Cumulus Inc. Review

Food was good. Was served by terrible blonde waitress. Forgot our coffees, when we asked about them snapped back saying they were on their way only to have to come back and ask us what we had ordered. Then to cover up her mistake she simply put them through and our coffees were then just put in at the end of the list making us wait even longer. No apology and then she spilt one of the coffees. Was charged full price for them.

Been going for over 10 years, and the restaurant is still great

If you like waiting in line for 15 mins and then be told they don't have a table for an hour, this is the perfect place for you.

The food here is delicious just note that everything is petty much to share so you ll either want to come with a few people or settle on small portions. All in all we loved the vibes especially as we went for Sunday lunch but I docked one star because the service wasn t as great as I was hoping for. The oysters were also delicious and worth getting.

Dined at Cumulus this week for a special occasion. We opted for the chef's menu and the food was exceptional! Special mentions were the grilled asparagus with spanner crab, the anchovy flatbread, the slow roasted lambs shoulder and the chocolate dessert.

The drinks were fabulous and the recommendation of the Rockford Cab Sav with the lamb shoulder was a definite winner!

It was quite busy, but the experience still felt intimate and the staff were very attentive and friendly. Overall a wonderful dining experience and we will definitely be back.

Interesting menu of tapas style meals in delightfully designed surroundings. Brilliant staff helped to make the evening.

BrunchShakshouka was very yummy. Not chilli hot but so full of flavour. I'm salivating writing about it. The mocha was very interesting, must be made with Dutch cocoa. You could feel the texture, it was very nice. Service was good, food was pretty quick (certainly quick enough) but the prices are up there.

Great restaurant with friendly staff. The food is delicious and with fresh ingredients.

Ordered the tasting manu for a group of ten. EXTREMELY slow serve of food and very small portion to share. Can't believe it's for ten people!!!

The lemon curd filled Madelines were my favorite part of Australia

Nice food and drinks but the noise is almost too much to talk over!

Food is good but the dinner is pricey given the portion.

Will most definitely come back for lots more... Loved all the salads. The staff are also amazing!

Superb food. Always busy. Don't come just for coffee.

Awesome dine experience. The kitchen menu,selection of shared dishes is great to have a taste of the overall menu. Staff are very friendly too. Walk inns welcomed

Great food, great atmosphere. Was very busy on the Saturday morning we went there, so booking a table in advance may be best. My favourite cafe I visited while i was on my trip in Melbourne.

I literally couldnt fault my experience here! The staff were so attentive and friendly, coffee was great. My partner and I were meeting another couple here (their arrangement) for breakfast, first glance of the menu nothing caught my attention, however after an extensive look I decided to go with the homemade crumpets, not something ide usually get but man did I enjoy it, the flavours of the ricotta, honey and lemon went beautifully with the golden crusted, soft and fluffy perfectly executed crumpets. My partner go the baked egg hot pot, full of rich flavours with a bit of spice, yet again perfectly cooked, well done to the guys in the kitchen, from just another breakfast chef.

Best meal I had in Australia. Make sure to try the Brussels sprouts.

We were lucky to be seated instantly after walking in. The food here was excellent with special mentions to the beef sirloin main, however what really gave this restaurant a 5 star was the excellent service that we received! Would definitely come back again.

I totally adore this place. The set-up, its popularity, the staff. And divine no fuss, yet upmarket quality food + menu

How can the humble crumpet become such a masterful dish? Cumulus, we love you.

One of the best places for a shared dinner in Melbourne. Don't miss the lamb or the tuna. Large groups are better to make the most of the sharing plates.

I've wanted to have a meal here for ages. The service was outstanding and the food was quite delicious. I really enjoyed my dessert and was also impressed by the homemade bread. The local menu composition was great and food was delicious. Nice for a treat but spendy for what it is.

