Fresh User Reviews for Log Fire in Melbourne

4.3 Below Average

Food  1      Ambience  6      Service  7      Value  3     

Lovely location and cosy space with a mixture of couch, table and bench seating. Did get very noisy though. The service was very good. Unfortunately,m the food was terrible.

Overall there was a distinct lack of seasoning. The best thing we tried were the Chefs Choice Croquettes (Mushroom, Leek and Parmesan). On the bland side but still nice. From there nothing else impressed. The dips were flavourless and served with lumps of Turkish Bread instead of Flat Bread as described in the menu. Pork Belly was not cooked/rendered enough so was fatty and tough. The sauce tasteless.

But by far the worst dish was the Chorizo. It was barely poached in a horrible apple/mint watery gravy. I took 2 bites and could not eat anymore. Never had such bad chorizo. It should have been all caramelised, crispy and brown on the outside instead of pale with the skin hanging loosely. We didn't risk ordering dessert based on the standard of the mains. Having been looking forward to going here for ages I was beyond disappointed.

May 16, 2012

9.5 Highly Recommended

Food  10      Ambience  9      Service  9      Value  10     

We had a great dinner at Taxi Boat last night, the food was fresh (not greasy), nice ambience and very friendly staff. We shared an entree, 2 mains, rice and dessert with drinks and cost $35 each, great value! Chicken Pad Thai and the sticky date pudding was especially nice! Will definitely return and recommend to others.

May 13, 2012

4 Below Average

Food  4      Ambience  3      Service  5      Value  4     

2nd visit (1st 4 years ago) Not very impressed unfortunately. Booked for Mothers Day, was not told when booking that it was a set menu. Arrived and was told it was 'a set' after saying that I wasn't informed when booking and not particularly happy, was told that the senior staff would come and have a chat with me. That didn't occur.

The set menu was for 2 persons based on $42.00 per person, we paid $45 person plus drinks. Admittedly didn't check the bill till after paying. There was no separate bowl of olive oil (normally served at Greek restaurants for dipping). The dips though tasty were small in portion. The octopus was not tangy with lemon as expected. Which brings me to the point of having a set menu, what if people are allergic to certain foods, or come to a lunch with a budget? If I had been told, I would have gone elsewhere.

The baklava was burnt on the bottom. The corkage $4.50 per bottle (love that as we opened and poured our own drinks, so $4.50 for the cost of a glass on the table). All in all disappointed with the outcome. The way we show a restaurant we like it is to return, sadly we won't.

May 13, 2012

4.5 Below Average

Food  3      Ambience  6      Service  6      Value  3     

Came here 12 months ago and had an excellent risotto. New chef and just had one of the worst I've ever tasted. Cheap and Nasty cuts of chicken, poorly presented and over priced. Avoid, avoid, avoid.

May 09, 2012

2 Not Recommended

Food  3      Ambience  2      Service  2      Value  1     

Big disappointment! Completely over priced! We dined here last Saturday night and had been looking forward to it for ages! When we got there it was very unatmospheric and we were completely shocked at the pricing for the spec of restaurant we were in. It is a casual dining room yet you would not pay $46 for a tiny chicken pie in the Ritz, London! Seriously?! Who do they think they are kidding? Very very bland and uninspiring dining experience. Will not be returning.

May 07, 2012

9 Highly Recommended

Food  9      Ambience  9      Service  9      Value  9     

Wonderful food and service. Perfect winter meals with fireplace and view of the bay. Attentive but unobtrusive service. Somewhere special without the extra special price. The duck is to die for, although the new risotto menu should be experienced. And don't forget the cheese platter with a lovely frecinet Pinot.

May 03, 2012

9 Highly Recommended

Food  9      Ambience  9      Service  9      Value  9     

Great scones, friendly service, great view over town will be back very soon.

Apr 25, 2012

1.8 Not Recommended

Food  3      Ambience  1      Service  2      Value  1     

I was not a fan of this place.

Our group was placed in the back corner, with poor lighting. The rest of the restaurant was illuminated, whilst we were in very dim lighting. It was that dim we couldn't even see the colour of our food.

We were also told they had no gyros meat. How on earth does a Greek Restaurant not have gyros meat! If we had known there was no gyros meat, we wouldn't have eaten there.

