Pantry — Restaurant in Melbourne

⭐ 1/5 – Disappointing Experience at a Venue We Once Enjoyed

We’ve dined at The Pantry in Brighton several times before and have always enjoyed it — but unfortunately, our most recent visit with the family was deeply disappointing.

We ordered the calamari, prawn linguine, kids burger, kids pantry breakfast, a side of chips, and sparkling water. While the food (apart from one dish) was passable, the service and handling of a very basic concern ruined the entire experience.

The main issue was with my child’s meal: the Kids Pantry Breakfast, which is described on the menu as a gooey soft egg served with Vegemite & cheese toast soldiers and chocolate milk.

Instead of a gooey egg, what arrived was clearly a cold, pre-cooked, over-boiled egg — broken into uneven torn pieces, resembling 1.5 boiled eggs and certainly not fresh. It was nearly impossible to dip the now-stale toast soldiers into this egg, completely defeating the purpose of the dish.

When I raised this with our waiter and pointed out the discrepancy between what was served and what’s advertised on the menu, I was met with dismissiveness: “That’s how we do it.” I had to explain again — politely but firmly — that this wasn’t what the menu described. He said he’d check with the chef, and returned moments later with the exact same egg we had sent back, now even colder than before. Again, we were told, “That’s how it’s done.”

A second waiter then stepped in, repeating the same line. The interaction became frustrating and uncomfortable. I asked — reasonably — why it’s so difficult to simply serve the dish as advertised, and why we were stuck in a back-and-forth over a basic soft egg for a child.

Eventually, they brought out poached eggs in a bowl of water, which was not only visually unappealing but also clearly proved the original egg was not freshly made, as we suspected.

By this point, the toast was cold and inedible, the rest of our meals had gone cold, and the table was filled with tension. It turned what should have been a relaxed family lunch into a frustrating and unpleasant experience.

The staff were inattentive, defensive, and dismissive — lacking even the basic customer service skills to acknowledge a simple error and resolve it with professionalism. Instead, they doubled down on excuses and deflected the issue, creating unnecessary conflict over a child’s egg.

Frankly, it’s unacceptable for a venue of this standard — especially one that’s positioned as family-friendly — to behave this way over something so small and easily fixable.

We won’t be returning, and sadly, I can no longer recommend The Pantry as the quality of both the food and service has...

I know I said I wouldn't return but I didn't choose the venue for my meeting today.

The place was very busy. I ordered the sushi bowl and that was very good. The coffee was spot on too. Even though the place was very busy with every table full, they managed to get meals out in good time and coffees to tables whilst still piping hot. That is pretty impressive.

I still think the food is a bit expensive but it's Brighton prices and there was a place full of people happy to pay those prices.

I have raised my rating by one star since last visit.

The female managing the front of the restaurant is pretty amazing at what she does.

[From 5 months ago]

Visited this place with my kids and 2 adults. The service was good and so too was the coffee. My ceasar salad was ok. The flavour was lacking the usual zing of this type of salad, bacon was quite fatty and I don't think the white anchovies worked. It is quite pricey for a salad when you can get a main salmon dish for a few bucks more. This salad should be no more than $15.

I ordered a kids meal for my daughter. It was $11 for 3x small pieces of margherita pizza (see photo) with a few pieces of cucumber and bit of hommus. I thought kids meals were $5. She didn't eat it so that went to waste unfortunately.

The other 2 adults enjoyed their meals which was fortunate.

Overall it was a nice place. I would've preferred if the male staff member who greeted us didn't demand to see my covid certificate while I was holding my toddler and trying to unlock my phone to scan in. I had to tell him "can you give me a second!" I was flustered and rushing to make it on time with a child and my hands full. Just be a little more understanding when people are trying to scan in whilst juggling everything.

I probably wouldn't rush back. I would stop for a coffee. The female staff members were very nice and very accommodating. Thanks to the ladies who served us, it made the...

I normally visit the Pantry for business lunches and in the mornings for coffee. Unfortunately today, it seems that the restaurant had forgotten that it was important to actually "serve" customers. I had sat down at a table - the venue was very quiet (only a couple of tables occupied) and so I did not wait at the little sign that said "wait to be seated by staff", but simply sat down at one of the many empty tables. The waiter came out from inside and was out among the tables. I caught his eye, but he seemed to ignore me. I caught his eye a second time, and this time we stared at one another. It was obvious i had not been served. He ignored me again. After about 15 minutes, I went to the take away window and ordered, and paid for my order. I specified that these were not to be take aways. I then served myself water. My wife joined me, and while I was away from the table for a minute, the waiter I mentioned earlier approached her, asking if she was ordering take away. He told her that we should not have sat down without waiting at the little sign saying "wait till seated". It felt very much like I was "being taught a lesson" for having the temerity to sit down without consulting the wait staff. As we left I overhears another waiter tell a patron that "xxx" was "very prickly" today. We did not sit at the table any longer than it took to swig our order, feeling very very unwelcome. So much for being in the...