Had a special occasion dinner Friday with interstate guests. We opted for the Chef s Menu which was a mistake and I wouldn t recommend to anybody, but that was our decision and mistake to make. Just as being told how fine-dining and upmarket the establishment is was getting hackneyed, after course 2 of 4, we had an unanticipated service hiatus of approximately an hour. I wasn t especially bothered by this specifically as I was enjoying the company and wine. It was when our waitress approached with the news that we were almost through our allotted time-slot and we would need to finish courses 3 and 4 hastily and even pay the bill before dessert was delivered! Recall WE hadn t ordered ANYTHING because we chose the chef s menu...that is, the restaurant s bungle became our problem!! Fine dining? I think not. There was no hint of apology or mention of restitution; we were now getting attention from the staff only because they wanted us out so they could flip our table. Hasty is the only way to describe the remaining minutes of our visit. Our lamb came without sides, which appeared 5 and 10 minutes later, with our dessert arriving moments after our potatoes! With our bill! I have zero love for this establishment but my partner likes it so it was extra disappointing that she emailed them and has not had a reply. Avoid.

Best in Melbourne for breakfast. Had dinner in Up and it was super tasty. Super service.

Amazing food and service - in the higher price range but very worth it :)

Give me ALL the bread! I'd give this restaurant five stars alone for their delicious, complimentary offerings of such amazing carbohydrate goodness! If the samples are SO good, imagine how incredible the rest of the dishes are! Fantastic service and I appreciate the offering of half salves so I could sample more of the amazing dishes! Perfect service and very decent prices for perfection :)

Always a good meal here. Came in for a quick bite for lunch. Venison entree special was tasty. Baby chicken main was juicy and moist. Salted caramel tart tasted a little eggie and a slight sour tang on the finish. Good service as always

Great restaurant for enjoying very tasty beautifully prepared dishes! We celebrated the start of my birthday celebration with a dinner for 4. Staff made us feel absolutely welcome and look note of the allergy issue. Started out taking photos before we'd start eating but a couple of dishes in we couldn't wait and dived into. Best part was my carnivore sister rating the best dish of all time the vegetarian offerings on the night. Priceless. We're already planning on our next visit

Absolutely beautiful food without being overpriced. Extensive wine list

Came here once every 1 or 2 weeks when I was in Melbourne. My favourite place to eat. Get the tasting menu!! And the duck waffles.

Came here for brunch a while back and had a good breakfast meal. I would definitely say they have more specialty foods rather than your typical brunch. All their food looked amazing, but for my personal taste, for breakfast, I prefer some more simple/standard. I think if I came for lunch or dinner I would have loved it more. I would definitely want to come back to try lunch or dinner though.

Overall, I would recommend this place!

Cumulus deserves 5 stars for their service. Unfortunately, value for money, inconsistent service methodology and the menu cannot be saved by their staff.

Let's start with the menu. I cannot recall any other items, but I ordered the "bacon bap" (that was the only description - i.e. Bacon Bap, gentleman's relish $17). If their target is strictly older Australians and UK expats, sure, that's a fine name for a bacon sandwich. Personally, I have never come across this name before and my mother is British - but please correct me if I am the overly ignorant one. Same goes for gentleman's relish.

What do I mean by service methodology? Well, at Cumulus, you are shown to your table, cutlery is delivered, food is ordered and delivered at the table, you even PAY at the table. You know what you can't get from the waitstaff? Water. Worse, the self service water is at the end of the bar on what I would describe as the "staff side". This is indicated by a change in the floor material which makes it look off-limits for patrons. It creates an inconsistent and unexpected experience.

Finally, the food. As I mentioned before, I ordered the bacon bap (with an egg). It was advertised as coming with relish and was $17 plus $3(?) for the added fried egg. Now you might be thinking, "$20 for a bacon and egg sandwich?! How can you be serious?" I thought the same thing, but on the back of Cumulus' reputation, I figured they must put a hell of a spin on it. Minutes later I received a plain floured roll with bacon, egg and "gentleman's relish". The roll was made of plain white bread, nothing to see there. The bacon was delicious and plentiful, no complaints there. The egg was cooked unevenly but was mostly fine. And the relish was... BBQ sauce - not anchovies. And if it wasn't BBQ sauce, then Cumulus needs to get a refund because that's all it tasted like. Now, I ask, is that worth $20??? I'll leave that up to you.

