Shed 5 - SOUTH WHARF

My friends and I stopped by for a few drinks during happy hour after grabbing lunch nearby. I remember there was only one type of beer available, but that was no problem. We were lucky to grab a sofa chair with a view of the river. The restaurant was lovely, and I definitely want to come back and try one of their delicious-looking pizzas sometime.

Four of us dined at this restaurant last night. Three of us shared a lamb pizza, arancini balls, and calamari as entrees, while the other ordered calamari as a main. When both dishes of calamari were brought to the table at the same time, we noticed that the main was only slightly larger than the entree, with a few extra pieces and more lettuce to make it appear bigger. When we pointed this out to a female staff member, she just grinned oddly and walked away. Considering the main was double the price, I suggest ordering two entrees instead. The calamari was tender but seemed to have been microwaved and then briefly pan-fried, resulting in it being lukewarm. The arancini balls were cold in the middle, as if they were cooked from frozen. The pizza was the highlight of the meal. At the end of the evening, another female waitress asked about our meals, and one of the girls mentioned the issues we had experienced. The waitress became defensive, which was confusing since she had asked for feedback. Unfortunately, we will not be returning. On a positive note, the male waiters were attentive, and the outdoor area with heaters was a nice touch. The restaurant did run out of rocket salad but offered a suitable replacement or a refund.

Customer service didn’t start well and food was average. We didn’t arrive until 2pm so thought we would get quick service as the place wasn’t packed. We stood for about 10 minutes,along with half a dozen other potential customers, waiting to be seated and being ignored a wave in our direction with a “won’t be a moment” might have gone down well enough to stop everyone else from walking on to other restaurants. However this brought us to the top of the queue unfortunately. We ordered lunch via QR code one of us received a meal, the other had to ask twice for hers and when the baked gnocchi arrived 20 minutes after the first person had finished their meal it was tasteless and most of it was left behind. Won’t be going back. The staff were quite cheerful and friendly when they finally got around to us

It is interesting that despite the challenges faced by the hospitality industry during the Covid lockdowns, some businesses are still turning away customers. While in Melbourne for the evening, we decided to visit Plus 5 for dinner and drinks based on its positive reviews. We had a gift voucher to redeem and were willing to spend additional money as well. However, upon arrival, we were informed by a staff member that we could not use our voucher because the venue's manager was not present that night. Disappointed by this response, we chose to dine at General Assembly next door instead, where we enjoyed delicious food, drinks, and live music. Unfortunately, we have no plans to return to Plus 5 in the future.

What happened to Customer Service in Melbourne? Such a shame because this place has good potential. Drink service was exceptionally slow. Food was even slower although they did prewarn us about that. Young waitress was so sour, obviously doesn’t like working in hospitality. Guy in the snail shirt was very pleasant. Maybe the night vibe/staff are different, will give it a go for dinner. Pizza was nice