Stanley Mount Waverley
The Overview…
Food: Maple Crunch Porridge, Blossom Hotcakes
Ratings:
Food: 4/5
Atmosphere: 3/5
Service: 4/5
Value: 3/5
The details…
For locals I imagine this new cafe is a long awaited god send, however, we felt it didn’t quite hit the highs of their other venues. The cafe itself is nicely done, and had people queuing out the door when we arrived – and here’s where the problem is – it’s just too small. The door opens inwards and there’s nowhere for people to wait – either for take away coffee or to queue for a table – except for around the door, counter, and basically in the way. Had we not reserved a table, I wouldn’t have bothered even hanging around, but once we managed to fight through the crowd, we were warmly greeted and taken to our table.
The service on the surface is really very good. Staff are on the ball, keen to help, smiley and friendly – however, here’s where that size problem comes in again. Short of climbing over customers, there are several tables that they just can’t get to with the current layout. We were lucky, but other customers were complaining as their plates weren’t cleared, or they waited a long time to order as staff, through no fault of their own, just can’t get to them without constantly asking other customers to move.
The menu is great. There’s some old favourites like the chilli scramble and the hot cakes but enough new things on their to give us veteran brunchers something new – such as the edamame addition to the smashed avo and the maple crunch porridge. We enjoyed our food. The hotcakes were fluffy and soft, with a good variety and amount of toppings, including that delicious crispy meringue – if they can just nail everything else like they nailed these hot cakes, they’re on to a winner.
I liked my creative porridge dish. The porridge was smooth and creamy with lots of nice winter flavours but I felt it could have done with more walnut crunch to add that texture throughout the dish. Both plates were a little messy too and not quite up to the usual high standard of this cafe chain. They’re a victim of their own success here, as they’ve set the standards for brunch so high, but then they have to maintain this.
There’s another empty unit next to Stanley and I do feel that they should desperately make the effort to move into it – or get rid of half of their current tables as a potentially great cafe is unfortunately being tarred by a less than great experience. I feel those of us with memories of long brunch catch ups with friends at Bentwood, or the busy but vibrant atmosphere of Tinker, will be somewhat initially disappointed by this new offering. On a quieter day, I can imagine it being very enjoyable sitting by the large windows, but on this Sunday morning it just felt too hectic, and almost stressful.
They’re most of the way there, with great staff and a solid menu of brunch faves, I just hope they now work to provide that all round excellent brunch experience that I know they can so Mount Waverley residents can fully embrace and enjoy their newest cafe!
Everything else…
Website: http://stanleymountwaverley.com.au/
Address: 63 Stanley Avenue, Mount Waverley
Opening Times:
Mon 7am to 4pm
Tue 7am to 4pm
Wed 7am to 4pm
Thu 7am to 4pm
Fri 7am to 4pm
Sat 7:30am to 4pm
Sun 7:30am to 4pm
Parking: Being stand alone, instead of in a small shopping street, there are plenty of street parking spaces nearby and even when we visited, at it’s busiest, we found a place straight away.
Getting here on PT: It’s not an easy one on PT, and you’re looking at a good 10-15 minute walk from most of the local bus routes such as the 624, 693 or 742 – honestly, you’re better off opting for one of the other venues in the chain which would be much easier to get to.
Disclaimer: We dined as guests of Stanley, Mount Waverley. 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.