Madelines at Jells - City of Knox

We made a reservation for a table for 4 people at 12:30pm, anticipating that the restaurant would be busy. To our surprise, it wasn't and we quickly figured out why. Upon arriving 5 minutes early, we were presented with a table option that was dirty, and when we requested for it to be cleaned, the waitress seemed annoyed. The table was hastily wiped down without any disinfectant spray or thorough seat cleaning. Three out of the four seats still had crumbs from the previous diners' meals, which was off-putting. It was evident that the restaurant was understaffed. We ordered two juices, expecting them to be fresh given the high price, but they were bottled and arrived 15 minutes later. The two hot drinks took even longer to be served. Despite being told that our meals would take 15 minutes, we ended up waiting for 50 minutes with no sign of our food. The table next to us, who had arrived 20 minutes later, had already been served. Frustrated, I inquired about the delay and was rudely confronted by the chef, who falsely claimed that we had only placed our order 22 minutes ago. Feeling dissatisfied with the service and the lack of professionalism, we decided to leave and dine elsewhere. It was clear that the restaurant's standards had declined, and we have no intention of returning.

We booked a table for ten people. There were no Muffins left, scones were chosen by 5 of the group, cookies, and some things off the all day menu and childrens menu plus wine and coffees. The scones came out looking like high tin type creations very very high, brown skin like top, bottom needed more cooking. They were large enough to split into 3 pieces. The middle of the three pieces when touched between fingers joined together and stuck. Not cooked for long enough or the dough was a commercial mix and not quite right. We left a pile of pieces tried eating some of the top bits or the bottom bits. No staff queried why each serve was not eaten. Jam and cream were nice. Needs some professional help. It does well because of its location but do people want to revisit.

Very nice cafe located in the beautiful Jells Park. I’m not sure why the negative comments as yes it will be hot in the summer busy so you might need to wait a minute. The toilets aren’t great but that’s what the Vic Parks has given them. It’s a great place for kids dogs and beats tech games.

The most unpleasant thing about this place was having to use the park public toilets, filthy ! The restaurant was also quite hot inside, but sitting on the veranda is lovely with the view. Could have been great, but needs a bit of work.

On a recent trip down south, hubby and I dropped in for a late lunch. One big surprise was how very hot the restaurant was! Huge windows and no air-con meant these Queenslanders were suffering. But we soldiered on, and ordered: for me- a recharge bowl with smoked salmon. This was incredibly filling and very tasty. Full of fabulous, healthy items like edamame, beetroot, avocado, radish, grains, sweet corn, and hummus. I found this flavourful, healthy and satisfying. Hubby had to help me finish this one. He chose a burger with a beetroot bun, halloumi, leaves, and a vegetable/nut pattie. This was a special of the day. Hubby enjoyed the not too sweet bun, the spicy, nutty pattie, and the squeakily delicious halloumi. The sauce was a winner too. (He loves lots of sauce. And there were heaps of crispy outside, tender inside fries with aioli too. I helped him with those, natch. He drank a berry smoothie – deeply pink, cold and full of berry flavour, while I had a cappuccino. Service was okay, nothing fancy. The atmosphere also okay. We were in and out quickly, as the heat was radiating off those windows, into the huge parklands in which Madeline’s sits. We even got a bit damp, due to the sudden rain squall overhead.