Local Mbassy — Restaurant in Sydney

When Local Mbassy first opened in Ultimo, it was one of the first cafes in the Wentworth Park area. It quickly developed a cult following centred around their red velvet pancakes, which remain on the menu today, four years on. In the ensuing period, more cafes have sprung up in the local area, mostly at the bases of the new residential towers that make up Sydney's second most densely settled suburb (after Potts Point).

Working in with the concrete jungle, the Local Mbassy team have made the most of being at the base of a tall building by creating a boiler room fit-out. It sits under a tangle of exposed pipes, with each branch ending in an Edison bulb. The steampunk vibe continues into repurposed bicycle pedal stools and recycled wood shelves mounted on pipe fittings. They're filled with a quirky collection of 1920s Australiana. The knickknacks, which run from trumpets to old cameras and telephones, took the brothers, Marcus and Samuel Gorge, a year to assemble, and countless trips to antique stores.

You have to admire their commitment to detail, which extends to the water bottles, vases and sugar jars, and a Sid Tapia mural of a 1920s larrikin on one wall. By using frosted glass on the curved corner windows, Local Mbassy insulate you from Harris Street’s heavy traffic and make your only view the sunny green grass of Wentworth Park. It’s a good way to make up for the café’s own lack of morning sun - a hazard of the high rise, difficult architecture and descending high pavement down William Henry Street.

Turning your attention to the rough concrete front counter, where more pipe joints secure a recycled wood bench-top, you’ll find a collection of bought-in pastries. Next to them there's an appropriately copper-detailed La Marzocco coffee machine turning out credible Campos coffees. They're supplemented by a range of colourful warm milky drinks running from red velvet to matcha to taro. Hot Coconut ($4.50) is unusual enough for me to give it a whirl, particularly as it is kind of chilly for metal chairs and sub-basement dining. It tastes like coconut ice, so I’m guessing sweetened condensed milk is involved in the blend of milk and desiccated coconut, which drinks a bit sweet for me.

The Open Melt ($17) here is fancier than most, featuring 10-hour braised pork belly that tastes of brown sugar, cinnamon and star anise. The thinly sliced pig is very well rendered, eating well against spinach, bland mozzarella cheese, house onion pickles and a runny-yolked fried egg.

What I liked most about Local Mbassy is they’re clearly not afraid of being different. The idiosyncratic décor is matched by a menu that makes Vegetarian Moussaka ($19) into a breakfast dish. Served in a cast iron pan, the layer of eggplant, zucchini and mushrooms in a light tomato sauce is topped with a creamy inch of béchamel. While it comes out ten minutes after my dining companion’s melt, all is forgiven when I see the super fluffy béchamel has been freshly made. It sounded like an odd proposition, but moussaka worked surprisingly well as a wintery vegetarian warmer against toast served on a brand-embossed wooden paddle. See what I mean about their...

WORST dining experience. All drink orders were WRONG and when the waitress came back with wrong orders, she was not at all apologetic and blamed my husband and I for 'changing' our orders. How does one get red velvet frappe confused with matcha frappe or weak cappuccino confused with strong cappuccino? Nonetheless, I didn't make a fuss and asked her to bring the correct frappe and extra hot milk on the side to dilute my cap. Another huge disappointment was my lunch order of the 10hr braised pork belly which came to the table looking unappetising. Skin was clearly unrendered and completely soft/gelatinous to touch - not at all crispy. Furthermore upon taking a small bite of the meat which was super dry and as tough as old boots, I had to spit it out into my napkin. No way is this an acceptable cafe dish by any standard. At the end we spoke to the female manager who was unapologetic and argumentative telling me that 'this is how the belly is served'. She claimed it was crispy on the outside. Anyway lesson learnt never send any food back without asking the manager to see/touch dish first and getting some form of acknowledgement/apology from them. In all my years of dining, this is the only time I have ever sent something back and voiced my complaints. Normally not something I would do however, it is important to warn others that this cafe has serious short comings and a bad management attitude where everything is the customer's fault. Wasn't looking for a refund but would have been a nice gesture to comp 1/2 the price of the inedible pork belly dish $20.50 or waive it in full. Anyway, in summary - if you order it and get the wrong item - it's your fault. You don't eat the food, you still pay. You complain about your food, tough - suck it up that's how it's served lol. Waiving food/drink out of good will is unheard of in this place and apparently so is good customer service. NEVER returning and will gladly let others...

We've been here for the second time today after a shaky first visit about 2 months ago, sadly things haven't got any better. I know the owner reads these so please take this as constructive feedback from someone who has worked in the industry extensively in their youth. Positives: Food very tasty, we had the English breakfast and the shashuka. Both very good.

Negatives: coffee: got given a coffee that was sour and lumpy, fiancee tasted it and it was not good, and it turned to be out not for her either.

Service genuinely disorganised and disconnected from both the kitchen and the barrista. My breakfast came out around 20-25 minutes before my fiance's, had a similar problem with this last time with coffee and food where we could see the barrista stood doing nothing for 20mins whilst we were waiting for a coffee with food at table. I don't know if this is incompetent staff, the computer system or both. On several occasions most the staff were just stood there avoiding eye contact whilst people were waiting to be served. We had the same experience last time. The resteraunt wasn't busy, there were 3 waiters and numerous kitchen staff for about 5 tables yet still there was huge issues getting the order to the barrista and the kitchen.

Barrista can clearly make a good coffee as witnessed by the artwork, but both milks were sour (almond and skim) and curdling occuring.

Plates, though artistic, are not practical as the food is stacked high with no where to cut it, then balanced on a wooden plinth which the tiny plate rocks in. Just a minor observation but something that would get in your nerves eating here regularly.

Finally, the bill had had 10% added too it for a bank holiday, but this was not mentioned or advertised anywhere prior in the resteraunt, which was a bit of an unpleasant surprise given the poor...