THE FLOUR HOUSE

This mob rarely fails to disappoint from a customer service perspective.
After boycotting them 2 years ago, I recently visited 4 times to find good service once (even if all pastries were ‘sold out’), but poor customer service all other times - from coffee machine being turned off half hour early, to kitchen not open during the week on some days (yet still apparently open for lunch - three pasties in pie warmer and 1 baguette on display, no pastries and young hopeless staff unwilling to make smoothies promoted on sign on counter), next time called beforehand to confirm kitchen was open and the kitchen closing time, so booked a table, only to arrive 45 mins beforehand and told kitchen closed early, nothing in pie warmer, nothing on display, no food to serve for lunch and ‘sold out’ of pastries…surprise surprise! What a circus…some things don’t change. If you keep doing the same thing year after year, it begins to look like flagrant disregard for your customers!
Take note of similar themes noted by other reviewers, met with disingenuous responses/excuses like ‘we do occasionally run out’, ‘quality over quantity’ and we’ll speak to front of house staff.

Previous 3 star review from 2021:
“Real bread, fresh pastries, good coffee and friendly service, but almost always ‘sold out’ of most things. The idea simply to make more of certain items seems continually lost on them! ”

Came for the bread and stayed for breakfast. I never thought I would be raving about a simple egg on toast but that toast was like I've never tasted before, a whole other level.

Ordered 4 cakes for a function. Absolutely delicious and demolished by the guests. Can’t pick a favourite!

Mixed Experience at Flour House

The Flour House had an attractive exterior that caught my attention, but unfortunately, my recent visit left me with mixed feelings about the overall experience.

While one plate of food arrived promptly and met expectations, I was disappointed when the second plate took an unexpectedly long time to reach our table. After politely inquiring about its whereabouts, there was a delay, which tested our patience. It was disheartening to observe other customers, who arrived after us, receiving their food before we did. Nevertheless, I appreciate the eventual arrival of the second plate, albeit later than desired.

On the topic of pricing, I found the cost of a small strong oat latte to be surprisingly high, at $6.20. While I don't mind paying extra for a well-crafted coffee, the latte I received was unfortunately burnt. I believe it would greatly benefit the cafe to pay closer attention to the extraction time in order to consistently deliver a satisfying beverage.

Overall, my experience at Flour House was a mixed bag. The delay in food service and the burnt latte were disappointing aspects of an otherwise potentially enjoyable visit. I would suggest that the cafe focuses on improving their service efficiency and coffee quality to create a more consistently positive experience for their customers. With some adjustments, Flour House has the potential to live up to its charming exterior.

Ordering online is so easy and the bread is soooo delicious. Only problem is parking. It’s so popular that it’s hard to get a park! Love it

Our online order was delicious, but:
*The small San Francisco sourdough was actually a "high tin" loaf, not the "split" type as indicated on the website.
*The idicated Rhubarb Danish was actually a strawberry danish.
(We ordered online to avoid any queue or sell out at their physical site).

Every item I've tried has been delicous and well made. The best banana bread!
Staff are very friendly, helpful and provide a fast service
Delicous coffee too!

The only negative, which is not the fault of the business at all, are the entitled customers who park in loading zones/double park and block other customers because they are too lazy to park in the side street and walk 1 or 2 minutes

By far the best bread in the South East of Melbourne. The taste and texture is excellent and it keeps fresh for long. Can be trusted and taste excellent even 6 days after place purchase. Currently the buckwheat bread is my favourite but the cracked wheat, spelt and superseed are also excellent.

I’m so impressed with the taste of the sourdough bread! The taste is incredible, the croissants are to die for, you just have to go there and buy their loaves. I’m super happy in finding this gem. I can’t get enough of their food

Produce is beautiful, restaurant space and environment espectacular but how come they run out of bread all the time. Couldn’t even get a breakfast s they run out of bread before 10am. If your reseller are more important clients then don’t open to the general public just to turn them around all the time. This is a bakery that always run out of bread!

The quality of your baked goods is second to none in this area! Will definitely be a return customer.

The San Fran sourdough and the baguettes are simply to die for. This is undoubtedly the best bread in the world.

I love everything I have ever bought. The flatbreads I ordered for a family lunch today were scoffed down.

What a great bakery. The baguette is served warm and the kids finish the baguette up before we even have a chance to have a bite

I have a love/hate relationship with this place. They make great pastries and the space is pleasant. But my issue is with how they manage their business. Too many times we have had issues with this place and I've had enough.

Extremely slow and painful customer service, employs young kids who have no idea how to serve people. They are constantly understaffed on weekends. Im sitting here and currently waiting nearly 50 minutes for two Croque Monsieur sandwiches and a bowl of chips, other tables also waiting for food. We've had repeated issues with preordering food upfront for events and then upon pick up they completely forgot the order or sold out of what we ordered because they did not put food aside. They constantly sell out by midday, with such a large industrial kitchen surely they can better estimate demand by now and service the area better. It's all too difficult. I keep saying to myself I'm never coming back, I let 6 months pass and give it another go and same issues over and over again. I'm now done.

Coffee and breaky at the Flour House was lovely, not an extensive menu, but easily delivered. Breads, pastries and sweets are equally lovely, infact you cannot stop at one. Staff are very polite and attentive, service with a smile, interior very uniquely designed, very spacious. Room with a view, milling room and bread/ patisserie room are both fully visible to see it all in the making, very cleverly designed.

Great bread to feed your sourdough habit to be had here at the Flour House. Finnish Rye on Friday is a specialty treat.

Everything is absolutely delicious here. Have yet to find something we haven't liked. Croissants taste better than Lune and are cheaper and less pretentious.

Very pleasant experience, great coffee! Wanted a sausage roll but only available after 10am but croissants are amazing and fresh

Looking forward to trying some of their menu items so made a booking which can only be made for one hour, ok. Then on morning of booking sent reminder text, ok, yet then when get there chef had called in sick so menu items not available. What! Flour House don't put strict requirements on your customers and then not notify them of changed circumstances. So we just had a coffee (flat white and soy latte) which were really good. We could have had a sweet treat but we were after brunch so we went somewhere else (Blue Sweets and Coffee, highly recommend) but then had staff member come and tell us that there were a couple of menu items we could have had! Note online menu doesn't list all items on in house menu so they might want to look at that. Anyway will go back as want to try their food in this fantastic environment, large airy room, great wooden furniture and even an old desk! I certainly remember those.