The Hardware Societé, Melbourne

Before flying out of Melbourne, we decided to head on to The Hardware Societé, one of the two cafés our friends were raving about all over Instagram and Facebook, with the other must-try café being Manchester Press, which is a short walk from The Hardware Societé.

The exterior of The Hardware Societé. We waited for a good 20 minutes due to the sheer number of people already seated.

First things first, the menu. I must say that the menu was far more elaborate than that of Manchester Press. They had a lot of food options that required a lot of preparation. However, the price was really steep, with most dishes sitting comfortably in the $20 range.

I can't remember exactly what we all ordered but they were all pretty heavy. I ordered some sort of tea and I regretted it. It tasted funny and it was sour. Definitely not something I would drink as an early morning pick-me-up. 

The tea drink that I ordered.

Iced chocolate.

A must-try: Hot chocolate. And yes, there were hot chocolate pieces in the mug.

Pork belly.

Wagyu beef.

Chef's special. I think it was lamb.

My friends were pretty impressed with the food there but I wasn't as pleased, mainly because of my poor choice in food that day. Not only did the drink taste bitter and sour at the same time, my choice of the chef's special was lackluster, especially for the price.

The service was good and the ambience was pretty good. Though, it's probably not the best place to have breakfast if you want to sip coffee and read a good book. Go there with friends and chill out, that's my suggestion.

Would I return?
Yes, yes and yes!

Things to try: Hot chocolate and the pork belly.

Rating
Food: 4.5/5
Ambience: 4/5
Service: 5/5
Price: 4/5
Overall: 4.375/5