The Premises. — Restaurant in Melbourne

The place looked reasonably busy. I walked in and no one really seemed to care. I had then stood near the cash register as I saw people standing and only one waiter who seemed to be busy. I stood that for a whike until the I saw a chef coming out with food and asked, is there a menu? He then asked the waiter, " he wants a menu" she said I will be back with it. She seemed to be the only one running around at least at the time. She served another table and came back with a water bottle, a glass and a menu. She was pleasant as one can be, she was a professional. I then ordered some eggs on toast and a coffee. I asked for some tomato with my eggs. The waiter then went to the kitchen to place my order and returned only to say that the can give me fresh tomato and not even slightly grilled like any descent cafe or chefs would do. With a surprise I asked, you know they would only have to put it on the grill for a few minutes, she said "I know, but they are saying they can only provide fresh tomatoes" My reaction should have been to cancel everything, but I simply stayed and had my scrambled eggs just on toast. Coffee was luke warm and not strong despite ordering strong almond latte, the eggs were ok, just one would expect scrambled eggs to be. I had a quick interaction with another waiter later on, when I ordered another coffee (strong), but hotter than the previous one, he was just as pleasant as the first waiter who attended to me. I said I would pay for both, he said that is ok, let me take this back and get you a new one. One of the baristas then brings the coffee with some attitude, drops the coffee in a manner I thought was slightly aggressive and when I thanked her, she looked at me and walked away. This time, the coffee was not strong as ordered, in fact it was on the week side and was boiling hot, which I could have lived with as I could just let it sit for a while until it gets to the right temperature, however, not only that it was not strong, but, it didn't taste right. I went to pay only to find that the cashier was as lovely as the first two waiters. I asked myself a question, "would I ever come back here, or organise a brunch session with my friends or work colleages"? The answer was tgat I would give it another go, simply because the amazing personality and energy of the three front house staff members. I believe that the coffee situation could be worked out by providing additional instruction and enhanced...

ORDERED OCT 2025: 🥚 Potato Rosti Benedict - Smoked Salmon $26.50 card surcharge ($0.45)

I paid $26.95 for my portion here.

REVIEW: 👍 Decadent. Definitely felt overwhelmed with the one portion of the Potato Rosti Benedict but I would be down to get it again... provided I can eat half a portion and split it with a friend! 😁 I think it is missing a type of 'refreshing' element because it can too creamy if I were to try conquer this dish by myself. I prefer the micro greens they used last time!

The QR code makes it easy to split a bill between friends. Easy environment to catch up with friends too. 🤗 ORDERED (2024): 🥚 Potato Rosti Benedict: with smoked salmon on house made crispy potato rosti, smashed peas, pumpkin hummus, poached egg, dijon hollandaise, chilli oil, sweet potato crisps ($26.50) 🧇 Waffle chicken: Crispy southern style fried chicken, chipotle mascarpone, sweet potato crisps, drizzled with maple syrup ($20.00) 🍄 Mushies on Toast: Creamy mushrooms, fried enoki mushrooms, free range poached egg, crumbed goat cheese, pumpkin hummus, basil pesto served on sourdough ($20.00) 🧇 Belgian Waffle: Two golden waffles with nutella, mixed berry compote, seasonal fruits, vanilla ice cream, crunchy pistachio crumbs, waffle cone crumbs with maple syrup ($21.00)

~$21.86pp

REVIEW: ✔ Food was delicious. They go for a maximalist approach which I appreciated, while still maintaining the harmony of flavours and colour that was so bright. ❤ I had seen the beauty that was the Potato Rosti Benedict when I stopped by the cafe another day. I was dying to get my hands on it. A savoury delight, the smoked salmon DELIEVERED with its smokiness. The poached egg added a much needed creaminess to and overall decadent and the elements of smashed peas, nuttiness from the pumpkin hummus made it for an overwhelming great experience. Caution: portions are generous and may be too savoury for some! 😎

The service on that particular Saturday was incredibly slow. I'm talking almost a 1 hour wait for food, when we were advised for 30-40 mins. 😭 🧁 It was nice we were immediately seated, but also nicer that the chefs gave us a complimentary warmed chocolate muffin. The small gestures definitely goes far and redeemed them in my eyes!

A local joint in Kensington, the staff is friendly and are helpful and ready to assist. Food is great, portions are delicious. What more could you want from an excellent...

If you’re looking for your next overpriced, sub par cafe where customer service is non existent, this is your go to place.

Upon arrival at the cafe, we saw a sign to wait to be seated. We stood around at the door for awhile with one staff that we’re assuming was on break staring us down but no staff came to show us to a table despite seeing a couple of empty tables. We moved over to the register to try to get somebody’s attention but despite standing at the register, we continued being treated like air, with multiple staff trying to squeeze through the both of us, all whilst not making eye contact or saying any a word.

When we finally sat down at a table, we were given a bottle of water but with no glasses, no napkins and no utensils. The cafe was busy so we accepted this and just waited for our coffees but our acceptance and understanding didn’t help us.

After we ordered our food, we waited and chatted, while watching every other table that came after us being served. After more than 30mins, we asked about our food and was told that our order didn’t go through the system. The waitress said she would get the chefs to work on our order immediately but she later came back to tell us because the cafe is too busy, we have to wait for another 15mins. This was absolutely ridiculous that the customers are the one who have to bear the brunt when we tried to be understanding.

Obviously after being ignored, not being served the basic things, and told to wait even longer for our food that we ordered more than 45mins ago, we left and will never be coming back.

If the staff can’t even look in a customer’s general direction or provide basic customer service, then maybe they shouldn’t be working in hospitality but at least we learnt our lesson and can support other local businesses...