The Main

The Main Cafe in Eltham is an absolute gem! Every visit is a delightful experience. The staff's friendly service and attention to detail make it a standout in the community. Whether you're grabbing a quick coffee or enjoying a leisurely meal, The Main Cafe exceeds expectations

Outstanding service! After an Uber driver messed up our order, the restaurant organised a delivery themselves to help us out. At this busy time of day/year, I’m so grateful & impressed. Plus the food/drinks are always fantastic. Thanks Main!

This cafe has a great atmosphere and the owners and staff are very good. They do however charge absolute top dollars for meals/coffee and impose surcharges at every possible opportunity.

Ordered a zaatar veg and chicken wrap for an exorbitant price of $18, ask for it to be lightly toasted. I then saw them pull it out of a microwave steaming hot. I asked did you just microwave that, she goes yes otherwise the insides will be cold. I said no I asked for it lightly toasted. She then grabbed a chicken schnitzel wrap out of the fridge and said that it would be a couple of minutes I said no I asked for zaatar veg, she said yes. I said the sign says chicken schnitzel she said this is a chicken schnitzel in a tone that implied I didn't know what I was talking about. I asked for my money back, what they happily did. But it was so awkward, who microwaves a $18 wrap or any wrap for that matter. If I wanted microwaved food I would go to 7/11.

$25 for a BLT with minimal filling was a bit of a rip. Nothing special, food was mediocre for the price.

Checked it out a while back with my mum and - to sharp memory - things like bolognese were around fifty bucks.if you've less than eight or nine digits on your balance, pick somewhere else for food.ordered a coffee to go instead and it took a solid ten minutes.got hassled by the owner (I think?) while waiting because they wanted to know what my coffee order was even though I could see clearly that they weren't playing any role around the coffee orders. I've been a barista before and confess I struggle finding a need to turn an oat latte order into an episode of hot seat.add the father's day surcharge mentioned by another reviewer and I'm inclined to think it's marketed toward the upper end of eltham, already a firmly upper-end suburb.fifty australian dollars for a pasta main is eye-watering.

Love this place! We are regulars and now they have live music on a Sunday afternoon! Thank you for making my weekend better

Went in today (Mother’s Day) to pick up some afternoon tea. This was just some assorted desserts to take away. When we were about to pay, they said it would be incurring a 10% surcharge for Mother’s Day. 3 slices at a cost of >$30. Never in my life have I been ‘surcharged’ on a) Mother’s Day, and b) getting some desserts to take away from the counter.

Never returning.

Went on Mother's Day and found the prices overboard for what you got and no-one really liked the meal.
Overall very disappointing and thought the surcharge was opportunistic for a NON-public holiday. Won't be returning in a hurry.

To be read in a posh accent.
It was a dreary, ghastly afternoon in Eltham, my wife and I were on a complex expedition for a berried cheesecake in the local radius. After upwards of half an hour of seeking our desired afternoon tea, we stumbled upon 'The Main'. We found what we THOUGHT was our gourmet nibble. A woman greeted us and suggested we indulge in their 'white chocolate and raspberry cheesecake' - take note there was ONE measly dehydrated raspberry shoved onto the top of this abomination. We sat at our table by the window, so unaware of what the next five minutes held for us. After waiting a quick sec, our cheesecake was served to us on two much too large plates. The cheesecake was split in half so we could share in what we thought would be a delicacy. They met our desires in sharing and stunning presentation BUT we were met with something far less exciting. To put it plainly, the cheesecake was utmost UNPALATABLE. If I was asked to make the distinction between dry cardboard and what was touching my taste buds, it would not be within my capacity as the flavours were indistinctable. The look that we shared between us as the fork met our lips communicated much more than what words could. It was honestly discouraging after such extensive efforts to find what we would have liked to be a praiseworthy baked delicacy. CHEESCAKE.more like cheeseGETTHISINEDIBLEMATTEROUTOFMYMOUTH. So, to the team at the MAIN, we would like to say Coles could do better than this. DO BETTER.

*$9 for this atrocity. I am speechless and $9 poorer

Pictured below is the "said delicacy".

Sincerely, Kath and Ricky (self aware and considerate members of the Nillumbik Community)

Reliably great coffee and food. Large indoor seating area and more seats outside (though roadside). Efficient and most of all friendly service - what makes this place special is the atmosphere, which is always friendly among the staff and you can see people like working there. That kind of thing spills over to customers easily. The menu is comprehensive but they're also happy to cater for special requests.

I added an extra star because the service was friendly and the coffee was good. However, the freshness of their cakes, etc.is questionable. The strawberry tarts were mouldy and the cakes we ordered were stale. The donut was half frozen and we couldn't even cut into it. Also, their prices are ridiculous. $30 for a coffee, a scroll, a lamington and a small donut. Go to Old Evropa bakery next door instead.

Wow just wow at the rudeness, arrogance and condescending tone of the owner. Extremely long wait time and Such poor customer service. Seems like his business is too big for his boots and no longer valueing customers. Front house wait staff girl was no better with really rude dismissive tone and I can see where she gets her example or lack of from. So many better cafes in the area like second home, Ms Pryor, Third Chapter - don’t bother with this one! Wont be back for sure

Reqlibly great coffee and food, great air conditioning for a hot day while still getting a view of main St.

The best restaurant in Melbourne. Every dish I have had is superb, not only in dining but my Uber delivery bolognaise was amazing arriving piper hot and in a great quality dish and was like the most delish home cooked meal. Calamari salad and butter chicken delicious. Coffee is a A plus plus. The main you rock!

The staff are lovely and the service is great but we were all a little disappointed with our food. The pancakes were a bit stodgy and the tandoori chicken roti wrap was dry and tasteless.

I visited here last year. It's such a lovely place, the food was good and the staff were so friendly. Will come again.

Worst experience. We went in to grab breakfast, and asked for a table for 2 (noting there were multiple tables available outside). The waitress minding outside tables told us to go inside and wait in the “designated waiting for a table area. ” So we did. Whiles waiting, the waitress sat 3 couples own (all whom just walked up to her outside and were not in the waiting area). I walked up to the waitress and asked what’s the purpose of the waiting area if she’s sitting people down that aren’t waiting. She told me “sorry I was in the toilet” - NO SHE WASNT. She was infront of me the whole time. She then asked me to continue waiting as all tables were booked out. RUDE, FERAL SERVICE! Would not recommend you go here if you want to start your day off right.

LOVE IT HERE. Always so consistent. Great food and even better service. Although overpriced, the smoothies and juices are delicious. Açai bowl could be thicker but still yum. Great dips!

Good food. Good thickshakes. Good coffee. The red haired girl who served me clearly hates her job. She was rude and disinterested in customer service.