Short Straw — Restaurant in Melbourne

We were excited to be back at Short Straw for brunch and a few cocktails on a Sunday afternoon. The first noticeable change we notice on arrival was the extended outside dining. A couple of carpark spaces in the street had made way to a cool little seating area with astroturf and sun umbrellas. A perfect addition to the fun internal enviro.

We sat at our usual table at the back of the venue and ordered a couple of brunch dishes. I gave the Short Straw dish a go which was the zucchini fritter meal and I added a poached egg to the dish for good measure. Soft middles and crispy shells these fritters were a light dish with a leafy salad.

We also tried the pumpkin puff salad which had great flavour and excellent textural elements such as puffed wheat and a really nice salad dressing.

Accompanying our meal we sipped on espresso martini, breakfast martini and Bloody Mary cocktails which we all made from local grain shaker vodka. These were excellent with standouts being the Bloody Mary with generous Tabasco sauce and the breakfast martini with marmalade hints. Actually the espresso martini was just as good ... in summary we liked them all.

Great to be back at our favourite cafe on the Glenferrie strip. Thanks so much to Short Straw for their hospitality.

Previous Review Short Straw is a peaceful open venue which attracts the morning sun down its side windows. It has a well built menu with some impressive visually stunning dishes that back up on flavour. It has a loyal following too it seems as I was gobsmacked at how many people were in for an early breakfast/brunch.

We started with coffee and a punchy Doctor C juice and funnily enough we both decided on bagels. I tried the chicken bagel with bacon and the holy halloumi bagel. Both were huge and came with fries. My chicken bagel was nice and creamy and full of flavour. It was a difficult eat but I forgave that because it was so flavoursome.

We really enjoyed our visit to Short Straw which is why we keep coming back (our third time now).

Previous Review We enjoyed two very nice iconic dishes, coffees and a delightful smoothie called the breakfast bonanza which had a good flavour but a subtle sweetness, a good item to accompany our decadent brunch dishes.

For brunch we chose the Charcoal Charger which was a porridge dish made with activated charcoal organic oats, turmeric poached pear, oreo crumb and caramelised marshmallow. There was strawberry soy milk for pouring. The pears were perfectly poached and added a nice contrast the this deep delicious and wintery dish.

Perhaps in contrast out next dish was almost celebrating that winter is almost over. Stacks on Waffles were light and fluffy waffles with lemon curd, injectable strawberry coulis, poppy seeded cream and two lovely macarons. Bright and cheery, I love the symmetry of this dish and how easy it was to divide into two for sharing. It was quite sweet dish and a fun dish to eat and explore.

The coffee was good and strong and there were a range of milk alternatives ( but not lactose free option).

I’m glad we finally got to try this high caliber cafe just off Glenferrie. Thanks so much for...

Disappointed, and would be more disappointed if it were not for the Zomato Gold.

FOOD: We ordered the Acai Bowl (which I told the server when ordering I wanted peanut butter WHICH she didnt log and then I had to ask 2 more times for it...) and the Garden of Eden. The Acai Bowl was... fine. It wasn’t great neither was it bad. It was just an okay acai bowl, I’ve had better. The texture wasn’t too bad but it was more watery than a smoothie, the mango gel was a good touch but they were pretty skimpy with the portion. The Garden of Eden was great for those who want a healthy option. It’s loaded with greens everywhere and the peas were cooked well. I do recommend getting some butter with your toast or it’s gonna taste pretty dry.

SERVICE: Below parr. It took them 20 minutes to seat us despite a seat being available and it was ours and leaving it there for an extra 5 minutes. When we were seated, as I mentioned, I ordered the acai bowl with extra peanut butter and when I saw it missing, I asked the server for some and she said she’ll be back with it. Yea, we waited for 5 minutes before realising she’s not planning on coming back and then we asked another server and she brought it and also some butter but look how vile the sight of the how the butter came to us. The photo taken was LITERALLY untouched by us.

Overall, I came in high hopes because of raves by cafe reviewers and was ultimately disappointed. I’d rather pay full price for a proper quality and well trained staff cafe than get buy 1 free 1 for a cafe that is almost...

Went to the short straw for a birthday and booked for a table for the right size in advance and as he had a relatively large group we got the largest table that suited the size of our group perfectly fine, however not long after we had been seated they put another couple right on the end of our table.

It was obviously very awkward (unsurprisingly) for the couple, and for us because we were essentially sharing the same table with strangers, and they later moved to another table (which was free at the time they were seated at our table so why they weren't seated there originally, we do not know). They then put another person on the end, who again later moved, and then they put another (at this time we left).

It seemed quite rude of the Cafe considering that they obviously didn't fit comfortably on the table and that it was a celebration we booked for in advance, and made us feel the Cafe cared much more about getting money than the quality of the experience. This made the overall experience relatively uncomfortable and unpleasant for everyone involved.

This was a big shame considering how lovely the interior of the Cafe is and how delicious the food.

Overall, quite dissapointing as we had been to the Short Straw twice before and this was by far the worst experience. Definetly will think twice...