Mr Burch — Restaurant in Melbourne

We live around the corner and used to visit Mr Burch every so often. Unfortunately that will stop now. After attending there earlier today with our 16 month old who accidently broke their salt shaker, they proceeded to charge us $17 for it. Yes, you heard correctly.

They punished us for a baby accidently breaking something of theirs and instead of being understanding or empathetic or grateful that I cleaned up all of the mess it made, they proceeded to charge us.

Absolutely disgraceful behaviour. Customer service is everything and I will be telling everyone we know about this. Not only will we no longer ever visit, but nor will our friends.

You're best off going around the corner to the new Cafe on the corner on McKinnon and Jasper. It's not as overpriced and the customer service isn't lacking. Otherwise they might charge you for accidently breaking a plate.

Absolutely appalling experience. Do not recommend to anyone!

Edit: To the owner - I also want to add that this behaviour is actually illegal. In circumstances where you're only entitled to charge a deduction, to an EMPLOYEE under the relevant modern award for "wilful behaviour" pertaining to breakage, a child accidently knocking over a salt shaker would not satisfy this definition. I say this as a practising employment lawyer of many years who is now also considering alerting the FWO of your...

Mr Burch – feels right every time

Another local favourite is Mr Burch at 129 McKinnon Road McKinnon. Have been visiting Peter and the team for many years now and they just do brunch right every single time.

Starting with great coffee is a must and Burch never fails in this department. A really diverse menu exists for brunch, lunch and even high teas so there is always plenty for everyone to choose from. You should always check out the specials board too for some interesting options.

From the basics to the more intricate the food is good. I love the simplicity of eggs, house-made baked beans and hash brown and my partner varies between the Eggs Florentine or the Corn Fritters (minus the bacon) with spinach and relish and a poached egg. To both a side of avocado is added. There are lots of sides to choose from for every meal.

There are mornings when both of us will opt for the signature Mr. Burch Welsh Rarebit Savoury Grilled Cheese Toast which brought us here in the first place so many years ago.

If it is lunch time the option might be the pasta of the day, a Salmon Turkish or the plant-based Burger a la mode.

Mr Burch is more than a place to eat. It has a great atmosphere and if you can get a table upstairs there are regularly rotating art displays on the wall from local artists. The team is super friendly.

Definitely worth a...

Storming very cold wet morning and was told to wait outside with my children for our take away coffee. Only a handful of people in cafe… and we were waiting quietly in the corner out of everyone’s way. When I said it was too cold for the children to stand outside the staff told me they were well dressed enough and continued to try and force us to wait outside in the rain.

As it took 15 minutes for the coffee to arrive it was an unreasonable request.

Disappointing a ‘policy’ (that cannot be viewed anywhere in cafe) cannot be flexible for terrible weather … especially with young kids involved..

Gave the cafe a second chance after waiting an hour and ha for eggs on Saturday…

Expecting a similar response to the one the lady received with the crying child, which I was shocked to read.

• in response to the reply, claiming I’m stressed by having small children, that’s the same response you’ve given to all the other mums that have had issues with your staff and service. Your responses towards negative feedback is unprofessional. Take it on board, it’s important to listen to your customers… mum shaming isn’t cool, we aren’t all stressed and out of our minds.. just prefer our children to wait for their over priced cookies inside and out...