Went for brekky here this morning! The decor seemed a bit slicker than most places around here. I…read morehad the poached eggs with a side of cevapcici. The coffee was great and they serve brekky all day.

Great spot ran by locals have have been living in the area for over 10 years! Staff are very…read morefriendly and the food is also amazing

Breakfast, we are told, is the most important meal of the day, but unfortunately very few…read morerestaurants get it right. The Diplomat Cafe in Highett I'm pleased to announce is one of the few. This cafe is centrally located on the main strip across the road from the Highett train station. The cafe itself is really well designed with a small show kitchen pumping out meals to a rather large minimalistic dining room. It really has a great vibe. The first thing that I was impressed with was the staff. Upon arrival I was greeted warmly, and escorted to my table, offered water and a coffee to start with. This in itself seems to be a lost art in today's restaurant scene. I ordered a jasmine pearl tea to start, which, when arrived was presented on a wooden board, with a cup, an iron teapot and a box with three sandglass minute timers. The first one set at one minute, the second at three mins and the third at five minutes. Each timer representing the strength of the tea. A pretty cool concept. The menu looked awesome, but all I really wanted was poached eggs, bacon and mushrooms. So that's what I ordered. Now it's generally at this stage when I ask the waiter if I could have my bacon crispy, but in all honestly I forgot, so I was a bit concerned. My breakfast arrived in a reasonable timeframe, and my first impression was, that it looked pretty good. It wasn't good, not at all, it was awesome. Let's start with the eggs. Perfectly poached, soft and gooey yolks, and perfectly poached whites. As much as the eggs impressed me it was the bacon that wowed me. Crispy but still juicy and full of flavour, just the way I like it. I have to say this was one of the best bacon and eggs I've ever had. The food that was coming out of that kitchen was amazing. So if you find yourself down Highett way check out The Diplomat, it truly was amazing.

WOW what a place! And what a find. The staff are extremely friendly, helpful and nothing was too…read moremuch trouble. Both the breakfast and lunch menu options were varied. I had the smashed avocado and poached eggs and it was absolutely scrumptious. Couldn't recommend this establishment enough. The atmosphere was buzzing and filled with laughter and cheer. A must try if you ask me.

Best coffee in Melbourne! And the Breakfast Brioche is fantastic! One of my 3 favorite Breakfast…read moreplaces in the Bayside area! You won't be disappointed!

BRING IT ON! The Parlour is back up and running with great food, great vibes, great coffee,…read moreexcellent friendly staff/service. You cant go wrong with the neighbourhood gem that is back to its former glory and doing really well. I can't wait to go back.

Another success for the Bayside area!…read more The Parlor is a gorgeous cafe located on Weatherall Road that opened at the end of 2011. Since then, I feel this cafe has gone from strength to strength. This local delight is now open Thursday, Friday and Saturday evenings (hopefully with more nights to come). Considering The Parlor is almost isolated in a largely residential area, you may be surprised to see how busy it is - especially on weekend mornings! But how can you blame the Bayside population? The Parlor is simply a pleasure to visit. The menu is varied, offering something for everyone and being updated often. I've found the meal sizes to be generous, especially when ordering brunch. The french toast was of a gigantic size. The little touches are cute, such as milkshakes coming in adorable milk bottles. Flowers on the table, friendly staff... you can see why this place is thriving in Beaumaris. The front deck is perfect for catching some rays of sunshine, with the view of the golf course. If the weather is less than ideal, don't forget there's also a back room. The large communal table in front of the kitchen helps to give the Parlor a lovely and warm homely feel. My favourite spot would be the quaint table for two inside, overlooking the deck. Just remember for busy times, you can call up ahead and reserve a spot! The Parlor Milkbar and Kitchen is truly a hidden gem, that has impressed since it's opening.

"...HAD HEARD REALLY GOOD THINGS ~ WAS PRETTY DISAPPOINTED ~ WITH DINNER, ANYWAY..."…read more Saturday night, CAFE FLORENTINE, Church Street, Brighton, looked fully booked - they were chockers... I'd gestimate most were trusting reliable local regulars... I thought the tables were set far too close together - almost communal eating - not ideal for relatively 'finer' dining.. We started with the bruschetta, and the duck pate.. Followed by the salmon on couscous with broadbeans, and the calamari on rocket with avo mash.. We added garlic baguette and fine french fries with aioli.. Finished with bombolini and cheesecake.. 1 x TAS sparkling white and 1 x NZ berry cider. I found the dinner menu a bit pedestrian.. especially considering the price - It really needs some re-thought - Not quite contemporary enough - At these prices, dishes could be far more inventive.. On the contrary, the breakfast / brunch and lunch menus looked a little more interesting - wish we'd booked for earlier in the day.. And, I thought most of the food lacked seasoning and flavour, or had the wrong flavour combos - the foie gras was very bland, I've had better from the supermarket, the toasts were stale, the micro gherkins were bitter; the cooked topping on the bruschetta was sickly sweet, almost like a tomato jam: the salmon was over-cooked; the couscous was insipid, the calamari looked good, but was totally tasteless; the bombolini [baby doughnuts] had a heavy dense cakey texture and the choc ganache that accompanied them was just far too rich to serve with something deep-fried; the aioli was odd, all we could taste was dill, good with the calamari [which had no sauce or dressing, whatsoever]. but not good with shoe-string chips.. I did, however, [FINALLY..!!] really enjoy the freshness of my de-constructed mango cheesecake with coconut ice-cream - would have been happy to have had 3 serves of it, and nothing else - divinely delish.. Anyway, the 3 course meal, with 1 drink each, cost $140 for 2 persons - At that price I'd expect something fairly memorable... Halfway through the meal, we asked to be seated outside - I found the inside a little oppressive - not enough air - too stuffy, maybe - how could a space be so full of people eating and drinking and yet be so lacking in joie de vivre.. Ah well.. tried hard, but not really my cuppa tea.. Visited on Sat 12 March 2016 for dinner.

