Secret Society Cafe - Bar - Geelong

We entered the half-full café at 12.07 and were immediately seated with the now obligatory "Can I start you off with a coffee" when we'd said we were having lunch.What is it with these cafes and restaurants where the wait staff say "Can I start you off with a coffee?" when you're sitting down for lunch. I mean, I know some people now drink coffee before and during a savoury meal, just like some people nibble chocolate before and during a savoury meal, but it's just all a bit silly, isn't it? It's a bit like after-dinner mints *before* a meal.It does have one positive, however. It alerts you to the fact that it's going to be one of *those* cafes. Today: Waffles with smoked salmon (OK, a bit weird, but let's run with it), avocado (yep, everything has to have avocado), poached eggs (hmm, OK), zucchini (now it starts to get weird) and mushrooms. Wait. What? Mushrooms with smoked salmon? OK then.Next Mexican Duck a l'orange. Yep. *Mexican* duck a l'orange. In tacos. If it's Mexican, shouldn't it be Duck Naranja anyway?Oh, and to top it off: soft-shell crabs. In a croissant.Strange days indeed.We had three generous pulled pork sliders. Great flavours, but the pork was dry and the buns were so over-toasted they shattered and had burnt edges. Now, I don't like sweet potato fries, but I'm here to tell you that they were impossibly crispy on the outside and soft inside. If you like sweet potato fries, these are probably the best you'll ever have.So, having sat down a minute after 12.07 and declined coffee, after 15 minutes we had to stand to walk to the front of the café to get a waitress's attention to order. After our order went in, it was a warning sign that two of the kitchen staff went out for a smoke, as evidenced by the billows of cigarette smoke that blew in through the back door. One returned about ten minutes later, but the other didn't return, we don't think, possibly having kippered himself.Our order went in at 12.25, so at 12.45 we asked how much longer our meal would be, having an appointment at 1pm. In the 20 minutes between our order going in, only three desserts came out of the kitchen, so they were hardly busy. In any case, how long does it take to warm pre-cooked pulled pork in a microwave - two minutes? And toast some buns - two minutes? And fry some par-cooked chips - another couple of minutes? And assemble a dish - another two minutes. Being generous, a total of maybe ten minutes for the lot from go to whoa. Fifteen tops.The person serving us was very attentive indeed, after he sensed we were getting impatient, so another good point there.Our dish arrived at 12.50 which we scarfed with no time for coffee after (maybe we *should* have taken the offer of coffee first!). 43 minutes from arriving to getting our dishes is a bit long - not a hanging offence on a Sunday, perhaps, but a bit long for one course when people have stuff to do other than eat.

We really enjoyed lunch at Secret Society. I appreciated the small menu, and could have had a number of the meals. I settled for duck tacos. There were three of them on the plate and they were so large that I struggled with the third one. My son couldn't eat it because he was full from his chicken burger. Lots of fresh salad and tasty flavours. I would certainly return!

Visited Secret Society for brunch. I found the menu to be small with not a great deal to choose from. I had the bacon and eggs which was a good serving at a good price. The scrambled eggs were just ok more like an omelette. They serve a good coffee. Not overly impressed.

The entrance looks like an apartment with a buzzer and is easily missedTo go inside you need to ring the buzzer and you will be let in.

Ye(l)p! It's a Japanese Speakeasy! Easily mistaken from Spring Street as someone's apartment, this bar is super hard to find.