Gallery Kitchen — Restaurant in Melbourne

For reference, we are NGV members and visit frequently. However, during this visit, we were deeply upset by an impolite staff member. After finishing our visit to NGV yesterday, my child wanted some bread, so we tried to buy one from the cabinet. We often visit NGV, but it’s always crowded, and this was our first time at this particular café. It was extremely noisy, and there were other cafés near the cabinet where you could order directly. When our turn came, we were about to do just that, but an elderly female staff member stood stiffly at the counter, not even looking at us, and with a very unpleasant and irritated expression, she waved her arm toward us in an extremely rude gesture, as if to beckon us. I was taken aback. Is she really treating us this way, like we are some kind of nuisance? It was an incredibly unpleasant behavior, akin to a surly teacher rushing students in a manner that felt oppressive and uncomfortable. I immediately took my husband and left. If she had simply asked us to come over to order, it wouldn’t have been so upsetting. How was she trained to treat customers like this? it came across as incredibly uncultured and...

Incident: 5/9/22 ~1pm Absolutely disgraceful service. Wish I could put -stars. A waiter dropped his tray which resulted in smashed glass and milk spraying all over myself, my belongings and my NGV print that I just purchased. This was annoying however not the part that caused me to write this review. After this, the other staff member there came to help the waiter and proceeded to look at me, clearly covered in milk. I had to demand that she get me something to wipe the milk off with otherwise I would have been left standing there. I was clearly visible wiping off my NGV print. There was no offer to help, to get a new print or to receive any sort of commiseration whatsoever. Luckily I had one sanitary wipe of my own that I could use at the end to try and get rid of the smell. Absolutely disgraceful that a customer was minding her own business and someone’s leftover milk was split all over her with no commiseration offered and minimal assistance to rectify the situation. For a national gallery, this is completely unacceptable standards of staff. Mistakes happen but the after-service is...

Asked for soy Chai got a latte instead. Told the cashier and she was nice to offer a new Chai, but I didn't want to stay, I wanted to get my money back and leave. Apparently the concept of refund is unfamiliar to the staff as she looked completely baffled by the idea. She called the manager who didn't show up at all and I was just left standing there waiting until a kitchen worker was polite enough to offer me a vegan cake just to be nice. He packed it for me to go and I just decided to leave. Don't understand why its so hard to give someone back his money for something he didn't order. The other thing was, I ordered a almond croissant to my table and they just brought it with no utensils or paper napkins. I don't mind eating a croissant with my hands but can I get something to wipe my hands with?.. Awkward service, a bit overpriced and quite loud. food is ok. There are better dining...