Phoenician Cafe — Restaurant in Melbourne

This place does NOT deserve the 4.5 stars they have at the moment. The food is an absolute disgrace. We had to wait so long when we were actually the only table at the time waiting for food. When it came to the table ... disaster ! The whole menu sounded quite promising so we ordered egg bene + mushroom ragu.

Where to start? Mushroom ragu: this dish is served on SANDWICH bread instead of sourdough. Like really?! Polenta so oily and over fried that it was hard as a rock. The flavour were also gross with a weird tomato sauce and almost no goat cheese. Egg bene: where is the rosti? Instead we got a mushy pancake and the bacon wasn't nice (low quality + cooked badly). The dish was really sweet too, and it is NOT a good idea to add avocado with this kind of dish. Soft on soft texture.

All this below average food for a $42 bill. really painful. Plus the doors of the venue are not closing down properly so you will freeze your butt at all time.

(Coffees were alright, service & staff average. Staff brought only one menu instead of two, quite annoying but I can't be bothered to teach people how to perform their...

Not suitable for people with dairy and other allergies and an overall disappointing experience.

I ordered the vegan option of the grilled falafel burger, looking for a healthy, freshly made dish for my dairy allergic toddler. I got super market frozen falafels (that had been fried instead of grilled, as it was stated in the menu) between two slices of sourdough, one piece of lettuce and French fries on the side, again the frozen type. When I asked for some tahini sauce, as in the menu, I was told that their tahini sauce and hummus comes in tubes and contains dairy - how terribly disappointing for a family run cafe with Mediterranean/Middle Eastern dishes to not have a jar of tahini in their kitchen or buy store-bought hummus.

I also ordered an almond latte that I had to return because it came with normal milk.

I appreciate the owner coming out to ask if he could do something for me. I asked for some avocado with lemon, as I urgently needed something fresh, and he gladly...

Nice little corner cafe that was probably a good old Milk Bar in a past life. Not far from the busy Chapel and Carlisle Streets where there are abundant places to eat. However, this is very special and the owners are lovely. Found the food here to be pretty good and particularly enjoyed the pancakes for breakfast. Staff were extremely helpful. Coffee not bad either. On the weekends this place gets busy so you may have to wait for a table - well worth the wait. Eat inside or out. Takeaway available. Dietaries catered for. Wheelchair friendly. Kid friendly. Pram/stroller accessible. Reasonable parking...