Brunch review: Cream, Civic

My friend and I went into Civic planning to use a Living Social voucher.  Unfortunately, Mill Cafe would not honour the voucher due to a dispute with Living Social. This was the first bad experience I have had through a group buying website, and it left a sour taste in my mouth - not least because the owner of Mill Cafe was quite rude.

We decided to cut our losses and went to Cream, which I had wanted to try anyway. The decor is modern and classy, and it looks great from the street:

 

The Scoring

Menu variety / creativity: 7/10. Not bad. The menu isn't very creative but there are enough sweet and savoury options to keep me happy.

Taste:  5/10. My poached eggs on toast with mushrooms was dry, bland and disappointing. My friend's french toast looked a lot more appealing, but really, a good cafe should not mess up simple eggs on toast.

Coffee: 6/10. Nothing special. I would rate it about average.

Setting / location: 8/10. A lovely casual setting with bright modern decor and plenty of natural light.

Service: 6/10. Service was reasonably efficient, although not friendly. Here's the funny part - I said to my friend "Have you noticed that all the waitresses are clones of each other? Tall and skinny with big hair, mostly blond? It's weird, because I said the same thing at Urban Pantry". To which my friend replied: "Cream has the same owners as Urban Pantry!". The waitress serving us spilt my coffee over the saucer and table as she put it down, and didn't even apologise despite clearly noticing the mess. A smile also would have been nice.

Price: 6/10. I can't remember exact prices, although I remember thinking it was a little exxy. French toast was around $18, and my eggs and mushrooms was around $15.

Verdict: I probably wouldn't bother coming here again, especially since there is such a range of cafes in Civic. Nothing about the food or service impressed me.