Shillinglaw Cafe

Very busy, nice environment in garden but noisy, service a little slow but understandable given how busy it was

We went this morning for brunch and were sat in the courtyard. After 20 mins we hadn’t been approached by anyone or offered menus so I went inside and asked a waitress for menus and told her where we were sitting and she said she’d bring them out. After another 10 mins still no service or menus. We went inside and grabbed the menus ourselves. After 40 mins from arriving we tried to flag a waiter to order coffee who had served the table next to ours multiple times. He kept saying he’d be with us shortly but never came. We literally had to wave our arms around in the air for anyone to see us before we could order coffees, which took about 15 mins to come out.

Ordering food was another ordeal - the staff seemed to be blatantly ignoring us despite 3 attempts to order and get menus and the table next to us had a waiter at regular intervals. Food was poor - I had the fritters which were barely cooked - very soft and mushy and no flavour.

The service was terrible and the food not much better. Even when we tried to pay the woman took about 5 mins to find the right order. Shillinglaw really need to get their act together and serve customers properly! Won’t be back - Zen Den down the road is a million times better with lovely service and amazing food!

Food and coffee is usually good, and the venue is perfect for families and pets, however the service is appallingly s-l-o-w. It's fine if you don't mind waiting 30+ mins for your order, but no good if you're on a schedule.

Great place to bring kids.all good but even better if the menu is a little bit bigger for adults and kids as well.

The waitress that served us was very inexperienced, poor service. She spilled water all over the table and my foot and didn't clean it up, just laughed about it, no apology. Brought me the wrong order, still no apology. Very disappointed, as it is such a lovely setting.

Nice food and coffee, gorgeous atmosphere and fantastic place to bring little ones, however the service is pretty slow.

Quaint historic little cafe. Food good. Friendly staff. Service slow. Not very large inside but has a lovely garden area with outside seating.

Waited over 50 minutes without even hearing from a waiter, when I got up to cancel the order as we had to leave, we were told half of the order is ready. If the wait is going to be this long, people need to be told that, or don’t try and cater for numbers you can’t handle.

Great relaxing place. Loved the alfresco area. Very family friendly. Generous portions, quite a good selection of dishes including vegeterian and vegan, yummy food and coffee, and above all courteous staff.

I often visit Shillinglaw for breakfast with my family as it is such a lovely place with great food and coffee and awesome service. The owners always make you feel welcome, no matter how crazy the children are behaving. It has gorgeous shade and a sandpit with outdoor area for the kids to play. My favourite spot for breakfast in Melbourne!

Perfect family brunch. Fabulous menu, great shaded sandbox with lots of toys for the children. Staff are wonderful too.

Best to book a table as its a very popular spot!

Recently moved in the the Eltham area. Have been here 3 times in 1 week for lunch. Such a beautiful positioned cafe with a beautiful staff + outdoor backyard.

This is THE place to come if you want something different to mainstream cafes that say they cater for kids. Welcome to Shillinglaw located off Main Road in Eltham.
This old homestead built around the 1850’s was fortunately salvaged when a demolition order was impending and converted to the sweetest cafe / restaurant.
Today it is beautifully decorated with an eclectic range of well chosen homewares that makes me think it’s been staged Australian Country Style magazine.
You walk through the main door to a small reception to the left and a very small kitchen to the right. How they pump out so many great meals is a testament to the talents of the chefs.
Keep walking up the stairs to a lovely indoor dining area which doubles as function room. Keep walking through this area to a covered outdoor dining area that opens up to another eating area that is bathed in the dappled light of an oak (?) tree.
Here is where the magic happens. The ground is covered with fake turf so come sun or rain it’s an all season mudless play area. The sandpit is huge with plenty of space for lots of kids. Seating is comfortable and matches the theme of the decor and also won’t blow away with a gust of wind.
Menu is simple but healthy fare. My daughter had scone, jam and cream. I had packed eggs on sour dough with a side serve of bacon and haloumi. The chair latte was a nice loose leaf blend and served in the cutest jug.
Service was excellent and faultless. Nothing was too much trouble and the food took about 15 minutes from order to table.
Good parking out the front. Kid friendly. Not sure if it’s wheelchair friendly because of the stairs but there may be access from the rear. Takeaway coffee and cakes available.
Functions can be booked so make Enquiries via the website.
Big brownie points - your fur babies are welcome.
Highly recommend.

Great family friendly cafe!
We try to visit once a week, friendly staff, delicious food and great for kids, even for adults they put up a great casual evening function package too - we love it

Nutella and fruit french toast was delicious. Staff were super friendly. The atmosphere is wonderful sitting out in the shady garden

Terribly slow service, waiters seemed overwhelmed and unsure of what they were doing. Had to turn some guests away even though there was space. Food was ok. A bit of a lost opportunity as could be amazing and definitely offers parents a lot of value with the outdoor area once they get the hygiene factors right.

Had the peri peri burger. Didn't taste any peri peri at all. I was there with 2 other adults and two kids. Food arrived in 3 lots. Had to wait at least 10 ~15 mins for each. 5 yr old's food arriving last.
Other than that the sevice was good. Out door seating was pretty good too.

Great place. Must visit good food great for little humans, along with the park opposite lots to keep them entertained. Gets busy on weekends

Lovely atmosphere, plenty of play space for the kids.servicr was friendly and helpful (it's table service). Loved the burger and the french toast. There are steps inside so need to use the side gate behind the cafe to bring the prams through, but there is also a cafe blind in the way, which can get pretty annoying. Parking can be a bit limited and 2hours only at the front there.