Reviews by tash_earl_grey

This review is for Jolly Miller, Greensborough VIC

verified email - 11 Oct 2014

Met a friend there this morning for brunch. I ordered a pot of tea and a raspberry and white chocolate muffin, my daughter an apple juice and apple cinnamon muffin. My friend and her daughter ordered juice, coffee, pancakes and a bacon and egg breakfast.

Service was a little slow but the staff were very polite. Chairs were quite uncomfortable but the only couch available was right in the doorway and not particularly appealing given the passersby smoking.

So my tea was fine - a bit skimpy on the milk in a tiny jug, but you can't really make bad tea when the customer mixes it themself! Muffins were quite fresh but otherwise disappointing - the chocolate in the raspberry and white chocolate was just a drizzle across the top and two 'berries' inside. The apple cinnamon tastes accordingly, but I couldn't find a piece of apple in it. Commercially made and bought in, so they might want to consider buying in from elsewhere.

My friend's breakfast was definitely lacking in presentation and the fried eggs were hard. She asked for butter and was given a scoop of margarine in a dish - ick!

Her daughter's pancakes were light and fluffy and tasted quite nice. But they were two large pancakes served with a small quantity of maple-flavoured syrup (not real stuff) and a small scoop of ice cream. A little more syrup or ice cream would be a good move and look a lot less stingy.

I guess for a diner or generic cafe it was okay, but it had been hyped up as a whole lot better. I'm certainly not going to bother going there again, not when there is Urban Grooves further up the street and equivalent cafes inside the plaza.

This review is for Jam & Cream, Heidelberg Heights VIC

verified email - 11 Oct 2014

Remember those enormous sponge cakes with whipped cream in the middle and passionfruit icing that your Nana used to make? Pies with real chicken and buttery pastry? Remember milk in glass bottles and paper straws? Slurping real home made soup that tasted of ingredients and not commercially manufactured formulae? Remember all the gorgeous little Nana knick knacks you'd gaze at while munching into a slab of fresh cake, slathered with jam and cream?

Well memories will come flooding back when you walk through the door of Jam and Cream.

The Nanas who run Jam and Cream provide all that and more. Their cakes are simply exquisite and generously filled with cream. The pies are drool-worthy and they even 'write' Jam and Cream in the top of your pumpkin soup with cream! The scones are delicious and come in an amazing range of flavours, freshly baked as you order them.

There is a gorgeous little old caravan out the back where if you're lucky, you can squeeze in and enjoy an old fashioned high tea with your kids. The kids lemonade comes in a little glass bottle with a paper straw and is magically pink! The fairy bread isn't just triangles of margarine and supermarket white bread, not when they can make pinwheels of shimmering sprinkles with real butter and thick, fresh white bread.

The prices are a little higher than your average local cafe, but it is well worth it for the quality of the food and how satisfied you'll feel upon leaving. It is more than just food, it is the Nana experience.

PS: If you mention it's your birthday, out comes a big bell to count your age and everyone since happy birthday to you! WONDERFUL!!!!

This review is for Volumes, Eltham VIC

verified email - 11 Oct 2014

A refresher of my earlier review...

While still providing some delicious meal items and scones that seem to have been baked in Mr Burns' oven, they're so freakishly ENORMOUS! (Simpsons reference here) Volumes has lost a bit of its charm for me lately.

The staff are reasonably friendly and the coffees are good. But the prices are a bit high and some of the meals that came out for my recent group visit were a bit disappointing in quantity and quality.

The chairs and tables, while charmingly miss-matched, are becoming rather rickety and I found I had to swap a few chairs at our table as they were rather wobbly and uncomfortable.

But the biggest downside is the acoustics. Volumes is a good name for the place - when its only 1/3 full, you still need to raise your voice to be heard! It is so noisy that I don't think we'll be in a hurry to return.

This review is for Taffys On Looker, Montmorency VIC

verified email - 11 Oct 2014

After a recent change of ownership, Taffy's has undergone a metamorphosis and is well worth a visit.

Full of quirky crafty goods and knick knacks, you have plenty of goodies to browse as you linger over your coffee and cafe. Lingering is hard to do though, as the cakes are actually freshly made and you can't help but just inhale them!

