Blend Cafe & Pizza Bar

What on earth has happened to Blend? We live just up the hill a few blocks away, and used to go there all the time. Four years ago the service was friendly and enthusiastic, and Blend was a great place to take kids for dinner. It’s loud, but the kids got colouring pages and crayons, and there was plenty of kid-​friendly food on the menu. Once they opened the bar next door, things started to change, and we stopped going. Last night (May 18) a friend came over with her two hungry boys who were straight from tennis lessons, so we all headed down the hill for dinner at Blend. Ever walked into a place and felt a bad vibe? That’s what it was like, only with three hungry, tired kids to feed we didn’t feel up to driving somewhere else. The staff looks as if they were collected off the street in a van, and they all behave like hostages. No smiles. No greeting, No menus until we asked three times. Our server was a grizzly older woman who was borderline hostile and literally threw our pizza bianca on the table and walked off. The pizza bianca used to be a fabulous starter. It is supposed to be pizza crust with a tiny bit of cheese, olive oil, garlic, rosemary and salt. What we got was a joke: dry crust with a sprinkle of rosemary, and no oil or seasoning whatsoever. The kids said it was «the worst pizza ever», and I agree. The mussels in the chili mussels were plump and nice, but the sauce was terrible. Everything else was «meh». No one asked if we wanted another round of drinks, so I finally had to grab someone and ask. We never got them. The servers seemed to be spending all of their time and energy at the bar next door, and for ten solid minutes there was not one employee on the floor or at the bar at Blend, other than the cooks and pizza chef. Things got weirder when we went up front to pay. A man who looked like actor Ray Liotta approached us and said,“We’ll have to check the cameras to find out exactly what happened. If you can leave your details…” The barman scooted up and said quickly,“These are not the same people! Sorry, it’s someone else!”. No idea what that was all about, but it just added to the pervasively bad vibe. $ 139.00 thrown down the gurgler, in my opinion, and despite the close proximity to our house, we will not be back.

A little disapointed in the service. We were never given water and when requested it never came. Asked again after mains and it finally turned up. All meals were tasty. My seafood linguine was very good as was the prawn fetuccini. Coffee as also well prepared. Final annoying thing is that they would not split the bill between two couples. Really that is not hard to do.

Great service and interesting décor! Always have a great time and enjoyable meal. Also a nice place to go for coffee or breakfast with friends!

A bit hit and miss. I’ve been here as a single diner, with friends, and with large groups and each time had a different experience. Sometimes the coffee is outstanding, sometimes not, and same with the pizza. A good place if you’re a local.

A very busy and very popular spot! I wish I could have given it a better review. But I found it hard to hear anything, food came out cold, my steak was undercooked and unrested leaving a pool of blood under my mash and staff were not attentive. Portions were good, but a lot things lacked the luster that I wish this spot had.
I can imagine it very family friendly, but my experience just could have gone a little better.
If enough people convinced me I might go back, but I am in no hurry.

The décor is amazing and eclectic, the food is amazing and a great place to sit and have breakfast and a catch up, one of my favourite places.

This place was fantastic! The décor is amazing very eclectic and fun it has random stuff hanging up on the ceiling — bicycles, statues and very quirky stuff! I went here for breakfast with friends and ordered the potato cakes & a coffee it was delicious! I would definitely recommend this place for the atmosphere & amazing eclectic décor! :)

It kills me to have to do this. I wanted to give 4 stars, but the latest visit just really dampened the mood.
I’ve been to Blend with the missus about 4 – 5 times, and each time have been great, the food has always been delicious and plentiful and though some people have said the prices here are a bit on the steeper end I think the quality has always justified the prices.
However, heed my warning. Do NOT get the scotch fillet (aka Rib Eye). It may have been a misplay on my poor partner’s behalf to order something from the «Todays Special’s» Menu, however the Medium Rare piece of meat came out «Well Done». She shyly let one of the waiters know and they apologized and then brought out what I can only describe as the most awful looking piece of meat I have ever seen.
I asked for a bite and instantly regretted my decision. I asked her to cut the questionable carcass in half and at once saw why it tasted so foul:
The meat was old.
I want to stop right here, and draw an image for you. Yes it was defnitely medium rare, except instead of the pinkish center, all I saw was grey. The kind of grey you see on deathly sick people. That shade of grey which my face had now turned after witnessing what I had just ingested not 10 seconds ago.
I myself got the ravioli and even though it was VASTLY better than the Grey Meat of Death, it was still lackluster in comparison to the fantastic flavors I was accustomed to from Blend. This was definitely a let down visit, and I am hoping a once off.
I would still recommend going to Blend Café, just stay away from the scotch fillet, because cats aren’t the only things that can die from curiosity.

