Always packed. Mainly with bored housewives, and their unruly kids. Lucky to get a table on weekdays let alone weekends. Staff disorganised, unhelpful and service so slow. Allow at least two hours for food to arrive and, another 1/2 hour to find a park amongst the Toorak tractors. Food very average. Don't understand, so many other good cafes near by with better service, and you are not sitting two feet away from a major road, and all the fumes from the passing vehicles. Give it a miss.
Apte came highly recommended to us, so we decided to give it a try. It was nothing all that special, just standard cafe style food. The banana bread was recommended to me, and although it was nice, especially the crunchy bits, it was incredibly sweet, so I could only eat about half. We ate at Apte on a weekday, and we were lucky to get the very last table. We didn't even think to book for breakfast on a weekday. Service was good, but a bit slow.
We were looking forward to going to APTE as it had been recommended. The web advertisement had the cafe opened until 5.00 pm on a Saturday. When we arrived at 3.10 a very surly young women pronounced that "we close at 4" I had failed to read the signage on the door, when I requested a menu her quick unfriendly response was "the kitchen closes at three". We settled for coffee and cake. Prior to 4 pm the chairs around us were put on tables and the vacuum cleaning commenced.
It is a very long time since I have been treated so rudely at a cafe/restuarant, my companions commented that it is very unusual for an employee to make it so obvious that they hate their job.
Good buzz. Nice and attentive service. Heidelberg Road is a bit intrusive, but the nearby Yarra Bend Park more than makes up for that. Limited and not very imaginative menu, but reasonably well executed and great tomato relish. Coffee is so-so (over-extracted and a cappuccino was bit milky). Slightly over-priced.
Love this place. I am there at least once a week. The coffee is usually great, and the food, whilst not remarkable has enough variety and good things to eat that it keeps me interested. For those with issues with the service I recommend avoiding the weekends totally. Frustratingly, when a cafe is really good everyone tends to have the same idea meaning that they are totally swamped on weekends. Better to go during the week.
The menu is limited to a small selection, however, all fantastic quality food, regardless of what you order. Its the perfect meeting place for an informal breakfast or lunch with friends. Ambience is great if you like the sounds of a busy happening Cafe. Not everyones cup of tea, but if you're into enjoying good food and don't have personal space issues it's well worth the experience.
Service rude and slow, traffic noise awful and finding a car park is a nightmare! Food is ok but nothing to justify the rest of the experience. Easier to find better elsewhere.
The much vaunted coffee wasn't anything special. The place was packed on a Sat morning and we had to sit with strangers at the common table and the waiters forgot you after they gave you your food. The food itself was nothing special, and for what you pay a bit light on for quantity. It was noisy and not the best place if you wanted to talk. There are better breakfast options in the area and these are worth exploring over this cafe.
Didn't get to eat the food because the service was so poor. After waiting an hour for simple poached eggs, we decided to leave. Several tables that arrived at least 20 minutes after us and ordered hot breakfasts received their meals first. The staff were lukewarm at best.
Food and coffee are always great. Has improved in ambience as plants have grown and once the trees at front grow higher one might not notice the busy Heidelberg Rd traffic. Dog friendly, toys, etc and seems to attract mothers' groups.