Sage Sorrento — Restaurant in Melbourne

I've just been robbed!!!

I was looking for a coffee to get me through the long day I've had and happened to be at the end of the peninsula so I googled cafès still open and up popped this one with a high star rating.

So I thought I'd give them a shot.

Upon placing the order for their larger sized take away lattè ( which is still just a 12oz coffee, a medium in a layman's cafè ) the price came up at.....wait for it.....$7.70¢!!!??!!!😱

That's the most expensive coffee hands down I've paid for a 12oz coffee in greater Melbourne and beyoind!!!! Period!

Even Hobson's in Capel Sound charge $6.50¢, which is still a touch up and the reason I don't go there anymore because, as I waited anticipating tasting this overly expensive lattè, my curiosity got the better of me and thought that perhaps the quality of their coffee is exceptional....

Ba-bown.

Not only was I robbed in dollars, I was robbed in drinking pleasure. The coffee tasted like reused coffee grounds or at best a blend that had a burnt roasted bean run through it.

Now you might be able to get away with saying that if you were charging the average prices for coffee ☕ but if you're charging the earth plus 10% GST (($7.70¢, weird number) then you had better be supplying your customers with premium coffee, not pig swill.

I did look at the menu whilst I was waiting for this coffee that I paid a king's ransom for and it did look very appetising and the prices looked reasonable for the meals.

As you can see, I've given credit where credit is due and I've given favourable ratings for service and atmosphere. However, the product I purchased was heavily sub par and incredibly over priced hence the low rating for food.

I have not eaten here though and therefore cannot vouch for the quality of what's being dished up in the menu nor the portion size as it seems to be common practice these days to not raise prices when they already seem inflated but instead to give less and less of what was considered generous or normal expectations in the past.

But that being said, I recommend you DON'T try the coffee here. You'll need to ring your bank manager to take out a second mortgage and it will leave a very bitter taste in your mouth.

JTFR ( just for the record ),

A breakdown of the cost of a cup of coffee.

Good quality beans are between $40-$60/kg. I know because I ask cafè owners regularly what coffee they use and where I can get it and how much to expect to pay.

The average grind for a standard shot of coffee is between 19-22gms depending on where you go. So if you average it out at 20gms a shot it works out to 50 shots/kilogram.

Say 40 shots if you average it out at 25gms a shot still works out to around $1.50¢/shot at the upper end and $1 at the lower end, this is the most expensive cost ingredient of the coffee.

Then there's the water and electricity which is virtually negligible on a per cup basis but will add up over many so let's say 10¢-20¢ for the two/cup and the milk and the take away cup itself.

We all know that retail milk is around $1/litre for the general public and a 12 oz cup is around 355mls so it's going to cost around 35¢-40¢. If you're getting a good deal from your supplier,and you'd be silly not to, then you should be doing better than that.

And at just having a very brief look online, I was able to find 12oz compostable cups and their lids for $168/1000 or roughly 17¢ each.

And so for a total cost, ex wages and rent/mortgage as an overhead, you're looking at a maximum of $2.25¢-$2.30¢/cup. Worst case scenario.

To then charge $5.40¢ on top of that equates to a 235% profit when others are charging $5-$6 for the same and in a lot of cases, better quality and still able to run a business to be profitable.

Take my advice and trust me as someone who doesn't just like coffee, I love it.

For sure, take a chance, try the pizzas and food here. But after the mains are done and if they ask you whether you'd like any desserts or coffee, be sure and politely decline the second offering and you won't be disappointed by a final...

ABSOLUTELY TERRIBLE SERVICE IF SOMETHING GOES WRONG!

We (a group of 4) went there on 28th September 2024 at 5pm for dinner. We ordered a pumpkin & sage pizza with vegan cheese. The food was delivered fairly fast, and to be honest, it is quite good. So far everything went really well. Then when one of us - a 60-year-old lady had a slice of pizza, and chewed for a while, and spit out a RUBBER BAND! And she said, it is soooo bitter. As she wasn't sure what it was, so she chewed for a while, then realised it might be something not eatable, then spitted it out.

