Denis the Menace Cafe — Restaurant in Melbourne

The food was amazing. The service? Not so much.

This was a welcome and bon voyage lunch and once again, the company did help the venue out.

Food: Ok. First of all, I have tasted a lot of Massaman Curry but this thing is the bomb. Purely as it’s so far out there that it made me sit up and take notice.

The rice was still cooking in the stew which I found fascinating. Then the chopped cashews? Omg. It was done so well. And the shaved toppings. Holy hell it was amazing. And the lamb. Oh that sweet delectable lamb that just melted off the bone. My gosh it was heavenly. Seriously? It was worth it.

TDT: 2.0/2.0

Cost: Admittedly, I scoffed at the $23 price tag. I mean sure it’s Richmond but $23? It would have to be amazing.

Luckily, it was.

TDT: .75/1.0

Ambiance: I liked the place. It was quirky and as one of my lunch companions said, “quite Brooklynish”.

TDT: .75/1.0

Service: Right. Sit up and pay attention management. One of your wait staff actively avoided eye contact with the table. I mean, I understand we all have our down days but making eye contact and then turning away was the last straw. You would’ve tanked in this segment had it not been for one of your gentleman staff that brought the service up to scratch. Literally saved you from a 0.

TDT: 0.25/1.0

TDT: 3.75/5.0

I am not sure if I would come back here again. The Massaman was mean, but not enough to bring me back. Takeaway? Maybe. But eat-in. Well, not...

Great place, cosy atmosphere and I personally love cafes with greenery indoors. However for a lunch, brunch style venue the felt the prices were a little excey considering the quality of the dishes was completely inconsistent across the menu. I order a smaller dish - mushroom/ haloumi Santa. It was not a sanga but a crappy vegetarian style burger. It came out in a soft, tasteless, flourly bun/ one piece of wilted lettuce / a tiny smear of yoghurt and chips were optional on the side (they were only cheap shoe-string fries)

This meal could be improved 1000% by swapping the bun for artisan toasted, multigrain sourdough, a good handful of fresh spinach n' rocket, sitting pretty on a bed of labna yoghurt and accompanied by either roasted eggplant or caramilsed roasted capsicum.

The fish my friend ordered (special of the day) looked divine, fresh, zesty and colourful.

Why can't all the meals be like that? The takeaway sandwiches in the window would've been a...

Denis the Menace is a large and light-filled cafe somewhere between Cremorne and Richmond. I visited for lunch on a weekday, which was the ideal time to visit the venue. I was warmly greater and seated and served sparkling water from a flask as I waited for my dining partners to arrive. Once they did, a hot soy flat white was my first order. It was not super hot but otherwise great. For a meal, I tried the Salad for Soul plus a side of hash browns. The side was quite generous and the potato complemented the salad well. I appreciated that the dressing was made with tamarind, an interesting alternative to what otherwise could have been a citrus or mustard-based sauce. While it was nice to get a hearty dose of healthy greens, my favourite thing about the salad was the giant slab of haloumi that sat on top. Give me any sort of salty cheese and I'm going to be happy. My salad made for a very well balanced meal that I would...