SparQling

8.8 Highly Recommended

Food  9      Ambience  7      Service  9      Value  10     

My first time visit to this restaurant was very pleasant. My friends and I were unaware of how massive the serving sizes are! In hindsight, we could have ordered one chicken schnitzel and easily shared it between three people with hungry appetites!

The food was very tasty and the service was excellent. I would go back here again.

May 30, 2012 

2 Not Recommended

Food  2      Ambience  2      Service  1      Value  3     

I went to SparQling tonight with a large group for a birthday. On arrival, I went into the bathroom to wash my hands. There was no soap. I came out and informed two waitresses that they were out of soap in the ladies room and they both told me they would refill.

A couple of hours later, I went back to the bathroom to find there was still no soap. A restaurant where people eat, with no soap in the bathrooms. I went to the waitress behind the counter and said I was disappointed that she didn't arrange for soap in the bathroom and she rolled her eyes, saying 'yeah well we're really busy tonight'.

As far as I'm concerned, it only takes a few minutes to refill a soap dispenser. I can't imagine how many people had used the bathroom, been unable to wash their hands and then back to their tables to have dinner.

Incredibly un-hygienic. I won't be going back and I will ensure I tell everyone about how far down on list of priorities hygiene is for SparQling.

Very disappointed.

May 27, 2012 

6.8 Recommended

Food  10      Ambience  8      Service  1      Value  8     

The food at the restaurant is just exquisite, however, it's the service that continues to let it down. Every time we are made to wait quite a long time to even get someone to come and take our orders even on a quiet day. There are always heaps of staff yet they just don't seem too interested in taking orders. Once the food is ordered it it brought out quite quickly and it's always top class. This is what makes us go back all the time despite all the waiting time.

May 15, 2012 

6.8 Recommended

Food  8      Ambience  7      Service  6      Value  6     

I have been to this cafe/restaurant on many occasions over the past few years, including under previous ownership (and name of Cafe de la Prego). The menu remained essentially the same when the current owners took over, although some prices rose. The only major change was redecoration and reprinting of the menu books, which are less durable than their predecessors and falling apart.

As mentioned in several other reviews, the serving sizes are very large, so make sure your stomach is empty when you arrive. The quality of the food has always been good, particularly in the case of steak, chicken and burger dishes. The pizzas are also of decent quality. Pricing is comparable to the local competition.

Customer service is one area that I believe has suffered somewhat since the change of ownership. Many of the wait staff are friendly, but there is room for improvement. When busy, it can take awhile to be served. The most recent problem I had was a dessert order in February, which was taken, but then totally forgotten by the waiter and never arrived.

The service is, however, still better than my experience at some other cafes in Burwood like George's (q.v.). The seating is generally comfortable, but those who prefer to sit inside might want to avoid the two seat tables in line with the entrance, which are rocky and draughty.

In conclusion, while it is not perfect, hungry mouths generally will not be disappointed at this cafe/restaurant, nor driven broke by the experience. Just don't wait too long before checking to ensure that your order has been processed!

Apr 10, 2012 

3 Below Average

Food  5      Ambience  5      Service  1      Value  1     

This restaurant used LivingSocial for promotion and sold many vouchers. Unfortunately, I bought one last October and tried to use today. I booked over the phone and everything was ok but when I arrived they've told me that the voucher would not be honored.

They've also mentioned that they have nothing to do with Living Social anymore and that they've stopped accepting the voucher months ago what is interesting since I bought the voucher less than 3 months ago. They’ve also told that not all staff knows that what explains why I was not informed that when booking.

Considering that they’ve used this to promote themselves and them simply decide not to accept a voucher that they’ve committed to in the past made me think that I was really luck of not having lunch there. People that take this kind of unfair decision and do not even instruct their staff to give the right information to avoid additional hassle are the same ones that will try to increase their profits at any cost even if it means to decrease the quality of their ingredients or to buy them from unreliable and cheap sources.

Having said that I am luck of not having had lunch there and I am not going back to that place since I am not willing to take chances on the quality of food that I eat.

Jan 29, 2012 

7.5 Recommended

Food  7      Ambience  8      Service  8      Value  7     

The portions were huge! Although the price matched the portions, I wasn't keen on forking $25 for a main meal and not finishing it. I guess this is for the big eaters.

However, in saying that, the interior design is great. I really like the water feature behind the counter.

The food itself was quite good. I am usually not a fan of risotto but the chicken risotto was quite tasty (though such a large dish!). We also ordered medium woodfired pizza; and seriously, the pizza was big for a medium sized pizza. It looked more like a large pizza than a medium sized if you were eating in the City.

Service was good and staff were lovely.

Jan 09, 2012 

4.5 Below Average

Food  8      Ambience  6      Service  1      Value  3     

I've been to Sparqling enough to write a confident review on the restaurant. I always find the food amazing although they lack good service. The waitresses are all very dull and make you feel as if you're not welcomed. The size of the food portions are decent though I believe they charge too much for the product. I'm mildly allergic to full cream milk, and noticed straight away when they mixed full cream milk and water to pass it off as skim, mainly because I had a small reaction an hour later. Very disappointed, never again.

Jan 09, 2012 

10 Highly Recommended

Food  10      Ambience  10      Service  10      Value  10     

Bought a voucher for $45 for a 3 course meal plus soft drinks for 2 people - Wish I had bought 10 vouchers!

Food was fantastic, the sizes of the main meals were large. I bought the chicken parmigiana and could not finish it. Really enjoyed the food and the waitresses were good and on time. I've been to a lot of the restaurants in burwood and this is one of the better ones. However, don't know if I'd pay full price for the food here as in complete honesty a bit pricey. The 3 course meal with the voucher cost us $45 which was an absolute bargain but had we paid full price for what we ate it would have cost us $118, which is quite a bit.

Nov 18, 2011 

6.8 Recommended

Food  7      Ambience  7      Service  6      Value  7     

Was wanting to try somewhere new for dessert after being a little disappointed with Palm Breeze last time I went.

Found SparQling next door and sat down before realising that everything was a little too familiar. It seems that this place has been bought by the owners of Palm Breeze, and as such has an almost identical dessert menu.

Luckily, we happened upon the Chocolate Dome Cake which was really nice. Unluckily, I wasn't the one who ordered it, and I was served a chocolate mud cake which had slightly too much cocoa in it, and looking nothing like the picture in the menu. Not my favourite.

I'm pretty sure their service can be good (since a fabulous waiter from Palm Breeze was now serving here), but we had a grumpy guy that didn't leave us wanting to come back.

Jul 23, 2011