The Hatter and the Hare

I don’t usually post reviews but I felt the need to share my positive experience today at the hatter and the hare. I treated my mum to the high tea experience for her birthday. Fortunately at the last minute my dad was accommodated to join us and order off the regular menu. The decor of the restaurant was beautiful, it was a vibrant but calm atmosphere. The quality, taste and presentation of each individual sweet and savoury was incredible. We were gratefully able to take home the cakes we could not eat. The service was exceptional. The man that looked after us was extremely accomodating and kind. All the staff were so helpful to ensure we had the best experience. Highly recommend dining at THATH and booking the high tea experience!

​This cafe is an absolute delight! ​I love Alice in Wonderland, and the subtle, charming theme is evident in every detail throughout the space. ​The food is fantastic—super yummy with genuinely large portion sizes. If you get an add-on (like avocado or bacon), you get a fair amount, so it's totally worth the price. The coffee is also high quality. ​I'm impressed that the quality here has not dropped over time. ​A special mention: The Christmas decor is stunning and instantly elevates your Sunday morning brunch to a whole new, festive level! Highly, highly recommend!

We had breakfast and coffee at Hatter and the Hare in Bayswater, and everything was very good. The food was fresh, well-presented, and satisfying, and the coffee was smooth and enjoyable. What really stood out was the ambiance and beautifully decorated, making it a lovely place to relax and enjoy a meal. It feels warm and inviting, perfect for a casual breakfast or a catch up with friends. Overall, a great spot with good food, good coffee, and a charming atmosphere.

First time at the Hatter and the Hare and it delivered. Tried Alice's Daydream, the Viet Lattes and their signature fries - all were fantastic! Excellent flavours and well balanced. Went for desserts too - Hatter and Cheshire Cat. Both were great, but the Hatter was the standout. Great coffee, top tier desserts, and a place we'll definitely come back to. Parking's a bit tight out front, but there's usually parking across the road next to the Bayswater Hotel car park, which makes it manageable.

The food & drinks were absolutely delicious. Food portion sizes for what we ordered were generous, more than enough for a substantial brunch/lunch. Drink sizes could be larger for the price, but we did order the 'fancy' ones, normal drinks may have a better size to price ratio. Christmas decorations were still up when we visited, and whilst they were were pretty, for us they took away from the actual theme/feel of the place as they were very over the top. Perfect for Christmas lovers though I suppose. The only gripe I have is with the service, whilst staff were absolutely lovely.. we needed more time to decide on our order and after 15min our waitress hadn't returned to take our order. We noticed she was just standing around talking to other staff. It's a small thing..but service is about being attentive to your tables. We also visited their bakery next door...highly recommend!

Such a fantastic find! Food is amazing, and for those of you with a sweet tooth, they have a separate kitchen for the pastries, with a couple of pastry chefs (not cooks!) making the most amazing little cakes. A perfect place for adults as well as children with the decor being designed around a very colourful theme of Alice in Wonderland. The kids love it!

What a wonderland of food and drink!!! After following The Hatter & the Hare for quite some time, it was high time we made the epic trek to taste the goodies on offer. They didn’t disappoint, the burgers were next level, both chicken and beef and the cakes were almost too beautiful to devour. (But we did with pleasure). It is very busy so book if you can. Our waitress was patient, attentive and extremely efficient. Parking onsite is tough but worth the wait or park on the street. Totally recommend you make the trip to Bayswater 💯 worth the long journey to experience it.

Absolutely awful. Save yourself the time, money, and disappointment. Arrived to find no table ready. Once seated, we were left sitting there like idiots for 10 minutes before having to flag down a waiter just to place an order. Drinks came out quickly, which was cute, because the food took nearly 40 minutes long enough for the drinks to be completely finished and forgotten about. When the food finally arrived, it was cold, poorly presented, and genuinely disgusting. The quality was so bad we couldn’t even finish it. Easily some of the worst café food I’ve been served, and absolutely not worth the wait. Service was an absolute circus. There were far too many staff on the floor, yet somehow nothing was getting done. No communication, no organisation, no clue. We had to ask multiple times for cutlery after the food had already been dumped on the table. Staff seemed more interested in wandering around and half-taking orders that never arrived on time, if they arrived at all. The décor deserves a special mention because it’s horrendous. Tacky, chaotic, and overwhelming, like someone vomited an Alison Wonderland Christmas theme all over the place and called it a vibe. Loud, messy, and completely lacking taste. Honestly, you’d be far better off walking down the road to Woolworths, buying ingredients, and cooking the meal yourself. At least then it’ll be hot, edible, and won’t come with a 40-minute wait and a side of incompetence. Would not return. Would not recommend. A complete waste of time, and just to top it off, good luck finding parking, because there’s no readily available parking either.

