Lady Bower Cafe — Restaurant in Melbourne

I can’t pick a fault with this place. Everyone had different way to judge a place but I was amazed how well behaved and super friendly the owners are. Let me start with the place first. Its a cozy place with minimum decor and neat and clean tables. This place is run by husband and wife. Firstly I was greeted with super friendly 'hi, how are you this morning’. This was a very nice and friendly gesture. I ordered coffee and croissant as a takeaway and asked the owner who was serving if could sit. She was very polite and ask me to sit wherever I like. She then placed a serviette on my table. I am mentioning these details as I ordered a takeaway and it was not necessary for them to give stuff on the table, they still did. This shows how much they value their customers.

Coming to this coffee, it is super delicious, perfect temperature and not burnt like some other places. Croissant was also nice and flaky and warm.

Last but not the least , the owner is definitely a very good mother because my order was taken by her kid. Once she had greeted me, she asked her son to ask me what do I want. I could see her inculcating good values to her son. Secondly the little kid wanted to grab some chocolate croissant, to which she said ‘well no money for you this month.’ This just shows how she is teaching her kid not to take things for granted.

Overall I would definitely re visit this place and recommend it to everyone in my friends and family and also who so ever is reading...

EDIT AFTER CAFE OWNERS RESPONSE: She says I had bacon. This is a lie. I didn't have any bacon, being a vegetarian, just mushrooms. With this substitution they added one dollar to the menu price of $27, making it $28. Yes it's fresh and homemade, but a small serving. Nothing wrong with the taste apart from the egg whites being half cooked. As I said, it tastes good, just a teeny portion. I've had numerous Eggs Benedict and this was the smallest so far. If many people are prepared to pay, fine. Myself, I was disappointed by the cost vs satisfaction balance. See the photo and judge the portion for yourselves dear readers.

ORIGINAL REVIEW: Way too expensive for me. Small portion, big price. Food tastes good, but not good enough to justify spending on food here with my current degree of average wage wealth! Also the drinks are on the small side too; coffee, hot chocolate etc. Service isn't prompt.

I'd go there in the future for social meetings for a drink as the place looks and feels awesome. It's very cosy. But wont be getting food there again. The Eggs Benedict I got today shocked me. At $28 and so little.

The sandwich-like items in the cabinet looked like a better deal. Should have tried...

Look - we have been going to Lady Bower for 4 years. It changed hands somewhere in there and we were concerned but we stuck with it. Some small changes were made, some large changes but we stuck at it. The food items that were favourites remained so we stuck at it. I don't want to not go here, the owner works hard to keep it good and true so we stick at it. But sometimes...the service. Ignored, forgotten, sometimes we need to collect menus and water and even order at the counter. It seems petty when written down but when you sit for 20 minutes to either wait for service, wait for a meal or even wait after a meal to see if they will ask 'would you like anything else', it is disappointing. When you come every week, twice or three times a week and when you ARE served the staff actually know what you want it is frustrating that they can get the rest of the service so wrong. The food is still good - though sometimes inconsistent, still good. The owner is lovely and really tries to bring it all together, but the service staff...