We were heading to another restaurant when the fireplace with fire drew us into the cafe. The menu…read morewas more than adequate for a Saturday lunch and our food was nice n tasty if a little on the pricey side. The staff were friendly and helped to make our meal enjoyable. Only criticism is that there were too many tables inside and that made life a tad too noisy and moving around, especially with an infant, a little difficult. That said, we'd be happy to return if the opportunity arose.

I don't know why it took me so long to ever try a meal here. It's always busy, with lines out the…read moredoor at times, and people lining up for take away coffees. Tried it today for the first time ever, and I was glad I did. The breakfast and brunch menu have some different items than the rest of the cafes in Melbourne (who all have pretty much the same menus). While I only chose the Eggs Benedict with Smoked Salmon, the others in the group had different items, and we all enjoyed what we had. The service is friendly, the decor is lovely, the food is tasty. IF I had to be picky over anything, it would be the pricing. I do think some items were really high, especially for things you can easily make at home. Also, no effort whatsoever to attempt any substitutions with things in a dish. With that said, I'd definitely come back again. It was also a really nice touch that they gave me a complimentary cupcake with sparkler for my birthday. It just made the whole experience that little nicer still.

Such a good breakfast place. The food was fresh and the atmosphere was very laid back and chill…read more The service was incredible and there was no wait to get seated. Scrambled eggs are perfect.

"Tucked away" in a lonesome part of Brighton - as far as cafes and stores go - is The Little Ox…read more It's in an area much more conducive to finding good parking, and has a nice, welcoming feeling to it on the inside. I came here today on a warm, sunny day, and they have a big outdoor seating area, and plenty of room on the inside, with big wide open windows to make you feel part of the outside still. They have a great all day menu full of your favourites, and a good selection for lunch. Admittedly, I really only ordered a salmon Eggs Benny, which yes, is something I can make at home, but it was still presented well and these things always taste better when someone else makes it for you (though I would have had a side of butter with mine if I knew how dry the toast was going to be). I had a Mango Smoothie too, and that was nice, though the passionfruit inside it, almost overtook in flavour. Everyone at my table LOVED their coffees, and their burger and Ruebin sandwich were apparently great too. Overall this was a great lunch outing. I can't really fault it at all. All well priced and everything tasted good and was presented nicely. I had been wanting to come here for a while now, so I'm glad I finally got the chance and would highly recommend it.

This hidden gem is the kind of place that you have to be told about otherwise you would have no…read moreidea that it existed. The food here is amazing, fantastic kitchen. Sometimes I find the need to talk to the people in the kitchen and tell them how satisfied I am. I have seen on TV a lot lately the use of micro herbs but never actually eaten somewhere that put them on my dish, I got that fancy schmancy treatment here. I didn't actually need it, but it did look nice. On my way out I fell for my temptation and brought the best meringue that I have eaten in my entire life. Just before being put into the over to cook a shot of coffee was poured into the mix and swirled around. So chewy in the middle. Perfect.

I'd always wanted to try Brown Cow after hearing good things about it, so finally came last night…read more It's far more spacious and modernly designed than I thought it might be and great for groups of people or tables for two or if you're grabbing a coffee on your own before work, there are bar stools all along the rim of the restaurant so you can sit and watch people go by while you relax. We got taken to the table and first thing I noticed was my chair had crumbs all over it, as did the table, so I wiped that down myself in front of that staff member who didn't say anything about it. The menu isn't majorly extensive, but there's at least SOMETHING for everyone, i'm guessing, and what we had was nice. Started with the croquettes which were beef and mac 'n cheese. They were good. For main, I had the flatbread with tomato, mozzarella and crunchy basil. The basil was tasteless (just there for decoration, really) and the flatbread itself was missing something. Dessert was a chocolate fondant which was delicious. Overall, the food is average, but ok. Service wasn't too bad. I think it's fairly reasonably priced, and good if you're looking for somewhere casual yet nice. Parking is not too much of a problem. and I would definitely be interested in trying their breakfast or lunch menu once.

Great staff great food fast service I can't think if any complaints just that it wasn't quiet but…read morethat wasn't their fault