They forgot one of our platters, and we had to wait 20 minutes for it to come out, by then nobody wanted any. We were told it was only going to be 5 minutes.

Service was also poor. The food is extremely overpriced, with little value.
We will never return to this restaurant, next time we will go somewhere else, which we know has amazing Greek food and service.

Apr 23, 2012

1.2 Not Recommended

Food  1      Drinks  1      Ambience  2      Service  1      Value  1     

Having just come back from lunch there with a scoopon voucher! It was the worst service I have ever encountered and I work in the industry, we were meet by the chef on entrance, I said I have a table booked, he replied, voucher, then took us tour seats, gave us the piece of paper with the menu on it, a sub class menu for scoopon. He came back took our order, served the wine then served the food, I had the dry salmon with a little veg and cool rice, no sauce no condiments nothing! Nobody came near us for drinks, he came back to clear the plates and didn't even ask if we injured it, surly if they take part in a voucher system they would want the business, I felt we were intruding and not felt welcome at all. I don't believe there chef should be waiting tables cooking ect, one to miss. Really not worth the $32 voucher price, I feel cheated!

Apr 18, 2012

1.8 Not Recommended

Food  2      Ambience  2      Service  2      Value  1     

We found the venue on the web and going from the menu were quite impressed.
Upon arrival, great building but the mediterranean theme was lacking. We decided on the thursday special Tapas for 2 with Sangria, for a start it was 8pm and were told they had run out of Sangria we were offered another drink.

Service was extremely slow for a small venue with 3 floor staff who were all over the show with there service. The amount of time between tapas was long portions were very small for the price for 2 people. The food was bland, the meatballs lacked any flavour. A shame as the Venue could be so much better with some more thought into food, service and ambience.

Apr 06, 2012

9 Highly Recommended

Food  8      Ambience  10      Service  8      Value  10     

What a lovely place to spend a Sunday afternoon, run by a friendly local family. The pizzas are great, the wine, fantastic, loads of atmosphere and charm. You are normally greeted outside by the family pets, the dogs and ponies, the latter who sometimes are available for pony rides for the little kids. Sometimes service a little slow if busy, but the staff are hard working and attentive. We have been many times and always enjoy it, and therefore can highly recommend it.

Apr 04, 2012

8.8 Highly Recommended

Food  9      Ambience  9      Service  9      Value  8     

Awesome, the food was brilliant and we enjoyed the meal and time very much.

Apr 03, 2012

8.5 Highly Recommended

Food  7      Drinks  7      Ambience  10      Service  10     

My husband and I went for lunch on Saturday 31/3/12, and were greeted with so much warmth by a lovely waitress. We were an hour early with our booking and I asked her if that was alright. She told us not to worry about the timing and took us to our seat and gave us our menu. We didn't wait long for drinks nor food. Food was good, service was amazing and the setting and views beautiful. I would highly recommend this place and am so glad, we went there despite some of the negative reviews. Thanks staff of Churinga esp the waitress who served us. You made our day and we will be back again. Ann

Apr 02, 2012

9.5 Highly Recommended

Food  9      Ambience  9      Service  10      Value  10     

I had never heard of Coldwater Tavern before, however, my experience was great. Fantastic service, great food and when it's busy I'm sure a great atmosphere! Will certainly be coming back and recommending it to others!

Mar 19, 2012

8 Recommended

Food  8      Ambience  8      Service  8      Value  8     

Food lovely, service friendly, wine list great.

Have been here twice so far and going back with more friends in a few days. The Thai Green Chicken Curry is yummy as is the Duck on a Bed of Heaven and the San Choi Bao. I would recommend this place and as a local I am very happy to have it there! The two courses for $22 during the week make it very good value.

Mar 19, 2012

3 Below Average

Food  4      Ambience  4      Service  1      Value  3     

I took a group there on Valentine's Day. The glass of champagne arrived flat (obviously the dregs of a bottle opened hours or days earlier). Between courses, several of the waitstaff stood around with hands on hips long after our plates should have been collected. None of us will go there again.

