finish it. When paying the bill, I noticed the coffee machine. The steam wands were covered in a thick layer of dried milk that appeared to have built up over a very long period of time. Thankfully, we did not order any coffee. The smell inside the café was equally off-putting — old, burnt oil lingering in the air. The décor and overall atmosphere felt cold and lifeless. We will not be returning and cannot recommend this place.

5 /5 Gregory Hudson: Liked it here a lot. Very reasonably priced food which was serviced quickly, and the outdoor seating area was enjoyable. Good selection of dishes available on the menu as well. Will return here next tome I’m in the area.

4 /5 Dan S: A lovely hot chocolate - quick service, generous portion, and just the right temperature with a silky velvety feel from the foam. A go to bistro option.

1 /5 Bethany Gemmell: TL;DR: the "fresh" food was rotten, I tell the owner I didnt want to pay the full amount, the staff got offended when I pointed the issue out I used to live in the area. Chez Nous had good coffee and a chilled, cosy atmosphere, so I used to go regularly and enjoy it. Now that I moved out of the area, I went back to recapture those good times. I sat down and waited ten minutes until the staff realised a new customer had showed up. The first server was nice and personable. I asked for avocado and salmon wrap with chips and a mocha. The mocha was good. I got the wrap and it came with salad. The server who brought it was an older woman who worked there almost daily/daily. She was different to the first server, who was about in her twenties. I let the server know I ordered chips and she apologised and came back with them. I regard myself as a patient and chilled person. When something is inconveniencing but I know I can live with it, I let it go easily. For instance, the chips were immediately cold. As soon as the server left I tried one and realised that. I let it go: the chips were still nice, after all. Without looking at the filling (because I do not expect my food to be bad), I eat the first half of the wrap. I look down next at the second half. Its filling was facing me and I could see how the avocado was BROWN. Water off a ducks back, I thought, and while thats annoying, I just pushed it aside and told myself to tell the server that the cafe needs to recheck the quality of its fresh ("fresh") food. After five minutes, I think to myself, "The wraps still here. Maybe if I take the avocado out, I can finish it. Im paying for it after all." But, because I didnt want to be fooled twice, I made sure to check my food before I eat it, so I pulled the wrap apart. The salmon was BROWN. There was white, milky residue in the creases too. Any Google search will tell you that that salmon had gone off. Having reached the end of my rope, I decide to tell the server (older woman) that I did not want to pay for the wrap. I said the salmon and avocado were rotten. Right then and there, I felt ill at the thought of having eat the first half of the wrap, knowing it could very well end up giving me food poisoning. She said that it was salmon, and I told her it was rotten and that I did not want to pay for it but I will pay for the mocha. She said okay and took the plate away. When she leaves, I ask for the bill and get up to pay for it. When she brings me the receipt, I see that she is charging me full price. I told her I do not want to pay the full price for something that could give me food poisoning. She said it was salmon and salmon looked like that. She ended up leaving to the kitchen. The younger woman server from before said that the issue was that I had already eat the meal so it was unjustified for me to not pay the full price. I showed her how in the picture I eat the first half of the wrap before I realised THEIR error and I had the fries (the only thing edible). I did tell her that I was happy paying for the coffee and half the price of the wrap. The older woman returned with pink salmon in a packet. I could not tell if the packet had not yet been opened. She said that the salmon I had came from that packet and she implied that the BROWN I saw was part of the natural colouring. Since I was born in 1994 and in fact not yesterday, I told her that I was happy paying half price + the mocha. She ended up letting me do that. The wait for the receipt to print was the longest, most awkward five seconds of my life. The older woman said as she pulled out the receipt, "You will find this problem with every cafe you go to." I told her, "Well, that is the problem then." I will always express the lack of humility, the lack of freshness, and the lack of customer care whenever I tell someone about Chez Nous. Approximately four hours on, I am starting to feel ill in my stomach. I love paying £6 for food poisoning.