Sub-Station Cafe — Restaurant in Sydney

Substation is a cute little cafe in Alexandria, hard to see from the street but identifiable from the pumpkin sitting on a stool out front. It actually looks like a little vintage substation from out front and inside quite rustic whilst still modern, and feels warm with gardens and heating. About 6 tables and bench seating, there's plenty of room. When you walk in, you get the impression that everything is freshly baked, which, when I asked, it is. It was early morning, beautiful muffins had just been made and were being decoratively topped. They were pear or Berry and looked very appetising. They'd also just baked some pastries that I tried each of them. Had a small spinach and ricotta triangle as well as a pumpkin and cheese one - so good just out of the oven and incredibly tasty. I then got my coffee and was so impressed with the latte art - a beautiful swan - made my day! Hubby got the acai smoothie topped with chia - large size and he enjoyed it a lot. For the breakfast I ordered the healthy option as I usually do, the granola and yoghurt. A huge bowl of granola, natural yoghurt and beautifully sliced fruit; oranges, kiwi fruit, paw paw, passion fruit, strawberries, rhubarb and honey. Such a generous serving. Hubby got the substation breakfast, totally for for a King - it was a huge platter of eggs, bread, avocado, tomato, bacon, mushrooms, and a cute little pot of yoghurt and granola. Really good value. Having heard that everything was freshly made, we got some brownies with walnuts to go, completely decadent and great for afternoon tea. One of the other great things about this place was the staff were so nice! Really polite, hospitable and provided...

Really disappointed. After waking up and seeing paid advertising for this place on Facebook I seeked further into their Instagram and thought it looked like an amazing place for brunch. Myself and two others drove there on a late Sunday morning and walked in. There is a very noticeable sign as you enter which clearly states “please wait to be seated”. Naturally we stood at the entry way waiting for acknowledgement which did not arrive. Both a male cook, a female waiter and a male waiter made clear eye contact with us as we stood waiting and not once were we verbally/non-verbally greeted or invited to sit. Being a small establishment, we could clearly see tables available and considered just finding our own way to a table but all agreed it would be rude to do so in a small business that may have bookings (because it’s not unusual for small businesses in Sydney to reserve tables). However it was after a male waiter asked us (finally) if we were after takeaway or eat in, to which we replied eat in, he proceeded to take an espresso from the counter and walk outside for a break without any further comment. After all this occurred after an awkward 5 minutes standing at the entryway, we decided we would rather not support this business and spent our money elsewhere. The food looked really good but if that’s how your staff view customers, nope. We...

I had smoke salmon, avo, egg bagels. The dish is special on the day $17. However i asked for scrambled egg instead of poached egg, then i was told i need to pay $1.5 extra for scrambled eggs because 1 egg is too little to be scrambled, they need to use 3 eggs to make the scrambles. Really? I doubted but i paid the extra and i was looking forward to a mountain of scrambled eggs. Then the dish came, i think there is only 1scrambled egg on the plate. Anyway, i feel fooled. The smoke salmon and eggs tastes average, but i like bagels, they are the only thing taste nice on the plate. I came to this place due to high average review scores on google. But this place is small, the table is too small, i only order a dish and tea, the table is full already. i did not feel wanting to stay more than half an hour due to the small table and people are sitting too close to each other. My personal experience is not good enough for me to recommend it to anyone. I also sampled their home baked muffins, how come it does not taste that nice as it has been reviewed by others.had spice chai, taste very average. For me, it is a very average brunch place in Alexandia area. I remember a waiter was asking me how the food taste like. I feel embarrassed that i was asked to answer a question like that, what you 'd expect me to say for average food and...