When we go to Melbourne this is our first stop, I love this place, the atmosphere is great and the selection is great.

I love Brunetti's - There's a reason this place is a melbourne institution! The cake displays are fantastic, so much variety. I love that they have the tiny little cakes so you can taste a few instead of getting one big one. I do feel that it isn't as good as it was 10 years ago and now that it has several outlets across the city it doesn't feel like a special thing to do, but the cakes are still great!

I just love the atmosphere and the theatre. You've got to admire a business that goes all out like this. When it comes to coffee, one thing I look for is consistency and they've got that. They particularly get the temperature right. I'll be back time & again.

I've been going to Brunetti's on and off for somewhere between 15 and 20 years.

On the plus side: the (regular) hot chocolate is very good, although I once tried their Italian hot chocolate, and it was way too rich. It was like melted chocolate in a glass. One sip was quite enough. Also, the fruit tarts are excellent. The pastry is crisp, the custard is creamy and not too sweet, and they are generously topped with fruit. I couldn't make better ones myself.

On the minus side: in my opinion the cakes are overrated. I think people get dazzled by the vast array of beautiful looking cakes - it gives you a bit of a kid-in-a-lolly-shop feeling - and they may be letting that visual appeal override what their taste buds are trying to tell them. Whenever I've actually tried a Brunetti's cake, I've been disappointed. It has invariably been dry, bland, and not tasting of much other than sugar.

I can't personally comment on the coffee, because I don't drink coffee, but a friend who is serious about his coffee says the coffee at Brunetti's is as overrated as the cakes. He recommends a well-known place in Berkeley St for coffee, although I find it's so popular that I can never get a table there, and since I don't drink coffee it doesn't matter to me anyway. Hot chocolate will do me, and it's perfectly fine at Brunetti's.

Despite the two-star rating I've given it, I still go back to Brunetti's for the fruit tarts and hot chocolate. I haven't found better fruit tarts anywhere else. If I could give it a separate five-star rating for the fruit tarts alone, I would. But the cakes are its main selling point, and frankly I don't think they're worth more than two stars.

Quality here is top notch, no doubt. The cakes are lovely! Service is ok, but nothing special. The girls are so rushed they don't have time to be friendly. They have a great business model... Great quality, small offerings meaning you buy more, and charge higher prices for beverages to make a few more dollars.

Amazing cakes and coffee, always super busy and quite difficult to get a table, but worth the wait. Service could be better, but the tasty coffee and cakes makes up for the lack of service.

Great variety! I especially love the Italian hot chocolate. Nothing else compares to this. It's thick and rich and not too overwhelmingly sweet. Products are also affordable.

Approximate cost: $6

Delicious cakes, when I get a chance I pick one up for a special occasion. Service could do with a smile but works very efficiently. Perfect place to take friends for some dessert after a meal or just for a coffee and a light snack.

Approximate cost: $5.00

Sooooo busy on weekends, you have elbow the crowd to get anywhere. They have a weird set up with the cakes in one section and the meals in the other. Its hard to get your order as you have to wait at the counter or work your way back through the crowd. But it is fantastic and they do an excellent range of Italian food. Everything is always tasty and its hard to choose. Staff seem stressed and overworked, but maybe that's just because they are.

I had the best European hot chocolate I have ever tasted. The pastries are excellent, and reasonable in price. Such a fantastic and warm environment