Service is cheerful and efficient and the cafe is comfortable and welcoming. Better than you'd expect for a little former milkbar! The back room is lovely, specially if you have a larger group than the other little Monty cafes can fit in.

There is a craft group who meet every two weeks in the back room and plenty of other groups visit regularly, so you know you're onto a good thing or they wouldn't bother.

I also have to rave about their Welsh Rarebit - haven't had a good one since leaving the UK in 1998, so MOST impressed with a recent serving at Taffy's!

This review is for La Porchetta, Greensborough VIC

verified email - 11 Oct 2014

Its a bit of a mixed venue with some great factors and some lousy.

1: It's cavernous and in Winter it is quite chilly. Not sure how it fares in summer since I haven't been there on a hot day yet.
2: The staff have a lot of ground to cover and there are usually only a few young girls on, so their service can be a little slow.
3: The menu is standard for La Porchetta and the adage "you get what you pay for" certainly rings true here. The pasta is passable and no worse than any other chain pasta place. But certainly no match for a real Italian bistro, of which there are several around, including one only 250m up the street.
4: But the pizza! I think it depends who is working the pizza oven - there seems to be an older European man on when the pizza is good. And when it is good, it is FABULOUS!!! Thin base with a crusty crust, balanced toppings without going overboard or being stingy and perfectly well cooked throughout.

So ultimately we look through the door before we decide to eat there and if our pizza man is on, so are we!!!

This review is for The Were St Food Store, Montmorency VIC

verified email - 11 Oct 2014

Updating my earlier review of a few years ago...

The Food Store is currently my favourite place to go and hang out with friends. Although it is small and often a battle to get a table, it is well worth it. I am a boring sort and order the same thing over and over, but my friends do say the full menu is delicious.

Personally I'm ADDICTED to their sublim hot chocolate. Envision this - a hot chocolate that is made with REAL chocolate, frothed in with the milk in a rich and silky blend of their own. Utterly sublime, particularly on cold mornings!

My other favourite is their bagels. I usually have cream cheese and a berry mix jam, but they have chicken, pesto and Brie or other fillings available that are delicious. They also have delicious vanilla slices and other sweet treats, not to mention their own Quiche which is very popular and looks chunky and tasty!

I love the people and the service - from gorgeous Rhiannon's friendliness, Sara's quick and ready smile, to Jeff and Anthony and their talents with a coffee machine. Not to mention that I can walk in the door and a few moments later Jeff is handing me my hot chocolate - before I've even ordered it! Perhaps I'm a bit predictable, but I think the food store feels like hanging out in a good friend's house. Love it!

This review is for The Cat Clinic, Prahran VIC

verified email - 11 Oct 2014

Sheer good fortune (and WOMO searching!) brought me to the Cat Clinic and I am incredibly grateful!

After over $600 for three days at a well known so-called animal hospital, I brought our still unwell and highly distressed cat Lucy home with no answers for her illness. She was also soaked in urine from the first night there and had a cut on her leg from the IV process (as far as we could tell.) She cried and trembled until I got her home (and had to bathe her!) and still didn't eat for 24 hours after that. I was furious and distressed, even more so because the discharge recommended blood test they'd forgotten to do!

Three days later we arrived at Cat Clinic - a full hours drive from our house, but we'd travel three times that for the service we received! The lovely receptionist had already requested and received medical histories from the 'hospital' and our original vet. The waiting room was welcoming and everyone coming and going did so with smiles and HAPPY cats! We were already entranced and Lucy was completely calm. (Turns out they use Feliway - smart move!)

When we got in to Dr Amy, she took the time to talk to us first, letting Lucy acclimatise. When she did handle her, she did so calmly and with gentle talk and pats. A few panicked hisses from Lucy quickly subsided and she sat comfortably with her eyes closed and relaxed while Dr Amy patted her and talked to us about the plans going forward.

We came home with a completely relaxed feline, treatment for the cut on her leg, treatment for the stomach problems she has and EXPLANATIONS for all the things the hospital and our other vet never bothered to discuss with us!

Lucy was calm and relaxed, sleeping for the whole trip home in peak hour traffic. No running and hiding when we got home, she strolled out of the cat box and resumed her favourite place of snoozing on the couch.