We called the wait staff/manager who takes care our table, told him and showed him what was in there, he looked shocked, and immediately took the plate and the pizza away WITHOUT SAYING ANYTHING. We were shocked that he did that, 4 of us was stoned for a few seconds then realised we didn't have the chance to take the photo at all! As we didn't expect he would just take it away without even an apology or tell us what he would do. NOTHING AT ALL. To be honest, if he handled the situation better, this could go away so easily, and I wouldn't be leaving this review.

After he took away the bad pizza, we were so lost, confused, and angry at the same time. A foreign object (rubber band) is found in the food, being heated under extremely high temperature (pizza wood fried oven), the rubber material is very toxic under this high temperature. We didn't get any explanation or apology in the first place. He went on serving other tables and new customers coming through the door, and left us there cold. Then after a fair while, he came back, telling us he told the kitchen, and they realised it was the sage bundle they put on top of the pizza dough and didn't realise the rubber band was there, that's how it got into the food. And they will make a new one to replace the bad one. And in the very very end, he apologised.

My friend said, thanks for the apology, as we definitely deserve one as we didn't get it from the very beginning. He started to say something else, and saying the chef is sorry, he is sorry, this and that. But our point was, WE DIDN'T GET AN APOLOGY IN THE FIRST PLACE. He started to say he works 3 jobs, very stressful, can't take this any more. Totally avoid the point, and didn't acknowledge the potential risk this would cause to a person. Then he went away.

Next time he came back with the replaced pizza. We tried it, it wasn't as good as the first one, as the base is thicker, and the sauces or jams is not evenly spread on the pizza. He came back to check if the 2nd one is better. I told him NO. And he became defensive again saying they are exactly the same. They are HANDMADE pizzas, how can they be exactly the same?! I told him the base is thicker, and he repeated that. The conversation is just not going anywhere, very frustrated.

My friend was not happy about how they dealt with the situation, so she (and we agreed) proposed that we want some compensation on the bill, a discount of 50% of the total bill. He went on to check with the chef, and came back with a counter-proposal of 20% off. And he said, "it's not negotiable". As a food and service provider, you have a million ways to express the same meaning in a more polite and professional manner, yet he just said that. Leaving us another huge shock.

Therefore, we reported this to the local city council and food and safety department for further investigation. And leaving this review for ppl to pay attention to. Their ability to handle conflict and issues is not gonna be satisfactory. If nothing happens, sure, good food and good atmosphere there. But if something goes wrong, where it shows the true 'human' side of a restaurant, they failed so bad. This could have just gone away if the wait staff/manager just sincerely apologised in the first place, and tell us what he can do.

Therefore, if you go there, be careful what is in your food. And make sure you take a photo before letting...

My partner, my mom, a friend, and I went for dinner on September 28th. We ordered two pizzas, a pasta, and a side of fries to share. Shockingly, one of the pizzas—the Pumpkin & Sage pizza—had a rubber band in it!

My mom unknowingly chewed on it for a few seconds, tasting a bitter, chemical-like flavor, which made her feel sick. It’s hard to believe that a rubber band could melt in the high heat of the oven and end up in a pizza served to customers.

We called the manager over and explained the situation. He immediately took the pizza away without offering any apology or explanation, so we didn't get the chance to take a picture. About 10 minutes later, he returned, explaining that the chef had accidentally left the rubber band on the sage, and it got mixed into the pizza. He said they would remake the pizza right away.

We were upset and demanded an explanation and compensation for what had happened. The manager initially responded that he was also dealing with challenges and didn’t have the authority to make decisions. When we asked to speak with the owner, he told us the owner wasn’t in the shop that day and disappeared for quite some time. When he finally returned, he offered no more than a 20% discount. When we requested a 50% discount, he rudely insisted there was no room for negotiation.

He ultimately didn’t give us the owner's contact information, only providing the restaurant's phone number. He explained that the owner is usually in the shop, so we could reach out to the owner there.

When it came to the bill, we paid the amount reflecting the 10% discount. The manager explained that there was an additional 10% surcharge because it was a weekend. We mentioned that we would be reporting the food quality issue to the local council, and the manager casually stated that it was not his concern.

Regarding the food, I can only say that the fries we ordered that day were the best part of the meal. We added an extra 5 dollars for vegan cheese, but we couldn’t really taste it.

Regarding the service, the manager's unprofessionalism and rudeness, along with his approach to resolving issues, will likely drive away more customers from this restaurant。

Most importantly, food safety is definitely...