Cuto Kids Cafe Blackburn — Restaurant in Melbourne

The place looks nice and cute and is a great space for toddlers. Since they have just opened I would like to note some things that can be improved, as I’m not sure if I’ll be back again soon but I’m will to try again as I’m sure some of these things will be improved in time.

Ordered a baby chinno and it was boiling hot. If I hadn’t tried it before my eager son he would have burnt his tongue and could have been a hazard if it fell on him. They should be served as warm. No hand towel at the sink in the space for children to dry their hands. But I like the idea of having the sink there as kids need a clean before eating. Food took too long to come out, especially for the kids chips and nuggets which was just put in an air fryer. My other food and coffee came at least 30 minutes before it and I had finished it all and my son was still waiting for his food. I had to ask two different staff members (I even asked the same person twice) to check where the remaining of the order was. 4) Chips were undercooked which could make my son sick. Some chips were also over cooked and dry. The Dino nuggets were weirdly shrivelled up. I’d suggest to actually use a proper fryer (I know it’s not as healthy as an air fryer) but the air fryer does leave inconsistency with the quality and how well the food is cooked. 5) I’d suggest time session tickets with a capacity limit per session, that way people can actually find seats to sit and eat as there was too many people and the dining area is very small. Also that way the place is not overcrowded too which poses more risks, especially when parents are passing through children playing whilst holding hot cups of coffee above the child’s head. Also staff seemed like they struggled cleaning up with that many people. 6) Probably not safe having cameras and electricals actually inside the playground which I saw multiple children touch and pull at. 7) I think the space needs better exhaust fans in the kitchen, as at one point it was very stuffy from the cooking and smelt like fried food. I tend to be sensitive to smells and I’m sure there’s a lot of children that would also be. There’s not good ventilation I suppose. It was very suffocating and sickening. 8) Saw some staff members handling food with no gloves. For example putting cheese on the food with no gloves. This is a food safety hazard and isn’t up to the standard of food hygiene. Also I would recommend hair nets for cooks, as there were some staff with their hair down (even if it’s short) or just tied up loosely. 9) Since it’s not a standard play centre and more of a cafe it would be nice if there were more meals on the menu that accomodated for people who do not eat pork, bacon or ham. I would have loved to get some breaky options but they included those kinds of meat and there wasn’t any other substitute.

Overall, nice place but I do hope they take on board...

Food was surprisingly good for an indoor playground. There were plenty of kids options, not just the usual nuggets, chips, unhealthy fried food. Even though it was busy, our food came out at a reasonable time. There were plenty of things to do and play and my kids did not want to leave, so I take that as a good-ish sign. 🤩 Staff can be seen sweeping up the floor and picking up toys constantly, which is good.

However, there are a number of things that I feel can be improved as I really want to like this place, and it’s closer to us. It’s usually just me and the kiddos while husband is working, so I love myself a good café with a play area.

First of all, the moment I walked in it felt like chaos. Just walking past and looking in the window I was worried that I couldn’t find any seats as it was so full of people! There was a line already but it was too late to turn back as we were quite hungry at that point. We were made to sign a waiver before paying, which was fine and everything but they could have a QR sign outside to save customers some time? That kind of caught people by surprise, while everyone was filling out forms we were also blocking people from getting/storing their shoes which was inconveniently situated. Chaotic right from the start.

There wasn’t anywhere to park my pram. The entrance staff told me to wheel it in. So what’s the point of taking off shoes and such? Pram wheels were on the same surface our shoes had been in? 🤨 When we got in, prams were parked along the ball pit and against whichever bare wall they could find, which wasn’t the safest option. At another establishment we went to, they had parking spots for prams/strollers at the entrance which I find tremendously helpful.

Traffic control could be better. Basically that means if you can’t find a table you are screwed. I released my kids into the ball pit and hovered around until a table was freed up. I set our things down and then ordered our food. Mind you, families usually spend 1-2 hours here so there could be a bit of a wait. Maybe they could limit the number of people coming in every hour, or even pre-booking a session. Though I’m extremely impressed that despite being so busy, food still came in a reasonable time and my kids got to enjoy some food. Kudos!

There was only 1 toilet 😨 Enough said. With the crowd that was running wild inside, no way is this satisfactory.

I just hope that this is not a money hungry business, cramming in people so they can make a profit. I understand that no one wants to miss out on the fun either, but the crowd was too...

I was really excited for there to be a centre like this nearby us but unfortunately it was a let down. The staff were all lovely but however incompetent in terms of food service. We stayed two hours and ordered within 5 mins of arriving, our last dish we ordered arrived 10 mins before we left and it was all ordered at once. Ordered two drinks but they forgot 1 and had to ask a couple times for it to come, ordered two kids meals and they forgot one and were asked 3/4 times about the second and it came 1.5 hours after the first one. This really wasn’t good enough , however the food was good once received as well as the drinks and the pizza we got was lovely and the menu pretty good for a play center. The actual kids areas and toys etc were great and they loved it , the downside being it was much smaller than expected so got very crowded and the shoe of the venue means it almost impossible to keep an eye on your kids without following them everywhere, the other parents standing around blocks your view also , maybe if the second room for sitting got changed into a glass window it would low better access to supervise the ball pit area. There also is only 1 toilet which isn’t ideal with young kids who suddenly need to go when you’re behind 3-4 other people in the line.

Overall I won’t be visiting again at this stage or recommend others to go however if the service improves regarding to the cafe section and they can somehow improve the seating arrangement so parents can see better and it’s a little less crowded this would massively improve it and would definitely come back again, most things could be improved upon and I’m happy to try again once this happens. Again , the staff were all friendly , just unorganised which may also be due to it being such...