This place was beautiful and a wonderful experience. From presentation to taste, everything was amazing. Was able to visit with my mother and aunt and we had a lovely brunch.

The food was incredible and the desserts were amazing. HIGHLY HIGHLY recommend. I am visiting my husband's family from the US, and this restaurant is a must do if visiting Melbourne especially over the holidays. They are decked out in Christmas decorations, and the prices are reasonable. I will definitely encourage my friends and family to eat here if they are in the area

For the surrounding area this place is in a class of its own. Comparable to the best breakfast and lunch restaurants in the city.. Their drinks are amazing. Their food is amazing. Their pastries are very good but not as good as their food and drinks. Big open place, kid friendly. Good music. Great service

What an incredible find on the side of a road. We had to wait in line for approximately 15 mins for a table, which I'm told is good leading into peak times. The service was great, we has Pheobe serving us and she was engaging and lovely. The meals were presented beautifully and nothing was left behind. But if you had room there is a cake display that supersedes most I've seen outside of Acland Street, St Kilda. Everything looked delicious and reasonable sizes too. The fresh apple juice was a little overdone with the ice blocks, but Chai and coffee's were great. We really couldn't fault the service or the food. This is not your sit and have a long lunch kind of establishment. As it is SO busy, it can be quite noisy and hectic. And once you've eaten you expected to move on. The parking is a tricky, but there are places around that you can park. I believe if you go during the week their pastry kitchen operates and with a full glass viewing area you can see the pastry cooks at work. And as a side note, there are some walking/bike tracks around a great playground just around the corner. Enjoy.

Non existent parking. In a disgusting area. Waited for table and given a table that was still dirty. Order vegan dish and given real Fetta cheese and ate some yuck!!! Ordered mug of coffee got cup. Sent back then mug comes but no spoon. Salt shaker empty. Don't take bookings. Coffee Luke warm and burger almost cold. Staff nice. No nice views. Overpriced for the area. I think it was a nice try but very wide of the mark and in the wrong area. Cakes look nice but tiny and expensive so didn't bother. There are so many nice places nearby with plenty of parking in nice areas I think once the new novelty wears off they will struggle.

No matter how many times I return, I love it here. The quality of the food, the gorgeous atmosphere, and the baking! Oh the baking! The open glass kitchen at the side allows you to watch the cake decorating, and it's addictive beautiful. Aside from the incredible baking, the menu is creative, the food is delicious - completely brunch-perfect. I've ordered the Festival Sharing Board ($49 for 2 people) a few times when brunching with a friend, and to quote the waiter who suggested it the first time: "You will not be disappointed." Also recommend: the fresh juices, and ANY of the picture-perfect pastries or incredible baking creations. They taste as good as they look (and believe me, the look GOOD).

Quirky and very refreshing to find something different to the norm. You get about 1.5 hours on a Saturday morning to have your food/coffee/cake etc before you need to give up the spot for people waiting, but we were seating fairly quickly which was a surprise given how busy it was. Menu is interesting and the plating is more carefully done than in most places in the area. You can sit outside, inside near the front main window, or our preference was inside right beside the dessert preparation kitchen. You get a great view of the kitchen through large glass windows and become mesmerised as they finish the cakes and desserts. Service was pretty good. Food was ok - with a lot of different elements to each dish. Some of those elements were interesting in taste that can be a little polarising on the Avocado Toast, and serving size was probably a little on the small side for the $20+ you pay for each dish. Coffee was ok as well, but if you can get it in a take away cup instead of a standard cup you'll get more value - quite small cups of coffee when you sit in. Overall a great experience, the desserts are a must, but be prepared to pay a little more for the experience. 2 adults and a child set us back about $55-$60 for brekky.

Went for breakfast today and got a table straight away. Coffee was good. Seems a little fancy meals and overpriced for industrial Bayswater but love the Wonderland theme. Cakes all looked amazing. Only got 2 tiny pieces of capsicum and avocado on my meal when they were main listed ingredients. We read the reviews so knew to park elsewhere and had low expectations. Was okay overall, would give 3.5 if I could.

Nice food that's presented very well. It's an odd location: light industrial (auto repair shops, etc). Came here on a weekend and it was super busy. Had to wait ~20mins at the front door near the car park... Wait staff are super friendly. Good selection of vegan food and more vegetarian food (which could be veganised if they omitted the cheese). Hope to see more vegan options. Also there are no split bills and there's a 10% surcharge on public holidays .

This is one of the only cafes I know of that's managed to provide good coffee, exceptional service and stunning deserts all at once. Was initially hesitant at the idea of entering due to the location (not close to the city) but that thought was almost instantly dashed away by what was inside. You'll not regret coming here! Perhaps the only issue is finding a parking spot, but that's only because so many people agree that the journey is well worth it!

Lol .... didn't have avocado? Lucky TH&TH are so far from the city. Everything else seemed pretty good though.