The Village Bakery — Restaurant in Melbourne

It is a bit of a hit or miss situation with food/coffee from here. Food, service and atmosphere are great when it's a hit.

But they miss often too: Coffee is inconsistent, sometimes burnt depending on the rush/who's making it I've bought stale food from here on multiple occasions, pies where the meat was off and cookies where the dough was stale (tasted and smelled foul)

They perhaps serve leftovers from the day before. So I'll be avoiding this place to protect my gut.

Edit: Response to the owner's reply

"It is completely fine for our pies to not be to your liking, however to say the meat is "off" is completely ridiculous."

I wasn't suggesting that the pies are not to my liking. I actually quite like them when they work out. I specifically got served bad meat a couple of times. Once, the chicken I got in the butter chicken pie was stale, had to spit it out mid bite and throw the rest of it. And on another occasion it was the same case with the bacon in the breakfast bagel. I don't know how else to phrase this than saying it was "off", "stale" or "bad". It wasn't a "claim", it is a fact! I have no reason to lie if it wasn't the case. I don't know if you are implying that I don't know the taste of stale meat. As a matter of fact, the thing that prompted to write this review is the third time (this morning) something similar happened, this time with the chocolate chip cookie which tasted/smelled spoiled (that's currently sitting in my bin) If there's anything "ridiculous" in all this, it is the stale food that I got served on multiple occasions.

"we have to refute a couple of the accusations you have made.", "Every item we sell on the counters/fridges are baked fresh every single day.", "In fact, we pride ourselves on only serving fresh food."

I didn't claim that you ARE serving leftovers, I assumed that might be the case as I indeed got served stale food, hence the "PERHAPS" in my statement - "They perhaps serve leftovers from the day before." Maybe (again an assumption, not an accusation) they have been sitting on the counter for a while even when they are made the same day. As an example (an example, not an accusation), something that was made at 5:30am might (potentially) have gone bad by 12pm. Whatever the case might be, it doesn't change the fact that I bought stale food on multiple occasions and had to throw it out.

"Our leftovers are donated daily to different organisations."

That's a great thing you are doing, please continue to do that!

"If you had an issue with any of our products we would have really preferred you to have come and let us know whilst you were here so we could address it right there and there and rectify anything that was not right."

I, of course, would have brought it to your attention immediately if I was dining in. Unfortunately, I do takeaways and I can't take time off my day, drive 10mins back, wait in the queue for another 10-15min and bring partially eaten food to the counter.

"However for you to leave this review and make these wild claims is really disappointing for us as we are a small family business just trying to feed the people good & honest food."

My experience is not "wild claims". I was simply sharing I encountered (which is the whole idea behind reviewing as a concept). If my experience was great I would have shared that as I have done in a lot of my other reviews.

Please know that I don't have any vendetta against your business, it is great that you are a small family business, that you are donating leftovers and that you seem to have the right intentions in wanting to serve good food. I can definitely appreciate that and genuinely that you are able to address the issues I've mentioned!

But the fact that you have responded so combatively and called my actual experiences "ridiculous/wild" has sealed the deal for me. I am gonna leave this here for everyone else to come to their own...

I came on sunday (yesterday )to buy some croissants as a treat for myself and enjoy some pastries at the cafe. While the pastries were delicious, I can’t say the same for the service.

The cafe was very loud, queue was long, which resulted in (understandably) stressed staff. I suffer from an auditory processing issue and this condition means I will have a hard time understanding to conversations in noisy environments (the cafe was loud and packed that day) and sometimes, strong accents and when people talk fast. I felt that the staff that served me could have been more accommodating and patient towards me.

She first asked me which pastry I would like. I couldn’t understand what she was saying and asked her to repeat. Afterwards, i walked towards the display where I pointed out which ones I would like to purchase. She continued standing a mile away from me (at the cashier) where she could barely see what I was pointing at. I could tell from her face that she was feeling frustrated at that point (maybe she expected me to tell her what I wanted instead of pointing ? but I didn’t know the names of the pastry and felt it was easier to point to the display) She then spoke to me again a couple more times where I could barely understand and had to tell her to repeat whenever she spoke.

During the whole interaction, she did not accommodate to my difficulties in hearing despite all the obvious signs that I was having much difficulties. I also felt that she was impatient. I felt awkward, uncomfortable and unwelcomed. It was a disappointing experience as she treated every customer warmly, except until when it came to my turn.

I hope the management can remind their staff to be more inclusive to people with special needs and be patient with customers even when there’s...

Listen up, my fellow truth-seekers! A decade of treading the gritty streets of Devon has bestowed upon me a seasoned wisdom in the ways of pasties. But let me tell you, dear readers, that my recent escapade in Melbourne brought me face to face with a pasty so remarkable, it gave the Devonian classics a run for their money. It was a revelation, a gustatory awakening that made me question everything I thought I knew about these savory delights.

Now, let's set the scene. Picture a bustling bakery, teeming with life like the city streets at rush hour. The air hums with the sweet scent of baked perfection, drawing in hungry souls like moths to a flame. Yet amidst the chaos, the staff, my friends, are a sight to behold. They move with the precision and fluidity of a well-oiled machine, their movements choreographed with a finesse that would make Fred Astaire jealous. Efficiency is their creed, and they wear it like a badge of honor.

So mark my words, when you stumble upon a bakery where the queue stretches longer than a gumshoe's rap sheet, yet the staff glide through the chaos with a dexterity that would leave even the most nimble-fingered pickpocket in awe, you know you've hit the jackpot. Prepare yourself for a pasty experience that will unravel your taste buds like a carefully crafted mystery, leaving you yearning for more clues to the secrets hidden within those delectable...