Eating something other than pies and chips at the footy is always going to be a challenge and the…read moreMelbourne Cricket Club has made an effort to improve this situation for their members. Whilst the formal dining rooms are of decent quality, smaller more accessible places have been harder to find. The Terrace Cafe is a French Brasserie themed cafe that aims to cater to this more accessible food offer. The food is of a high standard, for the footy, and it's priced accordingly. (250ml MtFranklin mineral water is $6.20!!) As it operates during events only the service quality can vary. After waiting for 30 minutes I asked about the delay and they told me their system had crashed and my order had been lost. Still worth the wait though given the other options.

We had originally planned to eat at Monk Bodhi Dharma but didn't realize their kitchen closes at…read more3:00pm on weekdays. What! By then, we were starving so we decided to walk down Carlisle Street and pick a random spot. I spotted a bunch of people sitting outside at Wall Two 80 so we stopped and took a look. It wasn't too busy for a Tuesday afternoon (around 3:45pm) so we were able to snag s table outside. Cute that they have a takeout window which you can also order food at. The menu is small with about two dozen brunch options. There's one daily special that's up inside on the black chalkboard. - Avocado on dark rye ($14.00 AUD) - goat cheese, pickled red onion and toasted pumpkin seeds. The avocado was good but not seasoned with anything. The rye was a big over toasted but I did like the combination of goat cheese, pumpkin seeds and pickled red onion. But to be honest, I wasn't very impressed. Very small portion. I was still hungry afterwards. - Lemongrass & tumeric chicken ($14.50 AUD) - cos lettuce, pickled carrot, cucumber, red radish, coriander, sprouts, peanuts and soy lime dressing. This was my dad's order. I had no idea that it was a salad from the description. Again, incredibly small portion for the price. - Crispy bacon ($14.00 AUD) - multigrain bread with roasted cherry tomatoes, sliced avocado, sriracha and sunny side up fried egg. Litaly stated he could make this better at home. We were all pretty underwhelmed with our meal at Wall Two 80. Perhaps it's a better spot to grab a coffee and people watch along the sidewalk. I wouldn't come back for the bland, boring brunch food.

I was disappointed with this place. Wall Two 80 is located on Carlisle street in Balaclava, an…read moreexcellent location for a cafe. The vibe is pretty cool, has an outside area to eat or dink coffee and people watch. The inside has little nooks so you can hide away and read a book, a large table to sit on stools or tables and chairs in a more open area. I came for brunch and was in need of a coffee, when it arrived I wasn't impressed at all with it. Lacked intensity and flavour. I ordered the house made baked beans with chorizo. It wasn't hot in temperature and the flavour was ordinary. It had a hint of chilli which was nice and was topped with fetta cheese that was quite lack lustre. Staff weren't falling over themselves to serve me either. When they say never judge a book by its cover, sometimes you just need to learn for yourself. Won't return.

Getting lost in Melbourne isn't a complete tragedy, in fact it's all apart of the experience…read moreespecially when you stumble over randomly displaced but unique one-of-a-kind cafés in the middle of what seems like nowhere. Walked in the wrong direction whilst in a mad rush led me to Foxy Brown, I absolutely loved the 70s retro feel that the orange and brown hues of the cafe furnishings. The outdoor seating at this corner cafe provides some decent alfresco dining however at 8am on a foggy Saturday morning wasn't so appealing. Ordered a ham & cheese toastie and coffee. Coffee was pretty much amazing however the toastie wasn't so great, mediocre and the cheese wasn't all melted however it may have something to do with me telling them I was in a rush in all fairness to Foxy Brown. Overall my rating is a reflection of my experience only, however they made up for it with the wafting sweet smells of their freshly baked muffins!

Wow! Love this place. Unfortunately didn't find it on Yelp but on Beanhunter. However, this out of…read morethe way cafe is cute and friendly. The coffee kicks A with a Single Origin bean on tap. I had a great Piccolo, a frittata and another coffee finisher: a Magic Johnson- hopefully paying homage to the basketballer as opposed to the appendage. Will I come again? Yep. Me en familia.