Came to this place for dinner. Busy restaurant and it wasn't that big. Make a booking if you're planning to go. Service was friendly. The staff gave us recommendation on the portion and it was perfect! They had free flowing bread with delicious butter (which we had too much of). Looking forward to try their breakfast menu.

So damn good. Came as a table of 10 and had the lamb shoulder - so good I should have came alone.

An interesting place of sharing food. Very special western restaurant, is a restaurant where you can share food. The appetizer is very small, you can order one by one, and the main dish is very large, so you can share it

Great restaurant, service was exceptional. Wish we took a pic of the steak special.. they should add it to the permanent menu!

You'll have to suffer with pictures of the lemon curd madeleines instead.

Quite busy and had to wait about 25 minutes of a Sunday morning for brunch. The staff were all friendly. The menu is rather limited compared to other cafes that do brunch, but the offerings are tasty nonetheless. The food came out before the coffees which is unfortunate but unavoidable given its popularity and the number of orders for coffee.

Great breakfast- beware though: they don t poach eggs! It s also a fabulous share plate dinner spot, with a tonne of vegetarian options. The wine bar upstairs is lovely, and a great place to wait if they re busy and you have to hang ten before getting a table.

Absolutely terrible!!! Visiting Melbourne with kids and decided to give this place a try, called in advance to put our name down on a wait list before we headed over, got told no wait list just come in, walked 15 minutes got there stood in line for 20 minutes got to the front only to be told to put our name down on a wait list which could be 20-40 minutes!!! The frustrating thing was there were empty tables and no one on the wait list was even there!! Don't waste your time on this place,at the end of the day all they are doing is serving coffee and some bread and eggs!! Plenty of other more hospitable cafes around that will actually appreciate your business , this is what happens when we allow places like this to become this arrogant.

Food & service were both amazing. The restaurant is busy but doesn't feel overwhelming. Not the cheapest meal in town but worth the money

The best food in Melbourne but I haven't been to Atttica.

I went here for breakfast and thought it was a little over-hyped for what it is. It's ok, but nothing that made me go wow!

The food, what food. A group of 8 paid $800 ($100 each) for few slices of bread, frozen butter, iceberg lettuce, 1 cracker each with patte and sprinkle of Caviar 2bowls of roast potatoes and a slow cooked piece of meat which you could get coles for $18. To finish we all had some fancy ice cream and one bottle of very ordinary wine. We as in all of us have never felt so ripped off or taken for a ride in our lives. If you re hungry and want to have some dinner find another place. If you want to feel part of the in crowd who eat cardboard coz it s the in thing this is the place for you.

Hands down definitely my most favourite Melbourne breakfast / brunch spot. Sure you may have to wait if you time it wrong but I've never been disappointed. Ever.

We went here on a Friday evening a couple of weeks ago and settled because the wait was shorter than nearby places. Waited about 5 minutes for a seat for two at the bar (?). A gentleman explained the specials and we dealt with a few waiters or waitresses for things like water, order taking, drinks menu etc. Anywho, we are fairly decisive people and ordered quickly (two mains and one entree). It took over an hour for any food to arrive. People around us were being served and we could tell that the gentleman at the bar was concerned about our food. He chased it up for us in due time and told us our entrees were coming, which they did after some time. No one came to apologize so we were left with the impression that this was normal. Not going to lie, the wait would have been acceptable if we were updated on the progress or reassured that we weren't forgotten. We thought since we had interacted with so many different staff members, no one really had responsibility for our table and hence we were not served. The food was great (enjoyed the beef tartar), but definitely not worth the hour of waiting. Definitely willing to give it another go on a quieter night but my first impression was not great.

Great experience despite having to wait (but that's expected on a Saturday night). We had an amazing time and the service was flawless. The barramundi, oysters, lamb shoulder and everything else we ordered were impeccably prepared. I highly recommend this restaurant if you're ever in Melbourne.

Love the place had dinner had breakfast the other day and it was very average. Missed the mark and thhe service wasn't what it should be.

