The Artful Dodger

The Artful Dodger is located on a busy corner street of Glen Huntly Road and Lyndon Street. It’s not an ideal place if you don’t like busy roads or sitting near the roads.
Personally, I’m not a fan of the location and décor of this place, which didn’t stop me from coming to this place. The staff seemed fun and it seemed like a popular café in this area, so I decided to drop by for brunch.
The service wasn’t great and the waiters seemed all over the place. One waiter was uncertain about the coffee selection available. I had to repeat myself twice that I wanted a black coffee, since their cold drop was not available at the time. Yet the cold drip was listed on the board inside the café. Another waiter failed to place two sets of fork and knife for my partner and I.
I had a «Snuff Box» black coffee whilst my partner had the «Penny Box» latte with bonsoy. My black coffee was good, and decent for the Elsternwick (or the suburbs).
I was pleasantly surprised when the food came to the table as the Green Chilli Grilled Prawns Salad with cucumber, coriander, spiced cashews, swill chard, sweet and sour sauce looked vibrant, fresh and mouthwatering. It actually tasted delicious. The prawns were flavoursome and not overcooked or rubbery. The flavours and texture worked really well on this dish and is one of the best prawn salads I’ve had. The salad sounded chilli on paper, but isn’t chilli at all. It was more a zangy and sweet flavour. The prawn salad is reasonable priced at $ 17.50.
The Chunky Fat Chips was hot, crunchy on the outside and soft on the inside. The chips came with plenty of smoked paprika and lime zest was a great sauce to dip the chips in. We ordered the small bowl for $ 4.50 which I felt was quite cheap because there was plenty of chips and sauce.
The staff at the café are friendly, just need a little work amongst the waiters in terms of knowledge of their coffee, food and ensuring there’s no missing cutlery placed on the table. The coffee is good. It is their food that I would come back again. Great flavours and decent portion at a reasonable price. Great café for the suburbs!

The name of the café caught my eye so I thought I’d give it a try for my morning coffee & was pleasantly suprised by the place, I love the atmosphere I was greeted by 2 bubbly staff 1 was the barista he seemed like a bit of a joker which is always good in the morning when somone puts a smile on your face.
The coffee itself was very nice I was impresssd.
I will update the review the next time I come in to let you know what the food is like.

Go, go and try the fritters.
I had seen The Artful Dodger some time ago after getting the train to Elsternwick, but had forgotten about it until recently. Looking for some tasty 11am food, and a decent coffee, this was the first place I saw this morning — rekindling my former desire to come here, we wandered in.
The staff were pleasant and rearranged a couple of outdoor tables so we could sit int he sun, which was nice. After bringing the menus, the coffee arrived quickly, and we ordered the eggs on gluten free toast, and the corn and zucchini fritters with bacon.
The coffee was good, and I would go back for the coffee alone. It didn’t set my world on fire, but there was certainly noting wrong with it. Dining partner also very happy.
The eggs on toast were good, with the poaching done well, Hollandaise delicious and toast toasted perfectly. With two eggs delivered, two bits of toast, plentiful sauce and butter, this is a good meal if you’re into something to fill a gap. My pal got more than she bargained for, as explained below…
The fritters were the highlight, and are worth making a journey to try. Coming with bacon, avocado and pomegranate seed smash, garlic infused white creamy stuff I can’t describe, rocket, poached egg and a couple of tasty, fluffy, crispy, (healthy?) fritters, this is $ 16 well spent. All I can say is: «Go! Go try the fritters». I didn’t want the avocado, so passed it my dining partner, who smeared it on a piece of gluten free toast.
After this massive feed, we both needed a constitutional down Glen Huntly Road.
The staff were friendly, swift, diligent and awesome. Very impressed.
Dog-​friendly.
Also has inside dining.

GREAT chicken soft tacos — not something I expected in Oz to be this good, to be honest, but they really did it up right. My partner had the bacon toastie and loved it as well, and complimented their in-​house espresso roast as well. Nice outdoor seating and good vibe. Delicious polenta orange dessert at the end too :) Solid gluten free selection as well which was awesome. Only reason not giving 5 stars is because the service was super scattered — we were offered someone else’s orders not once, not twice, but three times, before on the fourth try getting our actual order to us. But we’ll definitely be back !

Wow! How have I just discovered this place? This place has a great alternative breakfast and lunch menu with plenty of choice, including gluten free options. Their customer service is excellent. Always über friendly staff and prompt service. Set in a lovely outdoor setting. Well worth a look in.

Coffee was burnt, service was lacking. Great vibe in summer though, so potential for an improved rating.

Great little local café. Quality coffee and breakfasts. Always a happening place on a weekend morning. Service is OK.

Again, I’ve only ever had take-​away coffees from here but they were quite good. Great when you just need that extra kick. I’m coming back here for lunch one day soon.

Been here twice and I won’t be back, it’s a shame really, cause the food and coffee are actually nice. Both time it has been the service which is a problem. The first time the staff were too busy chatting to each other, yesterday they just seemed to be in a battle between the staff and the kitchen — which affected the service. Plus they forgot we ordered coffee. Good location, good food, horrible service.

For me the Artful Dodger is a local café that I might pop into for lunch or a coffee when I am close by. A friend of mine I used to work with lives no way near this area and out of the blue ask if he wanted to meet me for a coffee at the Artful Dodger. I found this really strange as I thought that it was just a local café, turns out that word of mouth is really powerful which means that this humble little café located in a great spot could in fact need an extra star that what I was originally going to give it.

The Artful Dodger is hard to miss after turning off the Nepean Hwy on to Glenhuntly Road as it sits out on the corner seemingly always busy.
Sadly the positioning across the road from the train station and practically on the busy street means it gets loud with cars beeping and general road noise. The coffee there is supposed to be excellent but mine was a little burnt so I have to say I was a tiny bit disappointed.
There is a good menu of interesting meals though. The Bircher muesli is good as well as their roasted chicken Panini where the prices are reasonable for the size and quality.
The service was also pretty good although I felt compelled to say the coffee was a little burnt and I got some sarcastic rolling of the eyes but I suppose no one likes to hear that. Maybe a replacement coffee wouldn’t have gone astray?
Either way, the ambiance there isn’t the relaxing type I personally really like and I never enjoy the road noises so it loses a few points because of the position. Otherwise, if you’re spending a day down Glenhuntly Rd then it might be a good spot to stop a have a quick brunch.