Now the dust has settled from the hype machine, Station Street Trading Co has quietly become a cool…read morelittle coffee and brunch hangout during the week for locals, dog walkers and peeps who work in the area. Part of a cluster of laid back venues away from the Port Vegas end of the burb, it feels like something of an oasis - being set across the road from the Pepper tree lined park at the 109 North Port tram stop. The building has a certain historic cham, once a corner store, possibly a grocer - the buildings in this area are some of Melbourne's oldest, dating back to the mid 1800's. Station Street's old iron verandah arches over the pavement tables and hanging baskets swing cheerfully above them. Across the road in Raglan Street, a local institution, the Railway Hotel, serves up beer, red wine, steak and horse racing to a ruddy cheeked blokey clientele. But at Station Street Trading Co. the menu is small and yet more interesting. I've seen wardrobes bigger than their kitchen, so you'll understand the direction they've taken with the food. Brunch tempters, sandwiches, salads, grills and homemade baked items rule. The little touches like bacon rippled along skewers and grilled tomatoes still on their truss make the food easy on the eye. It's tasty and uncomplicated. The staff are friendly and chatty. So it's easy to while away the time here staring across at the park, especially when the sun's out. A heads up that it doesn't seat that many people indoors, so if you're there on a Wintry weekend and can't get a seat, just use your Yelp Monocle and wander down to Little Rose, New Lots, Pure Pie or My Sister Says. All very fine establishments close by with a certain North Port synergy.

I've only had their OJ here but it's good enough for me to return and savour other items in their…read moremenu. It's nice to travel outside of the city for a brunch place. It definitely gives off a more suburban setting - peaceful, less noise, and more greeneries. The cafe is a tiny but quaint place with relatively interesting decors. It's quite simplistic and very Earthy with a lot of wooden furnitures propped around. The staff are all very friendly. It's just a nice place to go to if you want a bit of a change from the city cafes. Will put up another review when I pop back there the next time.

For some reason I am always suspicious of new cafes that pop up next to popular ones, like I can't…read moreimagine they can ALL be good. I'm also suspicious of places I can't see into BEFORE I commit to them. The idea is walking in, seeing the place and menu and walking out is mortifying so I would rather not try at all; so this place wasn't appealing at first. Then the farm cafe closed early for a wedding and my hand was forced - if I wanted a coffee that is. Now I am very glad fate intervened. This place is unique, interesting and friendly. After teetering along the side balcony and being greeted at the back door by a friendly face we chose a seat on the back balcony which has an amazing view of the farm and river. I was recommended to try the Coconut Chicken soup and i'm glad I did - it was delicious! And the pumpkin bread it came with was lovely. The coffee was great also. Just a few things to note: This place only takes cash and doesn't do table service - walk in and order at the counter. The food is that sort of rustic style tarts, sausage rolls, panni's etc. It's a great place to come, have a small bite to eat and day dream on the verandah - they even have blankets in winter. Expect to pay around $16 for some food and a coffee.

A little slice of peace and tranquility on the edge of the hustle and bustle, On This Day is a…read moregorgeous little cafe to visit if you need to relax and unwind. The way they have set this old house up as a cafe gives it the perfect level of charm and 'inviting-ness'. We visited recently on the recommendation of a friend when we were visiting the Collingwood Children's farm on Family Day and needed a little bit of space away from the crowd! We sat on the balcony a a quirky (and somewhat) unstable table on gorgeous creaky old chairs. We had coffee which was delicious, served in beautiful ceramic cups, and shared some fresh crunchy sourdough toast with sweet jam and soft rich butter - yumo!

We wandered into Thangs Cafe, situated at the top end of Lygon St where there is not much on offer,…read morefor a late lunch and were greeted by the friendly staff as we headed to the counter. The menu was full of mostly sandwiches and burgers, which suited us just fine. I ordered the Roo Burger and my wife the Open Vegie Melt. We were excitedly told about what was in each meal before being told to not worry about paying yet and to grab a seat. I also ordered a strawberry milkshake, which was unfortunately a little disappointing and essentially just a Big M in a glass. I did have it topped up for free while I was half way finished though. We were the only ones in the cafe, but the wait for our food was still quite a bit, but once it did come out I was more than happy. The Open Vegie Melt was big and cheesy and the Roo Burger was absolutely delicious, not too big, but the perfect size to fill me up. The breakfast menu looked to be quite good too, containing all of your standard cafe brekkie items. We were in the area looking for a new house, so I hope that I'll be able to head back soon to try out more of what's on offer!