Excellent dining experience. One of the best soft shell crab that I have had. It is not hard to make but it does need a bit of skill into it. In addition, customer service is great there too.

Beautiful setting, food a let-down

Went today for breakfast (7/7/2017) with a friend. Lovely service, very friendly waiter, coffees ordered and served promptly.
Ordered the shakshouka for my breakfast. This was very disappointing. Absolutely no peppers (capsicums) in the sauce at all. Could not taste or see them. Poorly seasoned tomatoes, bland feta. Overall very much a 1 star dish, and not something I would order again. A real shame as I had read great reviews of this dish; perhaps they had the apprentice chef on the shakshouka this morning.
That said, loved the service, loved the coffee, great atmosphere, and my friend loved her porridge with kumquat marmalade. So I will be back, but not for the eggs!

I rarely rave about places but cumulus was really such an experience that this should be shared!
Wine list shined with off-the-beaten track funky wines. We had the skin intact gwertz which was so dry and refreshing it went perfectly.
Food. the beef tartare was extremely balanced with deep beef flavours balanced well with the glaze and capers. Chopped perfectly coarse too!
Tuna tartare wasn't overshadowed either. Simple but good produce shined with very fitting nigiri-like sauce and the pea salad under with goats cheese is a combo not to be messed with.
Finally the main event lamb leg was a legit leg. There have been few times I've had the joy of having a roast lamb this juicy and tender, yet falling off the bone and just delightful. Glaze was just icing on the cake.
Sides were a tiny bit underwhelming but maybe just overshadowed by the main dishes.

Fancy stuff.
Great staff, good service and food. Expensive but you get what you pay for!

Very busy, crowded and noisy, with a collection of delicious choices (some vegetarian), with polished service that make it worthwhile.
Yummy bread. Crisp linen.

Wine pours by the glass are parsimonious and pricey. Some beautiful choices in local Shiraz by the bottle (served in a better glass).
Product quality and flavour is very good.
Cute touches, although I would have preferred a traditional rum syrup on the baba to the pour your own 7 year old.
I definitely just return for their brekkie!

Group of 7 had a four course plua dessert chefs menu tonight. Dinner started well when we asked to move from near the door because of the draftvand the staff were only to happy to accommodate. All the food was then wonderful and drinks well matched. Our waiter Tyler was excellent, couldn't have been better service.

We had a group of 7 people and chose the chefs selection including vegetarian choices for $65 a head. I came away flabbergasted at not only the amount of food served but the quality and choice. The waiter would not tell me what was on the choices menu that evening, so we could make an informed choice, we were served what I thought was $65 worth of food for 7 people, and simple meals except for rare beef, and I would not feed my dog this amount let alone 7 people. You have lost my return visit.

The food quality was great - which is fairly standard of the decent eateries in Melbourne... what really stands out is the service - absolutely second to none. Super friendly and supremely professional!

Very yum food, the restaurant is more of a share style establishment. The food is super yum and comes our staggered throughout the stay. Huge alcohol menu.

I was sitting on the bar and normally I d hate over seeing a Chef tell off a team member but in this case it was amusing and I felt like I was watching a mini drama. The staff are right there cooking on the edge of the bar. Chef was really not loving the team member - maybe it was an initiation? Maybe they were new but the entertainment was fun so thank you! Haha

most definitely a masterpiece. great professional service and refreshing menu. extensive wine list and great vibe. fairly expensive. suitable for romantic dinners and special events

Fabulous - Ben Pigott is the best young chef in Melbourne!

Dessert was delicious. Atmosphere was good. Staff were nice.

