I regularly get together with some friends - just to enjoy breakfast and have a catch up. We'd heard some good things about Kailis Bros in Leederville, and so we decided that we'd head in there for this month.
If nothing else, it's certainly popular. The place was full very early, apparently because of a business networking group. There were plenty of other people there, too - so if you're tempted to visit for breakfast, I'd strongly recommend arriving at about 7am.
I asked a member of the staff whether this was a normal turn-out for breakfast, and was informed that it was a usual crowd, especially with regard to the networking group. Unfortunately, that only served to confirm that the management doesn't plan for a known level of demand.
Our party arrived promptly at 7am. We found our one seat, because no-one greeted us, and it took 10 minutes before the apparently sole member of the wait-staff greeted us with some water. Let me emphasise at this point that she did the very best she could, but she was apparently the only person on the floor for at least 60 people. We needed to call her back to ask for coffee, and again about 25 minutes after we arrived to place our orders.
To be blunt, there was nowhere near enough staff on duty to meet the demand. I could understand this if it was a one-off - but these numbers are apparently a regular occurrence, and that lack of planning isn't acceptable in my book.
When our orders were eventually taken, we asked for the Toasted fresh apple muesli, the Kailis breakfast, and the open omelette for me.
You won't be surprised to know that the meals took a long time to be delivered. Luckily, the quality was great. My omelette was presented well (although a little heavy on the salad), and was delicious.
My companions also enjoyed the Kailis Breakfasts, and the muesli was also very enjoyable. The Kailis Breakfasts were too cold, however. So, I'm a little conflicted about my conclusion.
I think this is a lesson that so many Perth eateries need to learn. While the quality of the food is important, so is the service. If you want to have a breakfast meeting and then get to work, you need snappy service that matches the demand. That didn't happen for our visit.
Service and food go together in a very intimate way, and when one of them is lacking to extent that it was on this occasion, the quality of the food is lost in translation. As it stands, I'd give the food a 4 our of 5 rating, but the service a 1 out of 5 rating. The sole staff member did a brilliant job, but one person serving a full restaurant just doesn't work.
