Pipis Kiosk — Restaurant in Melbourne

I went to this place because of a review I saw online. this teaches you that many of these reviews are far from accurate. The problem started at the door when I asked for a table for 4 (I went with my wife and kids), and the waiter asked me to wait because he needed to ask his manager first. Not sure why he needed to do that as he let in the person right before me. The manager came with a smug look on his face and gave me the menu and asked me to look at it so see if this is what I was looking for. He left me and my family for a few minutes (not sure why, maybe he was hoping I would leave), but then came back and I told him I am okay with the menu. I asked him if I should keep the menu with me, he gave me a look and said "as a momento?" Obviously I meant to take it with me to the table. He took it from me, then gave it back to me when we got to the table. Before he took us though, he asked if a table in the terrace was fine, I asked if the seagulls would be an issue, he said it would be the same as the inside. Again, not sure if he was still trying his best to make me leave, or he really never heard of terraces with no roof, and hence my question. We made it through the ordeal and arrived at the table. A waitress came to ask for our orders, I asked her what she would recommend to us. She recommended a few dishes and we ordered them all. I really didn't care what they were, the food blogger seemed to say everything was great. We got the cod croquette, asparagus, and their store made bolognese. The croquettes and asparagus were below average. They were served promptly, but the pasta took about 40 minutes. They served us some bread as well, not sure if it was part of the order if it was complementary (didn't care to check the bill for it), but the bread was actually the tastiest food item I ate there. Then came the pasta, and I kid you not, it tasked like something a little kid would stir up in ten minutes while messing around in the kitchen -- cooked in some parts and raw in others, seasoning on some parts and bland in others. It was just a nightmare. I took one bite and could not take another. My kids could not eat it as well, and from our reactions, my wife would not even touch it. I asked for the bill, paid, then asked to speak to the manager. The waitress was lovely and did notice we did not like the food, but I had no issues with her. The manager came and I told him my experience has been horrible. Out of courtesy, and as this might be just my own personal experience, I asked him if he preferred we have this conversation somewhere else (not in front of other customers there), he said in a very audible voice "no, I am completely fine having it here. I told him about the waiter telling us he needed to ask for permission from the manager to allow us in, he said I should not worry about it as he has only been here for a week. I told him about the menu and the terrace comments he made, he said he says some nonsense sometimes and not to think much of it. The people in the terrace at this point had gone dead silent listening to us (exactly why I asked him to talk somewhere else, but I guess he just did not care). I told him how horrible the food was and that I already had paid and was not looking for any sort of discount. I paid about $200 and left most of the food as is. The odd part is, it is a place that is supposed to be famous for its' seafood, but when I asked for the speciality dishes, the only seafood I got was a small pierce of cod in the croquette. I guess they do not have much confidence in...

Extremely rude and snobby manager with no customer service mind at all. We came 15 mins earlier and I asked someone who looks like a manager if I could see the menu while waiting...he looked at me like "what are you doing here we open at 12 and it's fully booked". I was like I didn't know I have to book for lunch ..it's my first time and I'm not from this area. Then he told me to come to the front to ask for the menu. Then the same guy came around and I asked him there is no fish and chips on the menu and he said it's for lunch then left. He told me without stopping to talk to me properly. Then i asked the girl at the front for the menu she said menu is too big she can just tell me. And I also asked if I can use the toilet in the restaurant while waiting for the food, I was refused to use their toilet but the public one as I'm not dining in. She said I can ask permission from the manager which I did but he also told me to use the public toilet..I said I'm not even dirty and I'd like to use the toilet in the restaurant then he said "if you want" ..this place and the whole vibe is by far the worst service I ever been to a restaurant in the whole of Australia! It's unbelievable how the manager can be so arrogant and rude to a customer. He treated me like I'm begging for free food! It's shocking ... and when I finally got to use their precious toilet, another guy who looks like another manager gave me a look as I'm walking pass then I looked at him and he asked me what's wrong so I started telling him how I was treated but the manager who I fist talked to start playing a victim because there are already diners in there then he lied to me saying he was happy for me to use the toilet which is not. Then he said I was abusing him and another girl approached me and said pls use the toilet and leave. As I'm walking in to the toilet, I heard a laughter! I really should have left and eat somewhere else. This place is so full of ignorant and arrogant staff. Never again will I come near this place and I'll make sure to spread the word far and wide because nobody should be treated this way! You snob.

Update: I think the manager is actually the owner of this place. He has the gut to reply to me about my request to use their toilet even when I clearly told him I'll wait 3 more mins till it's officially open to use. But didnt mention how he has been so rude from the beginning. He shouldn't be working in hospitality to be honest. After reading other ppl one star reviews, I can see that he has been a douchbag to some customers as well. If you are looking for a nice fish and chips place..check out hunky dory in south melb ..they are much better in term of service, staff attitude and you will have a much better experience and they are more...

So apparently if you are a YouTube food blogger you can get fish & chips from the kiosk served to your table on a dinner plate, but if you are just an ordinary customer, you have to finish eating from the restaurant menu and get the fish & chips to takeaway. We sat at the outdoor tables like him and ate similar food. If we spent about $200 on food/drinks from your restaurant, why not allow us to have fish & chips from the kiosk served to our table like him? Sounds bizarre, right?

Well we tried to finish the restaurant food as quickly as we could, but unfortunately the food overall took about 1.5 hours to come out! Each dish came separately, despite ordering mainly entrees. We told a female staff when only two entrees came after 40 minutes, and surprisingly, kid-you-not, said in a sarcastic manner, “Perfection needs to wait!”. Couldn’t even give a simple apology! To be frank, actually the food wasn’t perfect. Although texture-wise was smooth, flavour-wise was maybe 6/10, king prawn heads were still a bit raw, and the arrow squid had a little fishy smell.

By the time we wanted to get fish & chips takeaway (which we wanted to eat at our table, but was firm from the beginning when we said we came here for the fish & chips (alongside ordering the restaurant food), on not being allowed), they were sold out!

If you only act nice to people who review your restaurant to give you some good publicity, whilst treat others like us differently, like we’re not worthy and cheap (but we weren’t, read above) and don’t deserve the same treatment, that’s really disappointing and a shame.

UPDATE: Ok, yes he did say that “There’s two sides to the kiosk”, but he did also say “We’re gonna be able taste a few dishes from both sides including the fish and chips over from the kiosk side as well as some grilled Dory fish ... from the other side. ... We’re getting the best of everything ... to table.

Please see the video below, where you served fish & chips to his table.

I know it is not from the bistro menu but rather from the kiosk. But just don’t make an exception for him, and allow him to enjoy from “both sides of the kiosk” at...