The Lower Deck Cafe. — Restaurant in Melbourne

We started going to Lower Deck for our Saturday or Sunday morning breakfast not long after it first opened. John and his team are professional, friendly and happy. Their coffee is smooth and rounded. Their vegetarian breakfast comes complete with poached egg, sautéed mushrooms & spinach and marinated fetta. It's a delicious way to start your day (for those who aren't actually vegetarian, order it with a side of their smoky bacon, and it will satisfy your meat craving too). After something cooler ? Their macadamia muesli drizzled with honey, topped with berries and served with a side of milk and Greek Yoghurt is a fresh way to start the day. When they're really busy (long weekends, etc.,), on occasion, the service has been a bit slow, however, mention it to the wait staff, and the situation is addressed. Visiting their Monday to Saturday? Make use of the carpark out the back to avoid the one-hour parking restrictions in Main Street. Lower Deck was a hidden gem. Word has got out. Want to ensure a table is ready for you and your guests ? Phone them. They'll happily take bookings. There are other weekend breakfast establishments in Croydon. We've tried most of them, but for menu choice, consistently delicious food & coffee all combined with lovely décor, atmosphere and friendly staff, we keep going back...

Unfortunately not my best review on this occasion. Not sure if our visit was a sign of the pressure small businesses are now under, but our group of 4 was fairly disappointed this time. Quite a busy lunchtime period - with just 1 staff member plus chef. Staff member busy taking orders, waitressing, making coffees, taking payments. Whilst she did the best job she could do, our first coffees weren't great. One half strength coffee was basically just milk. None of 3 coffees were hot. And extra hot water was forgotten twice for one of our party. The quality of our food was noticeably less than our previous visit a month or so prior. Smaller quantities - with the hash browns and salad very closely resembling those in a supermarket. My 'Maple roasted' pumpkin was definitely not roasted, and not even in a hint of maple. It was placed on a small piece of sourdough with just one egg - not value for money. Tables just 30cm away from each other - too close to your neighbour :( Sorry Lower Deck, but you need to revert to your previous quality of food and service - then we'll...

My friends were hungry and decided to try this place, I took my son, daughter and friends. My son of a special diet noticed the limited menu and decided to get some thing from elsewhere. While he was gone My friends and I ordered. When my son returned he was abruptly and rudely told he must leave for he was not eating some thing from the Lower Deck Cafe.Even though myself and the 5 other people on the table had ordered something. My 12 year old son had to leave and eat by him self on the Main Street. As if it couldn’t get any worse when it was time to leave the bill couldn’t be split. My friend left the building quick smart after having to pay the full bill. As I waited to ask for the price of my food so I could pay my friend back two staff were YELLING at each other “OH YOU SHOULD OF SPLIT IT HOW HARD IS IT, THEY ARE GOING TO LEAVE A BAD REVEIW” So that’s exactly...