Mama Bear Cafe — Restaurant in Melbourne

Three of us met for a casual brunch at Mama Bear. I booked on line - super simple even for someone my age. ( I have a seniors card you know😂). The travel from Geelong was well worth it, as the food was incredible ( halloumi stack was mine and Em’s, and Bridge had the Rosti with bacon). Presentation was nice but the flavour was even better. Being a coffee freak I had my double shot flat white (small cup please) and it was smooth and full bodied, so just the wake up needed after the trek down the freeway. The Chai latte however left a bit to be desired, and given the high quality of the food and coffee, the place could reap some benefits I reckon, by serving a sticky chai (Prana Chai etc) instead of the powder variant. The staff were very pleasant and got to our initial orders between the rush, but the second coffee round had me going to the counter to order (I know, first world problem right?). That said, it was smiles all around and very pleasant attitudes by every staff member. Even the kitchen team were receptive to our thanks for their food (credit where credit is due I say).

Not anything Mama Bear can do about this bit, but parking was a nightmare, with residents permit zones everywhere, meaning a walk of several blocks was likely. After the third time around the block however, I snagged a spot a hundred metres down the road. Exercise done….maybe it’s a ploy to have us eat more.

Anyway, having prattled on long enough, I have to say I award MAMA BEAR a 9/10 and will definitely be visiting again in the not too...

Look I'll preface this by saying you guys normally do a great service; coffee and food hence the two stars. So anyone reading this please acknowledge it was an off experience.

However we honestly sat down at 1:30 food arrived around the 45 minute later mark. Was told I was lying when I said how long we'd waited for food as till had the table open for 48 minutes. The pork belly scrambled was just a runny mess, more fat than pork hardly touched. The BLAT wasn't as crunchy as usual which was fine because my partner prefers it like that and enjoyed it all.

The reality being the order was either forgotten or rushed when I mentioned to the server how long we'd been waiting prior to paying. So saw her check the POS, tell the kitchen and they've rushed it out. After being told I'm mistaken and that our faces would be remembered next time just felt off given the food issue wasn't addressed more the time.

Nice enough to take the coffees off so thank you but don't need to remember my face, I'll just be giving it a miss for a...

The cafe is RIGHT near public transport, so super easy to get to if you’re reliant on that. When we walked in I noticed everything looked so colourful and inviting. There were cute little artificial flowers everywhere among the more industrial vibe. After we ordered it felt like the food took a while to come out. A notably long time. If the food is really good though, I’m very happy to forgive that and just make a mental note of that for next time. The coffee here was a bit overextracted. Something that as you keep drinking you just get used to but it was a bit of a shock on first sip. Food really bright and colourful and flavourful. It definitely made it feel fun. I don’t remember thinking the food was anything too special but i did enjoy myself here. Not a bad spot if you’re in the area, for sure, but after being more used to what you would get in Brunswick, it left me wanting,...