Caffe Sienna

Caffé Sienna
South Yarra & Toorak, Melbourne
Nov 15, 2013 via mobile
NEGATIVE

Wooow. This café is revolting. I had the salmon flatini which was… to be blunt, pathetic. 14 $ frozen salmon with a gross fishy smell.
Total rip off too. Avoid like the plague. I felt like I was at risk of getting something here.

The constant change of backpackers as serving staff always gives this place a vibrant atmosphere. Food here is great and is a fantastic location to catchup with friends over a few drinks or coffee.

Went here for the first time yesterday. Seemed like a lot of the places on chapel street were closed so we found ourselves here.
Had a decent looking menu and between the four of us we ordered the corn fritters, the baked eggs and chorizo, the Benedict, and the breakfast calzone. Overall, I would say the food was good but nothing to write home to mom about.
The chorizo eggs were definitely the best. My only suggested improvement would be to throw some goat cheese in there (yum!). The corn fritters were more like pancakes with some extra corn in them and the breakfast calzone needed to deliver more on the egg flavors. I like the concept of it, but without a lot of egg it kinda tastes like a normal calzone.
If you’re looking for a quick bite to eat, perfectly fine but I probably won’t be seeking it out in the future.

Not a place for the locals. There are much better options in the vicinity!

Hey, it’s busy, it’s Chapel Street and it’s Saturday, if you’re looking for a spot to sit, put your wonderful Cue and Mimco presents down for a rest and have a well deserved coffee, milkshake, or even a very cheeky wine then this is perfect. The food is magnificently mediocre and is exactly what you would expect from a traditional café and everything is relatively well priced (remember, you’re South of the river and right next to Chapel St, everything is relative).
For me, this is the perfect pit stop for a Saturday Chapel Street mission; shop, stop, coffee, shop, stop, meal, coffee, shop, sleep, yay!
Don’t go in expecting the Ritz and you’ll have a wonderful time.

Open late even on weekdays. a good place to hang out and people watch

Hubs and I had out first meal in Australia here after 2 days of traveling from New York. We were shopping on chapel street and came across this trendy little place. It was pretty crowded at 2pm on a Monday so we decided to check it out. Highly recommend the calamari, lightly breaded served with a spicy mayo and arugula salad. We then split the tandoori chicken pizza, with zucchini and tahini yogurt sauce drizzled on top. Delicious. Perfectly paired with a bottle of Mr. Riggs Shiraz from McLaren Vale! All the spices of the food and wine blended perfectly together!
Place was great for people watching too. All in all it was a great way to spend our first afternoon in Melbourne!

I found this place to be a big pile of meh.
The food is underwhelming and over priced and the service was very so so. Also, it looks from the outside like the place is bustling and one would assume that means quality, but when you get inside, it’s actually such a big vacuous space that it feels like you’re eating in an empty cafeteria.
There are so many cafes on Chapel St that have so much more atmosphere than this place, so it’s definitely not one I recommend.

This venue definitely looks promising, with it’s open air dining and rather extensive menu, however I am yet to be impressed or even really satisfied for that matter with the food quality at Café Sienna.
Don’t get me wrong, the food is fresh and the servings are quite generous, heart Salads, Toasted Foaccia’s and traditional Italian Pasta’s, but the quality in these dishes seems to be somewhat lacking. Maybe it’s due to the popularity of the restaurant, Café Sienna is always busy no matter what time of the day or night. But I think if the demand of the customer’s is outreaching what the café can produce something needs to be changed. I have often had to wait quite a long time for my meal to arrive, which also probably impacted my feelings on it’s quality and taste.
Café Sienna is nice if you are just after a casual bite to eat or a few glasses of wine, but if you want a quick meal or fine dining experience best move further up the South Yarra end of Chapel Street.

This place is always busy! I don’t understand why?!
The food inst that amazing and the quality isn’t anything to rave about. As for the service, yeah its really average. No one really knows whats going on, if anyone’s taken your order and sometimes your food arrives before you have cutlery or water! There is so much traffic passing though here and the staff definitely seem more relaxed than the patrons.
The only thing that I can appreciate here is its location and that it is open late.

Pros: REALLY BIG SALADS
Good prices
Nice pizzas
Great location
Cons: questionable service.
This is one of those places that every time I go I am frustrated by the slightly vacant-​eyed wait staff who wander around looking surprised at having such a massive clientele and never remember to bring you a bottle of water for the table. But somehow, I always forget that and end up suggesting it for the pros listed above, and so the cycle continues. This place is a Chapel Street institution and is worth going to if only for the fact that no matter how freakin packed it is you can somehow always get a table and you know the food will be really good.