Time Out Fed Square — Restaurant in Melbourne

UPDATE - firstly I didn’t not put this in original review as I wanted to review my experience. We weren’t told until we were leaving that we were not going to be charged, keep in mind this was not said until after they saw me taking pictures of the RAW food and restaurant. Your apology from your staff and the response on this review doesn’t seem genuine yet defensive. I think it is reasonable for me to be dissatisfied and post a review given I was served….RAW CHICKEN and every customer has right to review their experience, be it good or bad! That being said, if I had a good experience it would have been shown with a positive review.

First time dinning out after having our little one. We looked at the menu and it looked nice so decided to have lunch. They had indoor and outdoor sitting. We sat out and they also had lunch special. Me and my partner we both decided to have chicken parma as I have been craving one since we been out from the hospital.

The food didn’t take long to come and it looked absolutely delicious. As we started eating I chewed on a wet meat and i told my partner and he didn’t believe me at first! I took out the one I was chewing on and because I just had my baby I wanted to make sure I was not eating anything raw, especially chicken. I cut the Parma just to make sure and to my disbelief it was in fact completely RAW.

Disgusted to core as I can’t believe such a busy restaurant in the heart of city and the quality of the food this much? I understand mistake can happen but feeding raw chicken? Very concerning! I stopped eating and none of the server were coming to our table to check hence my husband went to tell the staff and one of the staff apologised and took away the food. She didn’t know what to do hence asked her manager and offered us another one. I didn’t wanted to eat anymore but my partner’s food had been touched by a bird by the time when he went to call the staff. An older lady came to our table (seemed like the manager) and offered us another one and I said we were fine and later she brought the food and staid to us “ YOU WONT BE CHARGED FOR THIS”. I THOUGHT YOU DIDNT WANTED TO EAT! I mean you feed us RAW CHICKEN and offer us another one and say we don’t have to pay for the third one is ridiculous.

So disappointed! I felt sick to my guts and threw up straight away.

Ruined our FIRST time eating after...

I wasn’t going to leave a review because this happened exactly 12 months ago but I thought I should because this needs to be told. I belong to a choir and last year (2023) we finished a Christmas concert and we had a very large group booked at Time Out in the evening. When we got there, we were forbidden to order and pay using the QR code on each table, as we were told we had to order via the wait staff and we were told we could pay individually at the end of the evening. So far so good. As the evening went on, our group was getting merry as it was a celebration of a successful concert. However when people were ready to leave and pay, some must have forgotten to pay for a drink or two (people forgot when they got tipsy I guess), and the last person who went up to pay, had to pay for all the other stuff people forgot to pay which came to $2-300 dollars. So the poor person at the end had to fork out extra $300 for stuff he did not consume. If only we were allowed to use the QR code to order and pay for our own food and drink, this wouldn’t have happened.

This year (2024) around Sept/oct, we enquire with Time Out again about a prospective booking a after our Christmas concert. Again, we were told NOT to use the QR code but to order through the wait staff. Time Out would not budge. How stupid is that??? Anyway, we booked somewhere else. Time Out, you lost about $5-6k in takings on Sat last week because you won’t let us use the QR code to order and pay. Your loss.

Update 21 Dec 2024, The person who ended up paying for others was our conductor, who represents our whole group. We had a committee meeting a few days ago and he is adamantly most unhappy about your establishment. The whole experience for us as a group boils down to down to this so I am reluctant to change our rating. However, we are happy to consider changing the rating if you Time Out can upgrade your operation so that by 2026 when we need to make enquiry in 2026, you will allow our whole group to use QR code when ordering...

I am a local Melbournian and a teacher to international and migrant students. I expect that I will pay a little bit extra to drink a coffee in a centrally located cafe like TimeOut in the midst of Fed Square. Today, I brought 20 of our students into TimeOut as we were visiting Ian Potter. However I was SHOCKED that my student had to pay $8.50 for a regular (not large!) flat white coffee! $1 for oat milk and 80c to have a 'cup' inside a cafe. Ordering in a takeaway cup is - apparently -cheaper. I am an oat milk drinker and this is the most I have ever paid (in a small coffee as well) for oat milk. Outrageous to charge that when 1 litre of Oat Milk is less than $2 in the supermarket. It simply is not justifiable nor reflective of what other cafes charge for plant milks.

To pay 'for the privilege' of a cup is a flipped model from most cafes (especially those environmentally minded) that charge MORE for using takeaway cups and lids. I was told by the staff I was paying 'for the service'. Two other students ordered at the counter as they ' didn't get served' and we waited longer for our coffees than those that ordered at the counter.

I think it is such a shame that a cafe - located as it is for locals and visitors alike - can charge such inflated prices - not at all reflective of other (much better) cafes in the nearby vicinity. Next time we will walk the block and enjoy the experience of Brunetti's or otherwise.

There was no music and a giant TV so certainly not ambient. I gave 2 stars - not less like I wanted to - as the waitress was...