Mister and Miss — Restaurant in Melbourne

Please brace yourselves for this long review. Had the most horrible experience here - if I could give zero star to this cafe I would. We planned to have a 9am breakfast for my mother in law's birthday so we booked a table for 7 adults & 2 high chair (please note that the 2 kids utilising the high chair are 3 year old toddlers who needs their own space on the table to have their meal). I specifically requested for the long table up front but was told that there was no guarantee as it is a table that fits a party of 12. - Which was fine to me as I imagine they would still sit us comfortably somewhere in the event that we weren't able to have that table.

Upon reaching there I was surprised that they SQUEEZED us in into one of their 'booth' tables. Just for your info the booth table sits about 6 adults, so they fit the 7th adult at the other end of the table and fit the TWO highchairs on the other end of the table. (which was horrible, we could hardly move, the 2 toddlers had to possibly eat/share on one small end of the table). Can you imagine how restless these two toddlers would be? Did I also mention that one of us is heavily pregnant? Therefore imagine our whole family trying to fit in this "booth". - I wished I had taken a photo of us on the table to show all of you how bad it was!!

Meanwhile the long table in the front and in the middle of the restaurant was empty. They said they had a reservation at 11am which we assured we be out by then but they insisted that we can't go on that table due to their 1.5 Hours policy. So because we booked for 9am we were expected to leave by 10.30AM.. Which puzzles me because hey, didn't we say we were gona be out by then? How are they losing business by giving us that table?

So they stuck us outside in a bigger table but that was not the end of our nightmare. There was a MASSIVE fan that was blowing in our faces which they said NO to turning off due to ventilation issues (there is two other fans aside from this one).. Needless to say we weren't impressed. My poor husband and father in law was sitting under the scorching sun and they took ages and were initially hesitant to close the blinds.

Basically ALL the staffs there was rude. We ended up LEAVING and went to White Mojo down the road instead which was so much more pleasurable. That basically ruined my mother in law's birthday morning.

Also as we were leaving and paying for the few coffee we ordered and said how upset we were, the female and male manager were not apologetic at all but instead they even said "WE ARE BUSY".

Such a shame. I was there one other time by myself and thought food was decent although I was unsure about the staff's services that seemed 'rushed 'and by reading reviews by others here, I just confirmed that they are by far one of the rudest staffs ever. Being popular does not mean they get to give their patronizers a devilish attitude. This will not make your business any better. Needles to say, I will never ever patronize their...

I usually enjoy visiting this café and have been there quite regularly, but today’s experience was really disappointing. I ordered the Hash and Cauliflower and Corn Fritters with Salmon as listed on the menu. What I received was smoked salmon — not what was advertised or expected. When I raised this with the staff, I was told that if I wanted an actual piece of salmon (as implied by the menu), I would have to pay an extra $13. Alternatively, she offered to change the dish — but by then, it didn’t make sense. I didn’t want a different meal; I ordered that particular one because I wanted salmon not bacon or anything else as she offered. What made the experience worse was the dismissive attitude — a verbal apology but no real resolution. Being told to pay extra for something I didn’t receive is not good customer service, especially when we’ve supported this café regularly. It left a sour taste, and sadly, it makes me reconsider coming back. In response to your reply, I want to make it clear that it is not the customer’s responsibility to clarify your menu — it is the business’s responsibility to ensure the menu is accurate and clear. The item I ordered said “Cauliflower and Corn Fritters with Salmon.” There was no mention that it would come with smoked salmon or that a cooked fillet would cost $13 extra. When I raised the issue, instead of acknowledging the mistake meaningfully, you immediately put the blame on me for not specifying my preference — even though I ordered exactly what your menu described. You did offer to replace the meal, but that’s not a real solution when the original dish was chosen specifically because I wanted salmon — not something else. To make matters worse, my husband and I were both left feeling unhappy and unsatisfied with the experience. And despite the mix-up being on your end, we still had to pay the almost full amount — including for a meal that wasn’t what was advertised or expected.(and the compensation of a couple of dollars was more of an insult than anything) A verbal apology and an option to swap for a completely different dish doesn’t make up for the fact that the issue stemmed from your own unclear menu and miscommunication. This should have been handled with more understanding and proper compensation, not...

Update after owner response;

Oh so you feel its fair to respond do you? Let’s be factual then, in the interest of “truth”.

You say I entered before 10. I entered after 10. (10:11am to be exact) and left at 10:57am. Or asked to leave at 10:57am to make way to your “non-exisiting” queue of people waiting. So you started off by lying. Great start!

Lie #2 - Half the restaurant was empty. So let’s not kid about how busy the restaurant was at the time. The booked tables had reserved boards on them and we made sure to avoid those. There were plenty of non reserved vacant tables.

Do you have dining cutoff times advertised anywhere in the restaurant? Interesting…… Im sure people would like to know before entering your shady joint.

Since we are talking about previous responses and reviews, let’s look at the way you have responded to some of your negative reviews. Your arrogance and big headedness is astounding. Also what makes you think that me or anyone in my network is going to visit your cafe again. Stop kidding yourself with “in future” remarks.

Since you seem to have LinkedIn stalked and know where I work, I’ll be happy let all my clientele know to avoid your shady joint at all costs.

And stalking, no chance?? News flash sweetie…when you search someone name in LinkedIn the other person gets notified, CHRISTINA! Don’t get so offended by my language sweetness….its only the truth 🤣🤣

————————————————————————— I was catching up with a previous work colleague and we went in there to have a coffee on a Saturday morning.

We ordered 2x coffees and immediately we were advised we have to leave 10 mins after the coffee if we are not ordering food. I was gobsmacked and never experienced that before in a restaurant. It wasn’t extremely busy and plenty of vacant seats and tables. Never going there again and will not be recommending to...