Have been here twice now. Once for lunch and today for a coffee. The man that works there is…read moreabsolutely delightful. Very helpful and super friendly. The menu is not huge but pretty offers a good range of burgers and sandwiches. I had the open veggie grill, which was delicious. Serving sizes are pretty good as well. Nice spot to just have a coffee and sit back and relax. We sat at the window today, so nice to people watch and watch the world go by.

Finally tried Millstone for brunch/lunch and I was really looking forward to it. It was this past…read moreFriday, so maybe not as busy as they'd be on a weekend, but even though they weren't completely full, service was exceptionally slow from the get go. We walked in and were semi greeted by staff rushing by to either deliver food to tables, or to do nothing. Though some staff were just overseeing things, they left us waiting inside the door for almost two minutes. Eventually when we could catch someone's eye, they seated us and handed us the menu. In my opinion, I found a lot of the service to be a bit pretentious and they favour looking after their regular customers and didn't treat us with quite the same "love." I ordered the eggs on toast with salmon and avocado and it was nice. It wasn't spectacular, but then again to me, it was the most appealing item on the menu. I found their menu is almost the same as any other cafe in Melbourne, and it gets boring after a while. The food itself was nice - though the toast was very dry - and the presentation was good, but not too exciting. What I was really wanting to try, was one of their incredible looking delicacies; beautifully presented desserts that are just mouth watering. However ... the service was SO slow, that it was almost 20 minutes since we'd finished eating our lunch, until they cleared our plates away. By now, we were going to be pushing it to get to our next stop on time, so we had to ask for the cheque. For ME, I find that doesn't matter how nice the food is; if your service lets you down, I probably won't visit again for a long time. I DO want to try one of their desserts, so I might make the effort to return at another time hopefully soon, but for a place with a menu that replicates anything you'd find anywhere else, and that has incredibly difficult parking, I wouldn't otherwise rush back here again.

Well I made it back for lunch with the family. Awesome day, sat outside and enjoyed coffees,…read morepressed juices and the avo smash. The snicker domes were sold old by the time we finished but the pastries at this place are unreal. At least they look unreal because they always seem to be sold out. My smash was smashing. The kids enjoyed their porthole eggs or whatever they call it. One loved my pressed juice with orange, pomegranate and some other goodies. My wife enjoyed her dish as well. Service was happy and smiley. It was really lovely.

What a place! Well worth the drive and what a picturesque drive it is. The first thing you notice…read moreis the magnificent looking silos. On a wet summers day the mist was rolling in so it made it all the more pretty. Everything about the cafe is thought thru, from the bakery to finishing touches of the decor. Our waiter was efficient and had a great sense of humour. He certainly made it all the more memorable. The drinks came quickly followed by our delicious meals. We were there for breakfast but there is everything from buying a loaf of bread and toasting it yourself, pastries to the purchase of three different sized picnic baskets. And if the salads on display are anything to go by I'll certainly be back to order one and stroll through their gardens. They are currently expanding the gardens. But there is plenty to do! From lawn bowls, children's play areas, picnic area and meet bubble and squeak the residents of the pig sty. I couldn't recommend the Piggery Cafe enough. I will certainly be back. I could imagine that it will get busy on the weekends if during the week was anything to go by - so be prepared. Happy eating.

Really enjoyed it. We had the cheeseburger, a whole grilled trout with a side of rosemary fries,…read moreand a smoked sausage hot and pink from the smoker, a little spicy and served with pickled cucumber and carrot. One of the few places in Melbourne that cooks burgers to order, but unfortunately we ordered medium rare and it arrived well done. Still tasty though! The trout, however, was genuinely AMAZING. Succulent and cooked to perfection on a hot grill. Chips were golden and crispy with a rosemary salt, really good. The sausage and pickles were delicious. There's no phone signal (for us anyway) so it's a rare chance to fully focus without the temptation of peeking at the phone. The meals took a fair stint to arrive, but we weren't there for fast food and the location is incredibly beautiful so it was a nice chance to stop and breathe. Speaking of breathing - we were seated outside, and every time the wind gusted our way there was a waft of .... I don't know what. Sewage? Pigs? Something on the septic side of the scent spectrum (I know, pure poetry). It wasn't pleasant so I removed a star for that.