The Journal Cafe — Restaurant in Melbourne

Went for Brekkie with Wife and our little boy. Got seated quickly and our order was taken within 5 mins. Cafe wasn't super busy so this seems enough time for us to read through the limited yet ample menu. We order some OJ, Crumpets, Chilli scrambled and scrambled eggs on toast. We were served by a lovely older chap who remarked on our baby boy and we had a good laugh about the benefits of being a grandpa. OJ came out first which tasted great but it would have been nice to be in a glass and served with ice. crumpets came out second with Lurpak butter portion and jam. the crumpets themselves were fine but the butter had split from being out of the fridge for too long wasn't amazing. around 10 mins after ordering we got our main brekkie. My Chilli scrambled was fine. Not amazing just fine. came with 3 slices of toast but none of it was buttered. The eggs were well chillified and tasted good but could of been seasoned better. My Wifes scrambled eggs seemed to suffer from similar dry toast and I dont know if its cause im a Brit but toast has to be served with butter or at least offered. All in all was charged $51 and for the amount of time it took to cook and the food itself was slightly below average especially being just off Degraves street your only a stones throw from plenty of other cafes all wanting your money. Positives: Lovely staff Good atmosphere Could imagine being a regular and coming back for the staff alone. Negatives: attention to detail on dishes (lack of butter and low quality butter on bread goods) presentation of drinks (serve juice...

I’d like to share two concerns about this place: • Sanitary Issues The biggest concern is the lack of compliance with sanitary policies. The staff keep some cooking ingredients on a windowsill outside the kitchen, which is in a public area shared with the State Library and Institute. This area is frequented by hundreds of people, exposing the ingredients to potential contamination from germs. I even noticed a hair on some baked goods they were selling, and no one seemed to address it. • Lack of Hospitality The place does not feel welcoming. I was having a video call while sitting on a fixed to the floor bar stool outside the café in the public area. This was during their non-busy hours as they were preparing to close. Within a minute, a waitress interrupted my conversation and asked me to purchase something. Since I was busy and couldn’t order anything, I gestured “no.” However, she was not satisfied and insisted that I stand up and leave. My meeting was disrupted as I had to explain that I wouldn’t stay long and requested permission to sit for a while. Unfortunately, I received no understanding or flexibility. To make matters worse, there were no signs or warnings indicating that using the fixed stool in a public area without making a purchase was prohibited. In a venue that claims to uphold high standards and hospitality, such a conversation shouldn’t even occur. Please consider these issues—particularly regarding hygiene—before deciding to...

Maybe the service on a Sunday is different to what others are saying but I went here with my partner for her lunch break and weren't acknowledged for a little while so stood around waiting until one of the baristas asked if we were alright. I guess they didn't see us because the 3-4 guys behind the counter were distracted chatting to each other. I ordered iced soy latte which arrived hot. When they remade it I was pretty sure the milk was off because it tasted a lot like soil but my partner said it might just be because it's a different soy milk brand to the popular Bonsoy. Needless to say I didn't drink it. I was scared for what the food would be like after a few bad impressions already but ended up being happily surprised that the penne was pretty decent with some quality tasty (if very tough and dry) pork.

We also got a real patriarchy vibe from the few guys standing around chatting behind the counter (one of which was doing nothing so I guess he was the manager?) making coffees all relaxed while the 2 waitresses ran around cleaning up the place and looking after customers. This place has a lot of potential being a beautiful (though very cramped) space and urban list had recommended them, but I really felt like overall nobody really cared much about the service or the product they provided and with the Melbourne food industry you can always find someone who does. I don't recommend this place unless you're really out of options (ie. Sunday...