Oliver’s Garden

There is a lot of potential here, namely the cute cottage building and the central location in the middle of Queens Park, however they don’t seem to deliver. Take away coffees are good however our food experiences left a little to be desired.
We ate lunch here recently, the two adults both got warm chicken rolls and our young dining guest had a ham and cheese toasty. The rolls were wrapped in foil and it seems that they had been pre-​made and then heated in the foil. This would have been ok except it meant that we had very soggy lettuce.
I got the ‘Ryan Gosling’ fresh juice which was quite nice as was my partners iced coffee.

What makes Oliver’s Garden so special?
Imagine this. You’re walking in a park on a beautiful sunny day overseeing the lake and all you think about is food, as you do, but there’s none in sight. Well, if you happen to wander right in the heart of Queens Park in Moonee Ponds there would be a café that has some secret tricks up its sleeves and a menu that will get you excited.
They serve breakfast and lunch with delicious smoothies on a daily basis. You can sit outside (awesome on nice days) or inside. It’s a great place for families with a kid’s menu, playground and plentiful of space for prams.
I have been here a few times and the waitresses have been prompt and friendly. When looking through the menu you will find playful names like Ryan Gosling for smoothies or cute commentary like «good luck» for The Full breakfast.
As much as I love breakfast, I couldn’t pass up the Royale with cheese. This is Oliver’s Garden secret weapon. It’s a burger, with secret sauce and 180g of awesome (meat patty). It’s served with lovely chips and you have the option to double the patty and add bacon (this is compulsory, add the bacon!), if you’re game. I have had many burgers in my existence and this burger takes the cake and eats it too for being one of the best burgers I have tried in Melbourne. The bun is ridiculously smooth (being a brioche, it’s rich and tender), the meat is cooked without a flaw, the secret sauce is tranquillising and with every bite you’re finding yourself moving closer to food heaven.
Have the Royale with the Bananarama smoothie (banana, soy, cinnamon, honey, yoghurt and you can add protein if you like) and there’s no going back to any other café (except for Seven Seeds’s Elvis french toast), you’re done, you have found your nirvana.
Love this place, keep doing what you’re doing, the menu is so big; I can’t even get past the Royale with cheese! This is how you make a burger ladies and gentlemen; this is a café with an edge.

Lovely café in the middle of the picturesque queens park. This is the place to go with baby and the kids.
It is heaven if you have a family, and want to relax while the kids play on the play equipment and you enjoy coffee/​brunch/​or lunch.
My only criticism would be that service can be at times slow, but not slow enough to stop you from enjoying the delicious offerings and the beautiful surrounds.
I strongly recommend making the trip!

If you find yourself wandering around Queens Park and in need of a quick fix, then this is the place for you.
Handy for me, it is right next to a children’s play area so the little one can crawl around and generally make a mess. They do an ok breakfast and a reasonably priced lunch. They have a reasonably diverse kids menu so it doesn’t have to be just chips for the kids
Don’t be in too much of a hurry; their service speed can be a bit hit miss especially if you are just after a takeaway coffee whilst you continue around the lake. It wouldn’t take much for them to propel themselves into one of the ‘must try’ cafes in Melbourne however.