Kallista Deli Cafe — Restaurant in Melbourne

Came in today to get a bit of food. I paid over 80 dollars and received two small pieces of toast with scrambled eggs and one plate of pancakes. For the amount I paid I feel like I got scammed, I understand the cost of living is going up, but for over 80 dollars I certainly did not receive an adequate amount of quality food or good service. I asked to get some water to the table and the young lady said she’d get some, she came back to tell me that they where out of bottled water and only had water at the water station, I said “that’s fine, thank you so much” and she responded with no, sorry I don’t really feel like getting you some, you can get yourself, while we were in the middle of our meal. Not even providing water to your customers is absolutely awful service, especially seeing as though there was way too much chilli and honey on our over priced scrambled eggs. Furthermore, there were wasps everywhere making it very difficult to eat. I only give one star reviews when I’m highly dissatisfied, and today that’s how I felt. Not even providing us with a little bit of water when you gave us such overly sweet and spicy food is such a disgrace to your business. There was way too much honey and chilli on our eggs, sometimes simpler is better, just because you can add more ingredients, it doesn’t mean you always should. To be absolutely honest, the pricing, food, staff, and customer service at Kallista Tea Rooms (which is just opposite the road) infinitely outshine your business. Your pricing needs to be looked at as well as your wasp problem, and the way you treat...

Terrible service, and staff adding tips without asking or advising.

I’ve been into the cafe 3 times now and each time for a takeaway coffee it has taken 20+ minutes and the staff are not inviting and do not look happy to be working. Went in today and it will be my last time supporting the business. Ordered a chicken panini and an iced coffee. Before she told us to tap to pay she came around the front of the pos with her finger and selected the tip which I didn’t click on to what she did until after had paid. I think the tip may have been $3 but we were not asked or advised.. I then watched her to do it to a young boy who ordered after me. I then waited 30 minutes for a takeaway iced coffee! The panini came out in 10 minutes and we waited another 20 minutes for the iced coffee! It was no where near busy enough to wait that long! Staff did not yell out the order nor did any of them look at the drinks ready to taken to tables/ready for takeaway. All staff seemed to going at snail pace and didn’t seem to have a care in the world: I have heard that the manager is not nice to work for so maybe that’s why the service was so terrible as they didn’t want to be working, but I will not be returning! Very disappointing as the venue and location is great and being a local I want to support the community but from now on I’ll be spending my...

Having a 15% surcharge tucked away in the fine print is, in my opinion, misleading. We had a huge shock at the bill. It looks like others have the same complaint. There is no reason they couldnt have told us when we were seated, or when we called to make the booking.

The food came out quickly and the staff were nice, but I have never seen so much butter on a meal in my life, and their "hollandaise" was served cold and dissolved into literal butter as soon as it hit heat. I don't actually think it was hollandaise at all, it seemed more like a herb butter. The bacon was overcooked and dry, like it was pre cooked and reheated? And the house made hash browns were delicious, but...cold in the middle. My eight year old didn't eat her toasted sandwich because the butter was dripping off it.

The staff were lovely but maybe inexperienced, we had to ask for cutlery, ask for water, ask for salt and pepper, ask for pencils to go with the colouring sheet. It was busy, but again, we were paying beyond premium price for that service.

I've tried this place a few times now but it's not for me. I'm happy to duck in for a coffee with the convenient location, but would recommend any of the other excellent cafes in the area for a meal, who don't hide their pricing in the fine print and deliver more...