I don't care how far we have to travel or what it costs, thank GOD for the Cat Clinic. We will always bring Lucy and our other cat Lochie there from now on. Their calmness, compassion for distressed animals and competence is a wonderful change from our previous experiences elsewhere. I now tell everyone I meet about how amazing they are!

This review is for Mattress Cleaning Melbourne, Aberfeldie VIC

verified email - 05 Oct 2014

This morning I awoke to the unmistakable aroma of cat urine. To my horror, I realised that my feline had peed on herself, my doona and through to the mattress!

Aaaarrrrgggghhhh!!!!!!

It stank terribly and I'd only recently had Steve come to clean it, so I was less than impressed! Miserable and rather sick moggy admitted to animal hospital for treatment and I came home to deal with the mess - sprinkling bicarb soda on and hoping for a miracle. That miracle came through. Within 2 hours of my call on a SUNDAY AFTERNOON, Steve arrived at my door!

My mattress is drying now and the smell is gone, so I'm eternally grateful. As always, impressed with Steve - his speed of response, efficiency of service and his always cheerful demeanour. He did a great job on our carpets and mattresses recently and today he was a sanity-saver! Would HIGHLY recommend him!

This review is for Epping Furniture Removals, South Morang VIC

verified email - 04 Apr 2014

I love these guys, I've used them twice and several of my friends have too. I recommend them repeatedly when chatting in blogs and am constantly thrilled to hear that more and more people have had great experiences too. Below are two of my previous moves and my reviews at the time.

Yet another move and being rather skint, we tried to do it ourselves. The night before I realised some of our larger items wouldn't fit in the trailer we'd borrowed, so I rang Darren in desperate hopes.

Absolute legend that he is, Darren squeezed us in at midday the next day and moved our bigger things in record time, at minimal cost and with no stress. My cousin who was with us at the time was utterly amazed at their professionalism and cheerful manner and like us, is passing their details on to everyone with rave reviews. You couldn't find better!

Having moved 54 times in 38 years, I know my removalists. These guys are brilliant! To move to Doreen in 2006 it took 9 hours and cost $1100 for another well known removalist company who also broke several items. Moving from Doreen and back to the same area, but this time with more gear and to a small 2 storey home, I used Epping Removals. Darren was friendly and professional and I was impressed he quoted in person first. It cost $850 and took 5 hours! Nothing broken, everything gently put in place (instead of dumped in the living room like the other crowd) and I was still grinning when they left! Friendly and funny, they even let my five year old daughter decorate them with smiley stickers and chatted with her about her dolls house and lovely girly furniture! I'll never use anyone else and I spread the word far and wide - Epping Furniture Removals are true professionals.

This review is for Fletchers Real Estate, Greensborough VIC

verified email - 08 Oct 2013

Unfortunately we've made the mistake of signing a lease through Fletchers Greensborough and have received nothing but contempt and poor service. Slow, inaccurate or no responses to maintenance requests, missleading advertisement (online ad said freshly painted - reality is holes are patched and walls are filthy, and also said heating just installed - actually happened several weeks after we signed the lease and we moved in during the peak of winter) and appalling quality service in general. The initial inspection photos were taken in the dark, half an hour before we were due to meet her at her office (she was late) to collect the keys, with the curtains drawn - even though the power was connected! As a result, most of them look like the photos your phone accidentally takes in the bottom of your bag!

I requested a change in the date of an inspection so I could be home to prevent our rather devious indoor cats from escaping and received a flat-out no. Their justification for denying it is that it is their legal entitlement to come when they specify and on that basis they don't have to vary the date on request. When I remarked to the manager that it seemed unreasonable that they not extend this courtesy given our poor experiences, he simply said he didn't know the details but it was probably the landlord's fault! No offer to follow up, no interest and certainly no courtesy or professional respect.

As a tenant you will find that there are agents who treat you as a human and there are agents who treat you with contempt. These are the latter. There are plenty of great agents in the area so they really are doing themselves a disservice. Tenants can become landlords and tenants have peer networks. Experiences shape your future decisions and I will certainly never again use Fletchers, nor shall I encourage anyone else to in any context.

This is entirely based on my experience and you should always assess agents for yourself. Communicate in writing, keep copies of everything and always be aware of your legal rights - they know theirs and will enforce them!