Cafe Larome — Restaurant in Melbourne

I’ve been to Cafe Larome several times in the past and absolutely loved the quality of both the food and drinks. However, the quality today was substandard.

Salmon Teishoku 🍣- $28 It was barely decent but that’s the thing. Just decent. How can something ‘only’ be decent if it takes me out of pocket $28? The salmon was cooked decently and the teriyaki flavour was barely there, but I have to admit the portion was just not acceptable. Looking through all the recent google reviews, the salmon was far bigger so it was really disappointing when I received two tiny salmon slices. Rice was also of small portion but it was still good rice. The side dishes were okay and also of smaller size. It was seaweed salad, edamame and miso soup. When I think about other menu items priced $28 or other teishoku I’ve eaten for $28, the quantity and quality of Cafe Larome’s one takes the bottom of the list.

Iced houjicha latte - $6.5 I absolutely loved the houjicha latte here when I came last time, yet super disappointing this time🥲 Tasted so watered down that I wouldn’t even believe there to be any houjicha powder in it. If I could describe the flavour in numbers, 99% milk, 1% houjicha. It’s heartbreaking to see the quality diminish when it hasn’t even been a year 😭💔

I simply feel that the quality was not what it once used to be and that the value for money is simply not there. I hope that I am able to visit Cafe Larome in the future with confidence in its portion sizes...

A local Japanese-French inspired café that is situated between the Riverside Apartments located in Footscray. Cafe Larome offers a range of items such as pastries, snacks, sandos, toasties, burgers & dons. We came in the afternoon and it was quite busy, we had to wait for a bit before being able to find a table. There is quite limited seating indoors but there is also tables available outside.

🍟🍄 TRUFFLE CHIPS 🍄🍟 Definitely could taste the truffle from these chips, i'm not too big on the taste of truffle so this was quite strong however was still quite enjoyable in small doses. It did feel as if these chips were quite overcooked/crisp'd abit too much but still delectable ~

🍚🐔 CHICKEN KATSU DON 🐔🍚 Really enjoyed this main dish the egg was beautifully cooked and complimented the chicken katsu well. The sauce that was topped on the chicken katsu was super delicious and added that bit more of flavour. The disappointment however had to be the rice, the rice was wet/mushy which is a big let down for such an enjoyable dish especially with rice being the main factor choice of choosing this.

Overall Cafe Larome is a good place to visit if catching up with friends if you live close by or are around the area. I wouldn't set your expectations too high though ! But still definitely an enjoyable cafe to...

ORDERED: 🧆 Takoyaki ($12.00) 🍱 Tonkatsu Teishouku: rice, tonkatsu (fried pork cutlet), tonkatsu sauce, miso soup, tofu & flan ($30.00) 🍪 Cookie: We got the pistachio, raspberry & white choc ($6.00) ☕ Soy chai latte ($5.50)

It was $29.62pp, splitting everything between us. This included the weekend and card surcharge!

REVIEW: ➡ My favourite dish at Cafe L'Arome was, surprisingly, their warmed up cookie. There's little that beats a warmed moist cookie. Although we took it away, the staff offered to heat it up for us. It definitely heighted the experience!! 🌼

⬆ We felt like the tonkatsu could've used more flavour. Both the tonkatsu and miso soup was too light in flavour for our liking, with the most savoury dish was the tofu (sitting in a concoction of soy sauce) and the overly sweet flan. I would much rather the tonkatsu and its accompanying sauce be the most savoury moment in the meal! 🙂 The tonkatsu was juicy and perfectly crunchy otherwise. ⬇ Takoyaki was batter heavy but it hit the savoury notes just right.

The cafe is also dog friendly (outside). There's little space inside (~10 seats) but there's more spilling outside. Would recommend you come a little early...