Podium Cafe — Restaurant in Melbourne

Thursday afternoon, I was at my friend's place having a group study, and I wanted to take a coffee break. A quick 'Coffee near me' on Google loaded up a couple. The Podium Cafe is the only one that looked good even though they have an average rating. As they say, never judge a book by its cover became quite right in this case.

I was driving, and the Google map leads me to the property next to it, and there was no parking as it was an office. I decided to go even further; the service road was also fully parked, and then finally, I got to park on a street that goes into a Cresent. I went to the 'Madras Cafe', another coffee shop and asked directions. He asked me to go inside the Kmart head office building. I had to walk all the way and finally ask the receptionist inside the building to get further directions to this cafe.

So, to keep it short, there are no signboards that talk about a Cafe in the area. The shop operates as if it is meant for the office staff who work on nearby buildings. It's tough to park in this area and also hard to spot the cafe.

The coffee comes in three different sizes; small, medium, and large. The large was overpriced, and I settled for the medium soy flat white. The guy at the store was quite friendly, and the coffee tasted nice. I asked for one sweetener, but the coffee was sweeter than I thought. I liked the soy coffee. As I was waiting for my coffee, I had a look at the menu, and the pricing seemed right and perfect. The staff told me about their digital loyalty pass that lets the user tap and updates their points that can be later redeemed.

If I go there again? Maybe! Well, there are fewer coffee shops in Mulgrave, and this is one of the good ones. I wish there were proper parking and signboards which helps the people spot the cafe. Also, it will be great if you could lower the coffee pricing as it seemed a bit high compared to the rest of...

Consistently poor service, and questionable attention to quality and detail.

If you come in for breakfast, be prepared to be the random winner who has to wait way longer than anyone else for toast in the morning, only to be told that one toaster is faster than the other. If you're there for lunch, bring a cut one of your own, to eat while you wait for service at the sandwich bar.

Coffee quality is inconsistent. Taste ranges from vaguely coffee-flavoured milk to over-extracted coffee bean husks. Even a broken clock is right twice a day, though, so you may get a decent tasting coffee...

Just wanted to say thank you for a MARVELOUS corporate lunch! You have such a GREAT staff and team and everything was perfect!! You all are amazing and I will always consider you for our corporate events! Special thanks to your team who work so hard and do everything so perfect...