On a Saturday morning, about 11.30 you will be eternally grateful for that fact that they serve breakfast until 2pm.
To be honest, I spent more time looking at the décor and trying to take it all in. Ice skates, figurines, giraffes, bicycles, giant Elmo — too many things to take in. Combine this with the mismatched chairs and the atmosphere was a delightful mix of quirky and welcoming.
My meal:
Fresh apple juice — «it was an apple 3 seconds ago!» Deliciously cloudy, a little bit on the sour side of tart but delicious.
Bacon, scrambled eggs & toast — the bacon was delicious, not to fatty but just enough to be full flavored. Scrambled eggs were delicious, not overly seasoned but maybe a tiny but watery. Fresh sour dough bread for the toast, with generous lurpak butter on the side. They gave you a little individual patty for each slice, and that is a big win in my book! Not just quality, but quantity.
Will definitely be going back and taking a bit of a deeper look into the large menu — I saw buttermilk pancakes!

Last week, I tweeted about Blend’s potato cake. Actually I did more than just post… I raved! I put Blend’s potato cake on a pedestal and came up with a 0 to Blend scale.
Today’s visit to Blend with PK (a fellow potato cake lover) had been hyped up. This morning, PK sent a text saying, «Potato cake day is like Christmas!»… that’s how excited we were!
As a kid, did you ever wake up on Christmas Day to see a pile of beautifully wrapped presents that Santa had left for you. The plate of biscuits and glass of milk that you had thoughtfully left out had been eaten and your parents were sitting with baited breath watching you unwrap your gifts from Santa. As you make your way to the Barbie shaped box, you rip open the paper squealing with excitement only to find Santa had given you a «Kira» doll, Barbie’s Asian friend instead of the blonde haired, blue eyes doll you had wanted.
No? That was just me? Well that’s what today felt like.
I can’t quite put my finger on it but it didn’t blow me away like on my first and second visits. Perhaps it was my high expectations… Presentation aside, it tasted rich but not delicious and the potato cake didn’t have a crunchiness to it like I remember. The dish was sloppy, mushy and disappointing. Unlike my Kira doll who I grew to love, I did not grow to love my potato cake.
On a positive note, my soy chai latte was awesome and Blend was packed with patrons which is always a great sign.
Would I return?
I’m not sure… Melville is a 30 minute drive and if I’m going to travel that far and spend $ 24 (potato cake $ 19, soy chai latte $ 5), I want a good breakfast.

You know a café is good when it is as constantly packed to the rafters with locals as this one. Blend is a pizza joint as well as being a café, so it has two distinct moods; during the day, there’s a smattering of coffee drinkers around the place, enjoying the great coffee made by some of the most consistent baristas in town. The lunch food is fairly generic café fare (protip: avoid the salads); it’s really only at night that this place shines as an eating establishment. Come dusk, you’ll find the joint full of locals chowing down on some seriously excellent pizza. Service can vary wildly from underwhelming to excellent; it’s frequently busy but the inconsistency here means I have to rate it lower than I would otherwise. Still, the pizza is worth the hassle, just go in knowing that it’s not the kind of joint where they give amazing service and you’ll be fine.

Blend is a great place to visit for either a cup of coffee or a meal. If you love Italian cuisine, you will find it perfectly presented and absolutely deliciously yummy!
It can get quite busy and noisy at night time when both parts of the restaurant are opened up, but the food makes up for the noise. During the day time hours, Blend only open up one part of the premises, but at night, the whole area is opened up to allow for the extra customers.
According to their website, they are currently updating their menu, but the schnitzel is highly recommended. The piece of schnitzel on my plate was huge, and along with the salad and perfectly cooked chips, the meal is very filling.
Dessert is very tasty as well, if you can fit it in. The coffee was okay but it didn’t really matter after the almost perfect meal.
Blend also provide a kid’s menu and a set menu.