Koffee Bar is now permanently closed.
We suggest nearby lorna cafe for a great brunch in Ferntree Gully.
(lorna made our top places to eat 2022 list)
The Overview…
Food: Choc hulk, Beehive, acai bowl, chilli scrambled eggs
Ratings:
Food: 3.5/5 (the shakes are excellent 5/5)
Atmosphere: 3.5/5
Service:2.5/5
Value: 3.5/5
The details…
The decor of this cafe is interesting, with hessian sacks and dark woods. It has quite a rustic feel, and I liked how they’d done something different. They offer brunch and a range of cakes and sandwiches in the counter. For such a small cafe the choice was excellent, however, by far the highlight were the monster shakes.
We chose the choc hulk – which is a chocolate mint combo and the blonde bombshell which is a vanilla flavoured shake. Shakes come presented on a wooden board, with a piece of cake/slice on the side. They are a little smaller than some others and not quite as over the top – but the flavours are excellent and for me they were a more enjoyable drink than any of the other crazy shakes I’ve tried. By stripping them back a little they’ve created something that’s enjoyable to drink, not just to photograph. A perfect afternoon treat.
The food was plated beautifully and while it was fine, there was definitely some room for improvement. The chilli eggs had a nice flavour but were going a little cold by the time they arrived to the table. The acai bowl was topped with a lot of fruit and I really liked this, but it just needed more granola to balance out the sweet acai smoothie. Great potential, and with a few small tweaks they could have some excellent dishes. The menu shows they are not scared to be creative too, with a trio of dips and a cacao bowl as some of the options.
Unfortunately, the service we experienced on the day wasn’t great. While we were greeted pleasantly, seated quickly and had our drinks ordered soon after, from here it went downhill. We waited far too long to order food and then nearly 40 mins for our food to arrive. At one point we were the only customers in the cafe, so a wait of that long just isn’t okay. While we were photographing the shakes, mine fell apart – staff didn’t notice this, and even when they cleared our shakes away before our meals arrived and saw the table was really sticky, they still did not offer to clean it.
There were other small things throughout our visit, and it was a shame as staff did not seem rude or disinterested they were just unaware of what was going on and not working efficiently to check up on customers.
Overall, I liked the venue but I probably wouldn’t rush to return to eat. I’d definitely pop in for a quick snack if I was in the area, and I highly recommend going for a shake. Hopefully they can build to smooth out some of the kinks as with a more pleasant experience I think they have to potential to see some great return custom.
Everything else…
Address: Shop 2, 1055 Burwood Highway, Ferntree Gully
Parking: There is some parking on the road outside and a small carpark nearby. There’s a larger carpark across the road at Woolworths.
Getting here on PT: It’s about a 10 minute walk from Ferntree Gully Station on the Belgrave Line, and is serviced by several local buses. It’s quite a distance so this one is probably best visited by car if possible.
Disclaimer: We dined as guests of Koffee Bar, Ferntree Gully. Reviews are honest and based on our own personal experiences. We cannot guarantee things at a restaurant won’t change (including, but not limited to, menu items and opening hours, so please confirm any details with the venue before visiting)