date of visit: Sat 28 July 2012

We are in the process of buying handles for the cupboards in our bedroom. We have been in the process of doing this for about 3 years. Part of the problem is that the current handles don’t really bother me and I have no interest in shopping for new ones.

However, my mum mentioned a good handle shop at Glenelg and then added that it also had a café. If there was ever a way to get me into a shop it’s bribing me with food and drink so I actually suggested that we head off to Trading on Broadway, look at some handles and then we could have coffee and cake to recover.

The cafée is called Café TOB and you enter the tiny courtyard through the shop. While the café does offer more substantial food – think tarts, lasagne, arancini and soup – we were just snacking.

Andy pronounced the carrot cake excellent and my chocolate muffin (served warm) was good too. Although it was a large muffin (something I’m normally very wary of) it was light, rather than stodgy, and laced with chocolate chips. The coffees were good too.

What really set Café TOB apart was the friendly service. The baby’s babycino arrived with a teddy bear chocolate biscuit* and the staff were absolutely lovely. We really felt as though they had an interest in ensuring their customers enjoyed themselves and were looked after.

It seems ridiculous, but that can make such a difference. Think back to our negative experience at Un Caffè Bar at Hallett Cove. It wouldn’t matter how awesome their cakes had been – we wouldn’t go back. But the friendly service at Café TOB makes me want to go back and have lunch there.

Oh yeah, and buy cupboard handles …

* Other cafés could really learn from this. So often we go out and the cakes and biscuits on offer are so huge they’re unsuitable for a toddler solely by virtue of their size. The biscuit arrived gratis but had it been 50c or $1 we would have been more than happy to pay for it.