Madeline's at Jells — Restaurant in Melbourne

After this cafe being closed for so long at our local morning walk spot we were so excited to see that T house had opened and so hopeful that the food would be good … we walked in to what looked like a hospital cafe very clean very sterile very boring about 4 tables were seated and I assume the customers were visiting from the local retirement village it wasn’t very busy there would of been less than 20 people still hopeful that the food would be good. The barista slightly looked up pointed us to the other side of the bench “Order there” I walked over with my toddler in pram “do you have a takeaway menu” he pointed back to the other side on the bench to where a pile of menus were almost where I was originally standing.

I grabbed a menu and started reading the food sounds really nice lots of different options and sounded fresh I ordered the Tee Bowl for myself added a poached egg, for my husband the chilli scramble and my son a cheese toastie , a bottle of water and two ice coffees the guy at the front desk took my name for the order and I paid the total was just over $75 … thought it was on the pricey side but it might be worth it … I decided to wait outside where a large walking group of people were waiting I overheard one woman saying she had been waiting for over 20 minutes for takeaway coffee … my fears started to set in “oh no if she’s been waiting that long for coffee how long will I have to entertain my toddler for while waiting for food” after about 15 minutes my bottle of water and ice coffees were placed on the bench by a third flustered looking man who had appered from out of the kitchen .. at this point I was still hopeful that the food would be good and that the miserable atmosphere was just due to the staff being burnt out from a busy morning because the food was good…. Looking back I don’t think this is the case ….

After a 40 minute wait and several tantrums from my toddler a 4th man had appeared with 3 containers of food and called my name I asked for a bag as I had toddler in hand he seemed annoyed by this request at this point I was still hopeful that after this long wait it was worth it and the food was good … 4th man handed me the bag of food I asked for take away cutlery he said “yeah wait a few minutes” I looked around and saw some forks near the front door in a plastic cup and helped myself and left the venue … I walked to the car ready to take this hopefully good food to my husband at work I placed toddler in car seat and opened bag of food the container of salad was open and bits had fallen out “ that’s ok he was clearly in a hurry to get the food in the bag” I thought.

I took out the barely toasted cheese toastie which which had also fallen out of its packet and was at the bottom of the bag for my toddler he was happy cheese and bread can’t really be messed up in he’s eyes …all of the food had a lukewarm temperature which was surprising as I thought everything would be at least warm - hot after waiting so long … I then opened my salad and noticed they forgot the poached egg everything is oily and soggy I take a bite of pumpkin I don’t know what I was expecting but it wasn’t this bland cold oily crap I took a look at my husbands meal which also did not look appealing and can only be described as miserable like the venue … I’m thinking of returning this depressing meal but also the thought of getting toddler back out the car to walk back into the cafe to be ignored by the staff and have to request a refund and explain that I can’t eat this crap is not worth $75 … instead I will write this lengthy review and drink my average ice coffee obviously will not be returning 🥲 * update I couldn’t bring myself to eat the oily, soggy...

Madeline’s at Jells is a FANTASTIC place to go if:

You’re on a diet: Your order is guaranteed to have zero calories because the food just won’t make it to your table! You enjoy conversing with the staff: If you much prefer chatting with staff rather than enjoying your family’s company then Madeline’s is perfect for you! You’ll get to repeat the same thing on and on to different waiters and be quite the social butterfly! You wish to save money: Although the staff may disagree, waiting until everyone else on the table is cleaning off their plates is a great time to cancel your order and not pay a cent! Cha-ching!

UNBELIEVABLY BAD CUSTOMER SERVICE. The staff did not know how to communicate with each other and the manager implied that I was being unreasonable for cancelling my order. Here is what happened:

My family and I ordered together. The waitress repeated our orders correctly. Approx. 20min later- everybody’s dishes arrived except mine. I informed the waitress that I haven’t received mine yet. She returned 5min later saying my dish was coming “soon”. From this, I knew she forgot my order. It did not come soon. About 20min later, my family had almost finished eating. As I do not plan on making everyone else wait for me to START my breakfast, I finally told a waiter that my dish had taken too long and I wanted to cancel it. He checked with the kitchen and advised me they were just plating up, 2min left. I said I still want it cancelled and the waiter hesitantly said that this was okay. A few minutes later, another waiter informed me that my dish was coming soon. I told him I already cancelled it. Confused, the waiter went back to inform the kitchen. Next, my dish appeared!! I again informed this new waiter that the dish was cancelled. Then, the manager came over. I told her that I had waited at least 20 minutes (which was a heavy understatement). Instead, the manager said that it was really only 15 minutes because I ordered later and that she won’t charge me this time but really it was only 15 minutes which isn’t that long. How wonderful. She ran off while I sat back in confusion – and realised that her waiters have demonstrated the worst communication I have ever come across in any restaurant. And I eat out A LOT. To wrap this up, I spoke with the manager and explained that I ordered with everyone else and she understood that one of her waiters forgot my order and tried to sneak it in. She apologised and gave me my bill - which overcharged me on one too many teas -- had to have that fixed as well. I left that restaurant feeling like nothing will be done to improve their customer service. I had wasted my breath, ruined my metabolism (starving isn’t good) and they really made it difficult for me when it should have been the other way around.

There are two things I am sure of after eating there on 3rd May 2014: I WILL NEVER EAT THERE AGAIN and I WILL INFORM EVERYONE ELSE NOT TO GO THERE BECAUSE OF THE HORRORS THAT AWAIT

Edit: I have since received a response from the manager at Madeline's at Jells. Although I probably won't be returning, I'm pleased to hear that this matter was addressed and hopefully future customers will be dealt...

My friends and I were excited to check out the newly renovated and rebranded café, especially since we had all previously visited the restaurant that used to occupy the space.

Though my friend had made a booking, when we arrived, they had no record of it. Fortunately, there were still available tables, and we got one by the window with a lovely view of the park.

The menu offers both breakfast and lunch options, along with a specials board that mentioned "pizza," but it wasn't clear what that referred to, especially since the menu already listed four pizza options. We also found the menu a bit confusing overall, as there were few options to customize breakfast dishes despite having ingredients like bacon and avocado available in other parts of the menu. Additionally, drinks like iced coffee, iced lattes, and milkshakes weren't listed, though they were available if specifically ordered.

As others have mentioned, ordering is done at the counter, which is fine, but due to the café's layout, it felt like you were constantly in the way of staff moving in and out of the kitchen, or running drinks to other tables. The design is aesthetically pleasing, but the layout is a bit clunky and crowded, especially when you first walk in.

I ordered a coffee and the big breakfast special. The coffee was great, and I even ordered a second. The breakfast, while decent, was pretty standard but served on a smaller plate, which made it tricky to cut and eat comfortably.

The real downside of this café was the service. While I understand they are still relatively new (they’ve been open for about a month), the staff seemed disorganised and lacked direction. Tables were left uncleared for quite some time, and ours wasn't cleared for about an hour despite the dirty dishes piling up. One particularly odd moment was when a waitress tried to clear my coffee cup and water glasses while I was still halfway through using them.

Despite the service issues, I would still recommend visiting Jells Park, and having a café there is definitely a bonus if you're looking to grab a drink or a meal. I’m curious to see how things improve in the coming weeks, but I’m concerned that without proper management and structure, this café might struggle to maintain its momentum. On a final note, I have to mention that they no longer serve scones on the menu (perhaps I’m just stuck in the past, but...