Mar 09, 2012

2 Not Recommended

Ambience  3      Service  1     

We had the worst service I have ever experienced at this place. We decided to stop for afternoon tea here at 3:15 pm. Nobody attended to us when we entered the place and we just stood around waiting to be seated, even though more than half the restaurant was empty! The waitress was just standing at the cashier (she wasn't attending to anyone else).

When we were finally seated, she didn't give us the menus so I decided to get it myself. There were no smiles, no welcomes. We waited for 10 minutes but no one came by to get our order. When I finally managed to get the waitress’ attention, she was really curt. We ordered a devonshire set and fries.

After waiting for 20 minutes, we were informed there were no more scones. We changed our order to an apple strudel and proceeded to wait another 20 minutes. When the food finally arrived, I asked her why our food took so long when the people who had arrived after us had already gotten theirs.

These were her exact words "You came at the end of a busy day and you have been showing me attitude since you got here". When I told her she had been showing us attitude, she started shouting at us. She said the guys who had arrived after us had made a booking with a Spreets coupon so their food was ready when they arrived (Seriously? Even when they hadn't placed their order? I haven't ever seen a coupon which gives you only one option on a menu and I sure wouldn't want to be eating something that's been prepared and is just sitting around.)

Everyone started staring at us and she just kept saying we were just being rude (because we had to wait 40 minutes for our food and we asked why?).

We decided to put an end to the scene and leave. We had gotten a cup of tea and I wanted to pay for that. When I put the money for the tea at the cashier on my way out she said, pretty rudely - "don't worry about it". We didn't go in there for a free meal or to be treated so terribly.

I have travelled all over Australia and the world and I have never experienced such attitude. If you can't serve with a smile, you shouldn't be in the service industry. This restaurant really doesn't deserve any positive reviews and I would strongly advise everyone to steer clear of the place. Its horrible.

Feb 19, 2012

8.3 Highly Recommended

Food  8      Ambience  6      Service  10      Value  9     

Mum and I ate here for dinner on a weeknight and the restaurant was pretty empty. Had Fantastic service from our friendly waitress. Very attentive and happy to have a little chat. For entree's we ordered calamari and prawns which were nice but nothing special. Both of us ordered the eye fillet steak which was Beautiful.

Purchased a Scoopon for this meal which was Excellent value. The steak was so nice I will probably still return.

Feb 16, 2012

5.5 Average

Food  5      Ambience  6      Service  6      Value  5     

Our party of four dined for dinner on a weeknight. For a starter we ordered the garlic and cheese pizza which was tasteless. Avoid! Spirits were ordered for drinks and they tasted very weak.

We ordered 2 of the burgers, nice nothing special. Also ordered an eye fillet and a scotch fillet steak, again nothing special and came with mash and 'seasonal vegies' which was only snow peas.

The waitress was very annoying messing around with the cutlery and, my pet hate, took away everyone elses plates whilst I was still eating. Found out about the place in the Entertainment Book, would not return.

Feb 16, 2012

4.5 Below Average

Food  7      Ambience  7      Service  1      Value  3     

Value is based on overall, service and meal.

I have always wanted to try Three Sugars since moving here years ago. When a friend came to visit Friday just gone we decided to give it a try.

I was surprised to walk in and see no staff. Was I meant to just take a seat? Wait until someone came out front and told me what to do? In the end my friend and I sat down at a table and I went back to the counter. A dark haired woman walked out from the back and looked at me without smiling. “Yes?” she said. This surprised me, surely even a small smile and “Hi, Can I help you” would be the bare minimum?

I asked her about a menu. She pointed to where they were, not saying anything. ok I thought.

My friend and I had a look over the menu and decided what we wanted. Back to the counter. Again dark haired young woman said “Yes?” We told her what we both wanted. She put it in the register and told us the amount, without looking at our faces. I handed over the money to which she took, then gave me the change. Saying nothing.

We went back and sat down and pondered why a Cafe with such a great reputation would hire staff who clearly had no people skills. Our meals were brought to the table and nothing was said from the woman. My friend and I both said thank you. The meal was hot and delicious. Sadly, this was spoiled by the rudeness of the woman working there.

I have worked in hospitality for many years, and know just how important the friendliness of staff is for a business. It really can make a huge impact on word of mouth when people are talking to others about their experience. I was left quite disappointed.

Feb 12, 2012