Wonderpop is a tiny little shopfront on a tiny little alley in the the city of Melbourne... it's one of those blink and you will miss it.... plus, as you can see from the outside.... it just doesn't look like a place that you can sit down and have a snack and drink!

However, I had visited this place with my family (they count as friends right?) after a long drive from Geelong back to Melbourne..... okay, after such a long drive... it's debatable whether or not you are still friends.... but we definitely had beverages!

The Space

As I had said in the introduction... the only hint of a eatery is this door.... which, was pretty fogged up in the Australian winter as well... so, it is likely that you might have walked past this place if you weren't looking for it... or like us, just desperate to have anything to eat that was close to the place that we were staying at and open in the awkward hours of the late afternoon.... post lunch and pre dinner...

To be perfectly honest, the name Wonderpop doesn't really give it any favours in the recognition department either... it's not the sort of name that I would associate with a decent place to eat.

There is very limited seating.... what you see in this photo is pretty much what there is. There is row of stools at the front window... but that is it. This place is more designed for the office "grab food and coffee and go" crowd. Not a great sit down place... but on the other hand, if you arrive at the quiet hours in between the lunch and dinner crowds... then you do have yourself a nice quiet seat!

The Menu

This was more of a point and claim sort of place... there wasn't a real set menu or anything. Anything that you could see and that was vaguely edible... you could ask for!

I'm starting to wonder if this place was more of a catering shop front instead of a real sit down and eat sort of place. That would make much more sense.....

The Food

Well.... most of my beverages that I have when I'm out consist mostly of coffee or some sort of drink that has a decent amount of caffeine in it! So, a cappucino was the order of the day here... well, after a long drive... it was sorely needed.... although, a beer would have also gone down well... but this wasn't the sort of place for that...

I'm starting to turn against the Australian coffees.... there used to be a time when I would love them... but each country has it's own distinct style... and I now find them a touch milky and weak in comparison to Italian coffees....

The girls had hot chocolate.... well, they haven't developed a regional taste for these drinks yet. It has chocolate... it has milk... they love it!

Now, no coffee stop is complete without some little lekkers on the side... we ordered a small plate of nice little treats to help round out the meal. In my previous review... I was asking if it was right to have Dessert with lunch.... well, I did think it was... and I also think that dessert with coffee is also a MUST!

All of the little treats were actually really quite nice... and the perfect thing was that they weren't too big either... just the perfect size for little mouths... or big mouths as tasters!... we didn't want to ruin dinner!

The Experience

The seating was pretty restricted... but in the quiet hours, it didn't really matter. I can imagine that the place would be a touch too crowded in the lunchtime rush though.

The food was actually really quite good... there was also a selection of pies and sandwiches and hot foods which we didn't try... we were only there for coffee and snacks... but it would be worth re-visiting to see how the lunch meny stacks up.

The coffee was okay... not the best, but fine. I think it has more to do with my changing taste than the place itself though....

I can imagine that this place, if people could actually find it... would be a good place for the lunchtime office crowd... however, that said... we are in Melbourne,.... where there are amazing places to eat everywhere! In any other city... this would be great.... in Melbourne... it's okay!

Opening Times

Monday 7am–5pm
Tuesday 7am–5pm
Wednesday 7am–5pm
Thursday 7am–5pm
Friday 7am–5pm
Saturday Closed
Sunday Closed

Contact Details

Address: 18 Little Lonsdale St, Melbourne VIC 3000, Australia
Phone: +61 3 9639 5515
Website: https://www.wonderpopanddeli.com.au/

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