Ripe Sassafras Cafe | Restaurant — Restaurant in Melbourne

Very bad experience! We asked to sit at a table outside and asked for one of the tables we could see free out on the back deck. It was pretty much empty when we arrived. The waiter said no don't think you can have that one cause it seats more people and has to be kept available for a bigger group. It was a table that was fitting 4 people we were 3. He then proceeded to show us a tiny table of two barely fitting the menus on it and my husband said sorry but we cant sit there our plates wont fit on that table so he begrudgingly pulled faces while he showed us to another table remarking thats not for three people. We barely had room on this table which was seating 4 but had 5 chairs as one was forced on the end. These table's are a very small size even with just 4 chairs but we were relieved to have a bit of space. Then we ordered our food which had a very small selection and is over priced for the quality which we found out later. It looked very nice but no flavour at all. The potato rosti was stale and horrible, my egg was so runny they might as well have handed me the egg in a shell and me crack it open on my stale potato. Luckily the other two meals that were ordered by my daughter and husband were average. Then after we had finished our meals which mine i had to leave on my plate mostly so was starving and feeling terrible all at same time, here come our drinks. Also while we had our meals we were given no water and my husband had to go get up from table and ask for some then he realised there were no utensils so he asked from a distance to the lady with coloured hair who was serving if he could get some utensils and she didn't acknowledge him and kept walking past, maybe she didn't hear but such poor service like no where before, so he had to again get up and ask for stencils. Now getting back to drinks, my daughters chai latte came with a big long stiff black hair stuck to the rim of her drink sticking up, mine which was a soy decaf latte came curdled it was disgusting. It shows they don’t have well trained barristers there as when having decafe you need to have a special barrister soy milk so it does not curdle and turn to off cheese. Extremely disappointed at our experience it ruined our nice morning out and will never go there again. On top of this even after removing the two drinks that were disgusting our price for our horrible meals came to $90 dollars. Appalling and barely a sorry for this horrible experience or maybe a reduction in price. Horrible! Horrible! Place. Sub standard! Don’t bother! Other nicer...

Came here for breakfast on Tuesday to celebrate my partners birthday, travelled an hour and a half and was not greeted/welcomed, instead rudely spoken at with attitude by a waitress with red hair (doesn't look like this is Rachael's first complaint) commanding me to get back behind the "wait to be seated" sign when we were admiring the bakery cabinet which is a main feature of this cafe.

At this point we already felt uncomfortable but were taken to our seating area, we did not get an option of seating although there were plenty of free seats. We were placed inside in a dark corner next to a spider instead of the beautiful sunny back area which I raved to my partner about.

Given how uncomfortable we felt we couldn't warrant the overpriced menu, $7 for a small side of hollandaise... It's a birthday so money is not an issue, but given the poor service we decided to get coffees and go elsewhere. My coffee arrived and was finished by the time my partners coffee arrived.

Upon paying for our coffees we were served by the rude person at the start of our experience who even snobbishly made the comment "oh, you only got coffees" with her grumpy inconvenienced tone again pulling an annoyed face... Had she been polite we would have spent $100 here, so yeah, only coffees.

The interaction was so frustrating and negative that it was on our minds all day. Not really welcome a experience on a typical day, let alone a birthday. As a business owner I would be incredibly dissapointed knowing my staff's attitude towards customers are costing money and reputation, difficult times do not warrant the extremely unpleasant behavior that was exhibited.

The previous time I came here with my best friend a few years back I recall they were rude as well, we even had to push for an extra paddy on our burgers to make up for the restaurant running out of chips, otherwise they wanted to charge us full price.

We won't be allowing this place let us down again. You should treat customers with respect and courtesy. The restaurant we went to afterwards had all the qualities that were lacking at this place. Polarity...

There are several reasons why I love coming back up here to Ripe.

Firstly, you are welcomed and acknowledged when you arrive (something that doesn't happen often at other venues these days) by very friendly staff who have a happy and relaxed disposition. Having great staff with great personalities really is make or break in hospitality and the staff at Ripe are some of the most friendly in the hills.

Secondly, the food - naturally. While you have the staples there is also a great variety on offer and the staff are happy to change things up when requested. The menu has evolved over the years and again just recently, and this is a good thing! I enjoy seeing something new and trying it, rather than just the same-old, same-old.

Thirdly, the almond milk hot chocolate. To die for!!

Fourthly, the relaxed environment. You are never rushed here. You can take your time to order what you want and once you have finished there is no rush to leave. You never feel like you have to leave, or are being pushed out to make way for other people to come along. This is testament to the friendly staff and managers.

Did I mention that Amazing Almond milk hot chocolate?!? I think I did but I wanted to make sure.

Fifth: Cafes and restaurants can get busy, that's the nature of them. I've never felt like the meals take forever to come out, nor do I feel they have just nuked up a meal in a microwave and delivered it to your table in 3 minutes. Although I do see people whine and complain about delays when Ripe is full of customers, in all honesty if you're one of those people who expect a fast-paced city-style service then take your stuck up self to Toorak or the CBD.

Ripe is a fantastic venue to return to again and again and I very much look forward to my next visit.

PS - And here's a word of advice for all the Social Justice Warrior's I've seen that leave rubbish 1star reviews - Get your hands off the keyboard just because you're first-world-problem-lives don't fit in with the friendly relaxed way of life in the Dandenong Ranges!

PPS - Did I mention the Almond Milk Hot Chocolate is...