Sips and Stories — Restaurant in Melbourne

Clean cafe with welcoming and friendly staff, but the food and coffee is average. The staff don’t seem to know some of the details of the menu. I ordered the vitamin salad which is supposed to have lentils edamame kale seeds and goji berries. There were no edamame at all, the kale tasted stale and there were hardly any goji berries. It was mainly just lentils and kale with a bit of pumpkin seeds. I couldn’t really taste any dressing at all. Was quite bland. I asked them to add chicken and they said it would be grilled chicken so I was expecting a breast fillet sliced over the top but instead the salad had a thin layer of dry shredded chicken that tasted like stale roast chicken. At least there was a generous serve of seasoned smashed avo which kind of made it all taste ok. But presentation was a bit lacking too. This place has potential if they use fresher ingredients and think about the balance of ingredients, flavours and presentation of dishes. Iced almond latte also was lacking. Not sure why, maybe the coffee they use. The staff seem nice and hard working, but maybe just a bit inexperienced. Hopefully they will improve their menu and I’m sure business...

After hearing that CL had some damn fine coffee, I decided to stumble in for a pick me up while working from home. The cafe is rather spacious, with tonnes of seating, including a few outdoor tables up front, which is always a winner in my book. I ordered a coffee, along with the Crispy Pork Belly Benedict, not really knowing how that was going to turn out.

First the coffee. Soy latte seems like a simple concept, however most of the cafes I go to either burn the milk, or don't give enough coffee so it tastes like a warm cup of milky stuff. CL hit it perfect here - great coffee taste and the milk was fine.

But the food. Phenomenal. The cripsy pork has an Asian twist, served with some broccolini, and some plain bao instead of toast. The pork melted in your mouth, was fatty enough to give a punch of flavour, but didn't feel heavy. The dressing (I think it was Ponzu) mixed it with the hollandaise was truly fantastic, with just a little spice to really make you take notice. Those bao soak up all the juices perfectly too. This might have been the best benedict I've had!

Friendly staff. I'll definitely be coming back to try something else...

Cute little Cafe right in the centre of the main drag in Surrey Hills. I attended Sips and Stories today for brunch with a friend. I had the Veggie Breakfast (Scrambled eggs on a slice of sourdough toast, a veggie patty, broccolini, halloumi with a small side of tomato relish.) The server mentioned that they have also now added mushroom to the meal which was not yet listed on the table menus, which I declined (as I'm not a huge fan of mushrooms) totalled $22.50, I believe.

The food was quite enjoyable. I wasn't a big fan of the halloumi, but that is a personal preference rather than commenting on how it was prepared. I wish it had come with slightly more tomato relish though, that was delish! 😍

I would certainly come to Sips and Stories again! Quiet enough to have a private conversation, yet quite clearly a little hotspot in the area!

Staff seemed really lovely! Thanks for an...