Cafe Zen Den

Very busy on weekends but a great selection of vego and vegan friendly meals, with witty names (my favourite was the Yolko Ono egg dish). Reasonable prices and generous servings. Friendly staff too. A great local find! Only downside is parking can be scarce as it is on the main road leading out of Eltham.

Been here a fair few times so I feel I can give a well rounded review. The 3 stars is for the coffee which has always been great and super tasty. However unfortunately I’ve never enjoyed my dine in experience, today has promoted me to give this review. I find there’s nothing standing out about the wait staff, I wasn’t sure if I was being approached by a worker or another cafe patron. A little bit of professional or uniformed appearance goes a long way. An apron, note book, name tag, anything which tells the customer they work there! The waitress who served me today dressed extremely casual and untidy looking. Secondly, in a post pandemic era going into winter- the cramped tables are very uncomfortable. Especially if you’re seated in the middle part, you’ll have people and prams being squeezed past you as it’s the main thoroughfare to the front of the cafe. Very uncomfortable and felt like I was going to leave with the flu or Covid being so close to people. The dine in experience can be so much better if you put some $$$ into it. Will only get take away coffee from here now.

We walked around Eltham for lunch without anything really catching our eye. We arrived at 2.55pm and staff were happy to serve even though the kitchen was closing in 5 minutes. We ordered the beef bisket burger, gf crispy salmon salad, latte and a shiraz. Everything was delicious. Our 2 huskies loved it! They got a free puppercino, dog treat and may be featured in #doggosofzenden. We will definitely be back!