Darling Cafe — Restaurant in Melbourne

Interesting waffle combination but mediocre service. However, one of the more different cafes of all the Darling groups.

FOOD: I ordered the ‘Peanut Butter Waffle’ and my friend ordered the ‘Organic Acai Bowl’. I think the peanut butter waffle should be renamed to the cheesecake waffle because it barely tasted like peanut butter. I’ll start with what I liked which was the waffle’s texture. The waffle’s texture was perfection, it was crispy but also a little chewy. It couldn’t be too soft or fluffy as it had to hold the mousse so I enjoyed that. The cheesecake mousse was pretty good too and it definitely tasted like the cream cheese of a cheesecake. Now, I’ll move on to what I didn’t particularly like. First of all, the seasonal berries is abit of a sham because it was purely strawberries. Also, I’d like to reiterate how there was a big lack of peanut butter flavour. I also thought the golden syrup was waaaay too sweet and ruined the entire taste of the waffle. I think their regular Darling maple syrup would have been just fine.

SERVICE: Service was... below par. I don’t know if it’s coming on a weekend that caused the really bad service or it’s bad in general but truly it was one of the worst service I’ve ever got from a cafe. The staff were kinda rude, unattentive and fake..? I get that all servers aren’t constantly happy and working on a Sunday isn’t exactly a dream but it was kinda disappointing.

Overall, Darling is known for their good food but not their great service and Darling Cafe definitely supports this. The food was not bad and as a Darling group fan, I wasn’t completely disappointed. I just hoped for a dish that lived up to its name and good service. Still worth a visit if you’re...

It really is a shame as some people did look like they were being looked after how ever my experience was not even worthy of a 2 star rating. Here is everything you guys did wring: 1- i walked in (a little busy) stood oit of line of coffees waiting for someone to help me find a seat. Your coffee staff looked at me multipple times but then looked away 2-after 5 min i approched the coffee machine area asking where are the menues and where can i seat? The guy at coffee machine rolled his eyes and said it is table service. We come to you.(sorry to bother you mate) 3- i sat down at the communal table waiting for an extra 5 min till another 2 customers sat next to me and actually they were given a glass of water ( bottle of water included) then they asked me "oh are you waiting for T/A" which i said.. no just wanting to order. 4-she also looked away while rudely saying do u want a coffee?? I said strong latte plz. 5- a glass was given to me woth out a bottle of water ( whats the point) 6-coffee came... in the mean time i had to stop one staff member asking if i can order and i did order "the darling" 7-food came in. The sausage was burned 100% in one side. The food looked like they just pour it on the plate and the taste just made me wanting to write this review. 8-finished food, still no water so i borrowed the bottle from people sitting next to me.

All and all it was an experiencr who really got me on trh wrong foot on my day off so thank you guys. I wellcome any reply but as an advise there are many nice cafes in the area which people should go to before coming to...

Darling Cafe had been my favorite for many years thanks to Leo who makes amazing coffee and has such good customer service. However, Unfortunetly today I had a very very terrible experience.

I walked in with my partner to get some coffees, the lady serving at the cash register at 2:30pm today, was talking to another male at the register. In the very important conversation she seemed to be having, she had time to tell us that the coffee machine is off if we were after coffees... We simply Thanked her and walked out.. And what I heard behind my back completely shocked me... 'sorry... Not sorry!'

It seemed she was trying to impress the male present... But I wanted to let darling cafe know that this rude comment affected me enough to not want to return to this Cafe again.

Over the years it's been a pleasure getting good coffee from Leo but I have felt many times that staff (mostly the females) don't seem to be respectful (no greeting, no instructions on where to wait for the coffees, and some times not even a goodbye) and too welcoming.

I hope this comment can help improve the business and customer service as it is a beautiful place to be but not as welcoming...