Patsy's Melbourne — Restaurant in Melbourne

I really wanted to like this place, wanted to support local vegetarian/vegan establishments, the host/server wasn't great. The host/server was not attentive or friendly.

The host/server we had at the start didn't explain the menu. If there is 3 and 4 course set menu, maybe provide the seasonal menu of the food options so your patrons can see what you have to offer on your chefs seasonal menu, after all they are paying for the event & deserve the right to see for ourselves what there is on offer, having to drag it out was not pleasant. Seemed more like a chore to have it explained with the eye roll. Our events are never like this and we have never not had a menu shown or explained in detail before ordering. We also felt for a place that is vegetarian only there was plenty of opportunity to make the vegans at the table also welcomed but that was not the case.

The food was placed at the table without explanation, and I had to ask a few times what it was that was being served and the answers I got were short & forced. It was stated in a not so forthcoming tone, "its not vegan" which is completely irrelevant. if a plate is being placed at the table, you as our host/server, should explain what it is, it cost you nothing to be polite or does it? So I had to ask again what it was for the rest of the people who were eating it. Sadly, during our mains, especially the vegan option we would have loved a slice of bread to have been offered with our mains, which would have been nice to soak up the sauce/juices and to add extra element of food from our small portioned meals, maybe consider offering this, as honestly your vegan portions are on the skimpy side compared to the vegetarian servings, we would have asked, however felt we would be intruding. Our host/server removed our water bottles after the first pour and wasn't not topped up at the table again, until the next waiter arrived around 4.00pm guessing that's when his shift started. He was great, attenuative, with out effort, topping up the water immediately more times in the 30 mins of his shift, than the time we had been sitting, which was around 3hrs by this point, he even offering the smallest taste of the liquor that was added into their gelato to one of our staff members, shame his shift start so late in the day, he was a pleasure and may have made the difference to our time in your restaurant and the rating we gave.

The service is equally a part of the experience as the food, and it was overall not a pleasant experience and it leaves very little left to recommend cause the food was nice...

We started our dining experience at Patsys tonight with the 5 - 6 pm happy hour. This was a slay, cocktails were delicious and half price. We then shared some snacks and entrees including the olive oil focaccia, mushroom tartine and the leek galette which were all sublime. These were unfortunately the last positive notes of this evening. Our mains arrived barely warm, and were cold within a couple minutes. We brought this up with our waiter, explaining that the dishes themselves were good, but simply could not be appreciated while cold. We kindly asked to have them reheated, only to be brought back the same cold plates. The waiter let us know that this was because reheating the mains would ‘ruin them’ according to the chefs, expecting us to go on eating cold risotto. The waiter also explained that this was due to the chef wanting all the mains to be brought out together, likely sitting on the pass in plates that were not preheated (We did not ask to receive the mains all at once, as we were sharing). The waiter instead offered to compensate a dessert, as there seemed to be no other way to remedy the mains. We decided to finish one main which wasn’t suitable for takeaway, but got the others to go in hopes that they would be better warm. We were then asked if we had wanted dessert, by the same waiter, and ordered two desserts, which were good. Upon request of the bill, to yet again the same waiter, we received the full amount, no compensation, expected to pay for our cold mains, which were refused reheating / remaking as well as both subsequent desserts, which we were offered compensation for. Without asking, a seperate waiter dropped the card reader on the table, awaiting payment. This was a disappointing end to a well started evening, we should not have paid full price for all dishes, but felt we had overstayed our welcome, despite said waiter suggesting compensation to fix the kitchen’s mistake. Firstly, you cannot serve less that warm mains for $38 and $36 outside the fault of the customer, refuse request to heat the food correctly, and expect them to pay full price, especially with a total bill of $270 by two enthusiastic customers. Secondly, Better descriptions of food would’ve been appreciated and kinder directions to the bathroom from bar staff would also be appreciated. We hope you can understand our frustrations, that we brought up during our dining experience and were left no choice but to...

DECENT VEGETARIAN RESTAURANT OPPOSITE VICTORIA MARKET Patsy's is a relatively new addition to Melbourne's vegetarian restaurant collection. It is located in an old two storey terrace next to the Latrobe university building on Franklin Street. The menu is structured around snacks, entrees mains and dessert and has a heavy focus on accompanying wines. Snacks are probably the best option if you are there mainly to enjoy a glass or two of wine. We were there for dinner and opted for a mix of snack items and mains - skipping the in-between entrees. The snacks are quite creative and tapas-like. the mains are OK but small in size and pricey for what you get. We had two sides (green beans and kipfler potato) which were also just OK. Desserts were interesting - blue cheese icecream, potato and fruit gnocci, cheese board. The bill came to $340 for the four of us (inclusive of wine).

The service was a bit patchy. A nice welcome to the restaurant but after that it was fairly perfunctory. We mentioned that it was our first visit and asked for advice on choosing from the menu... not much was offered there. A second waiter topped up our sparkling water with still water and then we were pretty much on our own after that. We tried in vain to wave down the waitress when our desserts were so delayed that we considered cancelling and leaving. We were sitting in the rear courtyard area - which I wouldn't recommend for two reasons - you tend to get forgotten by the wait staff and there is a large and noisy industrial exhaust system right next to you in the small courtyard - complete with an inexplicable dangling black plastic hose that pumps exhaust air at you !

Its a fairly new restaurant and its COVID times so I expect that the service will improve with time. The food itself is good so well worth trying it out. People with mobility issues will be OK on the ground floor level but should be aware that the toilets are up a flight of stairs. The Victoria Market (paid) carpark is right next to the restaurant and its also just a short walk to the trams on...