The Blacksmith — Restaurant in Melbourne

Initially I was perturbed by the distance but realised I’m used to travel that far towards the city to brunch in South Yarra why not travel the same length of time away from the city and avoid traffic altogether. You can always make a day of it exploring the pretty region and it’s definitely an experience in and of itself visiting this cafe.

Brunch slash burgers slash French patisserie was an intriguing proposition. Certainly they do two of them well (we didn’t try the burgers) and it’s fabulous to see such high caliber desserts in suburban areas. There was fresh bread and croissants aplenty and such a decadent array of cakes I wondered how I would possibly choose.

We started with coffee and the mulled apple cider (non alcoholic) this was a great choice for Melbourne winter and tasted like Christmastime.

I liked that we were given proper knives to cut through the yummy sourdough. This aptly named colourful dish was a vibrant combination of beetroot purée, smashed avocado, cherry tomatoes, feta and roast pumpkin. Very tasty. My husband enjoyed his Benedict but we did say no bacon jam and unfortunately it came with. Not sure why this has happened twice to us this weekend but it’s quite upsetting if you are vegetarian or don’t eat bacon for religious reasons.

We pretty much forgave them the bacon on account of the pure indulgence that was the cake selection. We were able to try the lemon tart, salted caramel peanut, lemon checkers (lemon curd, white chocolate and raspberry jelly), the Black Forest tart, the pear frangipane and the raspberry mousse dome with passionfruit and mango jelly. Spectacular would be an understatement. These stunningly presented cakes were perhaps eclipsed only by their unbelievably delicious taste. So many perfect textures working with all the flavours from rich and creamy chocolate mousses to zingy lemony curds to perfectly balanced berry jellies. Well worth the journey, even if you are coming from...

To begin, the food was decent but quality of service was not. My friend was visiting from overseas and I had taken him to see the Puffing Billy. We stopped by Blacksmith for breakfast before our train ride.

We were feeling quite hungry so we ordered a custom breakfast which was quite nice. You'd hope so after spending 66.00, 33.00 each per breakfast, wasn't cheap.

The customer service element is what made me give this place 2 stars. Had the service been good, I would have gone up to 3 and a half. The specific negitives were, on entering the restaurant, my friend and I were not made to feel welcome. The lady serving us, blonde curly hair did not seem friendly, she took our orders in a robotic fashion and did not smile. When we asked questions about the menu, she didn't seem like she wanted to help. She gave us short blunt answers. She seemed uninterested in helping us which made us feel unwelcome. In addition, when we had asked for the WIFI password, the manager tried to help us which we were greatful for, however the password they had provided turned out to incorrect and when we asked for the pwd to be confirmed, the man helping us asked us to try different combinations of the pwd he provided which didn't help.

After spending so much money on breakfast, I had expected a better level of service. Won't be going back but I would seriously advise the owners to work on their staff in making their guests feel welcome...

Edit 24/01 to cover the owners reply, we weren't here in the holiday period. Your staffing levels are up to you. I tried to resolve it at the time and was shrugged off. Nice bit of blame the customer going on in your reply. Original: Dropped in here after seeing the nice photos of food on Maps. Tried The Blacksmith Burger which was pretty good, however, the service is a bit of a fail on three counts. I was greeted with a blank look and had to initiate the conversation for the order. I sat outside after ordering at a different table after being told "someone has tabs on the table" I wanted to sit at. I ordered first. The burger was brought out and the young fella just said "Blacksmith" and I said yes and he put it on the table. No cutlery, only one sauce soaked napkin under the burger (see photo). I thought maybe I'm supposed to get cutlery inside but no, another couple had napkins and cutlery brought to them ahead of their food. I left the place sticky from the overly sauced burger and egg. It's a good thing I had my own water and wipes in the car. I could forgive one element of poor service and usually do, but this one...