Cafe Talea

I come here fairly regularly and have done so for a number of years as my friends live in walking distance. It's a nice shopping centre not as big as the large ones but you can get most things that you need here. It has a good range of shops easy parking three different supermarkets a food hall eccetera

Forest Hill Chase is still a good old-school shopping centre. It's small enough to get to know the people behind the counter and big enough to be able to spend some time just enjoying all it has to offer. It's unassuming and doesn't feel overwhelming. I also love that you can easily drive to an entrance on each level. The only thing l don't like is the smell from the fish shop that can sometimes permeate throughout the fresh food section of the centre. Positives include the newly refurbished food court, the excellent selection of places to get good coffee, the cinema on level three and the newsagents on level two.

A good variety of stores are here and parking is really good with car spots that are wider than the norm for a shopping centre. Easy access from many streets. If a complaint must be had, I nominate the escalators and travelators. On the majority of days I have been there, at least one of them is out of action for no apparent reason. Usually, the one going uphill. I can only think that the centre is strapped for cash and the closures are a money saving strategy. Other than that, a great place to visit and shop. Also, a good variety of food outlets.

I like Forest Hill in that there's no real draw to it - it's small, the shops aren't exciting and it has all the basics of supermarkets and cinema and a small but nice selection of restaurants and a food court. But my gosh, maintenance. Today there were THREE escalators that go from level 1 to 2 broken, and the lifts had a big queue so it was frustrating. The one in front of Coles has been broken for MONTHS, so there's no "it was an unlucky day" thing - they just really don't care enough to pay for them to be fixed I guess while they try to continually improve Level 3 to draw in young people (which, honestly, is pretty cool of them). But please, make it easy to walk around first!