The Maling Room
Crn Maling & Canterbury Rd
Canterbury
Lovely old building, great natural light… but the praise might end here. Spacing of tables was not thoughtful; for instance, to look at the cakes etc. on display one has to squeeze behind chairs and tables. Service was not entirely clear. We had to order at the counter, but I saw some folk being served at their tables(?). The coffee was quite good, but not up to our expectations*: the long black lacked density and depth – although our cappuccino tester was happy with her coffee. There was no music, which was a plus.
The atmosphere was not one which we at cafesmelbourne.com enjoy. I like a cafe which is not too busy, but has a buzz, perhaps even a sense of excitement. However at the Maling Room the atmosphere was somehow indifferent. We felt as though it didn’t really matter whether we were present or not. Wait staff seemed to drift or float around without providing even an occasional attentive eye.
* A placard stuck onto the front counter advertises the The Maling Room is ranked very highly by Crema.
Don’t go there! We went because it was listed in The Age Good Cafe Guide.
The service was worse than appalling. The large number of staff members seemed more interested in talking to each other and swanning around behind the counter instead of serving customers.
When we finally did get served, the food was served separately instead of together and just dumped on the table without a smile. Staff seemed very unfriendly towards customers. No smiles for customers, only each other. Bad attitudes (bordering on rude) all round.
PS. The food was ok. However, although we are coffee snobs, we we’re so peed off that we didn’t stay for coffee.