Plain Sailing

"Came here for Sunday brunch and the place was super packed! Thankfully people preferred outdoor seating as it was a sunny morning and we got big table for 5 inside the restaurant without waiting for long. Coffee was good, foods portions were huge and service was rather quick, too. The only downside was the lack of vegan options. The menus that can be made vegan do not have replacements, they only removed the non-vegan parts of the dish, so it's better to come with your non-vegan friends and share."

"Don’t really understand the hype or the high rating. Visited on a Monday morning for a breakfast work meeting. There’s no internet reception in the venue (which isn’t their fault) but the staff refused to share the wifi password, even though their wifi is named as the venue. Chai Latte was un-drinkable. Tasted sour and was only warm when it was served. Took one sip and left it. For $7, a complete waste. The Porridge was a great dish but only came with 1 small piece of poached pear. It was delicious so more would’ve been great. And the strawberries still had the green stems on them. Looked aesthetic but when you’re only given a spoon, it’s completely impractical. Plenty of other great cafes in the area with better service and much, much more affordable prices."

"The food was to die for! And their coffee was equally as good. Hits that Melbourne coffee spot. There is a reason they tend to have a line out the door on the weekend!!"

"Super busy place but fast service for a table (thankfully). Staff were lovely and food was fresh and tasty with generous portions and value for money. Inside or outside seating, with or without sun…accommodates everyone!"

"The smashed avocado dish here is one of the GOAT. The quinoa toast initially put me off ordering it but it just tastes like regular bread and the combination of avocado, pumpkin hummus, goats cheese and roasted carrot is just so flavoursome. The food here always comes out at lightning speed too which is so impressive Most recent Got the house made banana bread which looked identical to the sticky date pudding bread they used to do and tasted pretty damn similar too. I recommend this as a shared dish after a savoury breakfast Recent Ordered the sticky date pudding bread which was delicious but I don’t understand why every dish here comes our covered in micro herbs. Visually they look awful and nor do they add anything to the flavour profile Latest Ordered the cherry coconut panna cotta which I regretted as the hempnola muesli had a lot of goji berries which I am mildly allergic to so i sat there fishing them out and in addition to this the dish was quite insubstantial as I watched my dining party inhale sizeable meals complete with multiple sides. Definitely the wrong order Further update On this latest visit I had the vanilla panna cotta granola dish as I was going for a big lunch after and needed to save room. It was enjoyable though the chef is clearly obsessed with figs as they have been a heavy feature in every dish I’ve ever ordered from here and I’m not a fan. Maybe they are getting some sort of bulk discount but it wouldn’t hurt to feature another fruit on the menu Update My original gripes with Plain Sailing per below still stand but they make a yummy iced chai and a tasty and filling bircher (though I could certainly have done without the zillion micro herbs that add nothing to the dish visually nor in taste). It’s been 1.5 years since my last visit and the menu is largely unchanged (in fact my husband has gotten the cauliflower dish all 3 times he has eaten there) but I guess they figure if it ain’t broken don’t fix it. Original review We visited Plain Sailing for brunch yesterday and given I am a fan of their affiliate cafes (Left Field, Tall Timber, Nine Yards) I expected good things. They certainly nailed the spacing of the tables in terms of social distancing and I enjoyed the clean modern interior. Food wise my porridge was pretty as a picture and a perfect choice for a nippy winters morning. I didn’t much care for the Sunday surcharge though or for the fact that they don’t offer an all day lunch option"