The menu is amazing and prepared so beautifully. But that's where the good news ends.
The staff try too hard to be cool that they come across as extremely cold.
The sharing nonsense just does not work. I know it's very fashionable at the moment, but it NEVER works! (With the exception of tapas). Cumulus just does not have the substance to pull off the sharing aspect of its dining.
We were a table of four men and were advised on something that was not the least bit appropriate in feeding two of us. Bizarre to say the least. In fact the staff advice was totally lousy! It's as if they had no idea what the portion sizes were, or just didn't care. They also took ALL the menus away so we couldn't order more if we wanted. They could have perhaps left one like the one I was desperately grasping onto with grim death.
This is the second time I have been and the service was totally bizarre the first time also.
Will not go back for a third time.
It's a very fashionable place to be seen and I think the staff count on that fact way too much. All style and NO substance!
To add insult to injury they added a tip onto the credit card bill themselves, I learnt this after I left a cash tip at the table. So for crap service we tipped several times over.
CUMULUS IS A WASTE OF TIME!

Best to go when it s not too busy, but overall food and service were good, even though it s a bit on the pricey side

Great staff, amazingly good simple food that is so tasty... the best breakfast, lunch and dinner in melb

Tuna tartar was amazing and the service impeccable. Super kind and welcoming to one!

We heard so much about Cumulus when we were in Sydney, that we had to try it out. It definitely didn't disappoint. Fantastic food and service. They even made us grapefruit mimosas that were not on the menu. Freshly squeezed juice with their sparkling wine..yumm. Staff was so great and accommodating. I bet dinner is even better. Highly recommend to stop by if in Melbourne.

Y-U-M-M-Y! beautiful menu, ine of my favourite restaurant

A late brunch at Cumulus lnc, walked right in and was able to be seated at the bar. I did like to sit at the bar as we could watch the staff cook and work. Coffee quick but not that hot did taste nice tho. Food was served in good time considering how busy they were. I d have to say over priced and the food was nice not great but if you re in the area need quick bite then go. Very friendly staff and served with a smile all the time.

One of my favourite restaurants in Melbourne. I like the concept of sharing. Food is fresh.

Had an amazing dinner here last year. Still enjoying the laughs and thinking about the food

First impressions are everything and we were totally unimpressed. After being seated menus were slapped down and there was no offer to order coffees or water.
Really must do better.

From the minute you arrive to leaving you are made to feel welcome. Such a vibrant restaurant, extensive wine list great atmosphere. The food was so delicious, we had the chefs selection. Could not fault it.
Brilliant food, we will be back

Top marks in all areas. Service was as good as it gets (man with the mo) and food was fab. I don't often make the effort to review, but this was well worth telling people about.

High ceilings,casual ambience,attentive staff
Great dishes with generous lashings imagination
Perfect for the intrepid foodie.

Went for brekkie here at 8:30am as a group of 4. We were seated straight away and immediately asked of we wanted any drinks. I had eggs florentine which was delicious, and my partner enjoyed the Shakshouka which he said was great. Would definitely eat here again. Staff were attentive and friendly, and there were large groups of people heading to work who wanted coffee to go, so they seem to be popular both as a sit down and on the go place.

I was hosting a lunch for 6, we sat down at 1:00pm and ordered pre dinner drinks, then we shared some very tasty entree dishes. The main meals were slow to appear so we ordered more wine. By 2:30pm we still hadn t had our main meals. I followed up with the waitress and was assured the meals wouldn t be far off.

I had a meeting back at the office at 3:00pm so had to leave at 2:50pm before the mains were served. I left my credit card and bid all farewell.

I wouldn t recommend this place based upon the slow service. Embarrassing

Weekends means queues or go earlier to avoid waiting
Food service is quick so table turnover isn't too bad
Gorgeous venue and styling

Our experience was horrible, we arrived and told the manager that we were waiting for someone to have a business meeting, very kindly arranged for us an appropriate table. We ordered coffee and after that all the waitresses started including the manager to ask if we wanted something more we said no and they came back again and again super intense and rude, then after 30 minutes of being there and without even requesting they brought us the bill, our plan was to have lunch after the meeting ended and I told the waitress, but so rude every minute one of them came to ask, we got irritated and the better we left.

I go to this place because I am lonely and have no friends, my family are all dead and I fatten myself up because I have social anxiety disorder and crippling depression. Don't try to help me.

One of the best coffees in Melbourne ! At least from the two dozen places I've tried and as a coffee lover i was really excited to visit Melbourne, this was one of the few places that lived up to the hype !