La Repubblica

5.8 Average

Food  5      Ambience  8      Service  5      Value  5     

Such a cute little spot, and it looks so welcoming at night! Food sounds great but we certainly didn't love the taste. Pizza was sooo cheesey and oily and the beef dry and a bit boring. Great wine list, so probably better for a quiet drink. Service is pretty slow and average, they just don't appear to be aware of what is going on around them.

Apr 29, 2012 

9 Highly Recommended

Food  9      Ambience  9      Service  9      Value  9     

A tastefully decorated, modern Italian cafe and restaurant by day and a great place with the right ambience for relaxing in the evening right by beautiful Balmoral Beach, over a fabulous dinner with family or friends.

The menu is fresh, creative, generous & you can taste the freshness of the produce.
The quality of the ingredients really come through with every bite.

To compliment your meal, enjoy either a fabulous glass of wine from a well thought out wine selection or a tasty and generous cocktail.

The management are friendly, personable and value their patrons and the staff are hardworking and attentive without being intrusive.

I have certainly appreciated a consistent and thoughtful service over the many times I have been there since its inception.

I will continue to introduce my friends and family to La Repubblica and trust that they will enjoy it as much as I do.

Balmoral needed a La Repubblica and it fits in beautifully to its surrounds.

Mar 17, 2012 

9.5 Highly Recommended

Food  9      Ambience  10      Service  10      Value  9     

Been there several times now, and every time the food, staff & service has been beyond fantastic. Last Saturday night decided to go for dinner for the first time, and what an experience it was.

The atmosphere was calm and relaxed, the background music blended in so well with the feel of the restaurant, and made for a pleasant evening, and want an exquisite view and location.

My partner and I enjoyed a delicious meal which was full of flavour, and went along perfectly with a beautiful glass of red! The staff are so warm & professional.
I fully recommend this place, day or night, and can't wait to bring some friends along, who I hope will enjoy La Repubblica as much as I have.

Mar 01, 2012 

4.8 Average

Food  1      Ambience  9      Service  7      Value  2     

Lovely spot - great view of balmoral! Efficient staff but the food was horrible - chicken salad was over cooked, dry and had obviously been sitting in the kitchen for a while. Maybe I just made a bad choice on the menu... but to pay $28 for a salad with wilted spinach is a bit much!

Feb 08, 2012 

6.5 Recommended

Food  5      Ambience  8      Service  6      Value  7     

Went in January 2012. Very good atmosphere, good view, uncomfortable seats. Pleasant and cheerful if slightly erratic service - seemed to be not enough staff to cope, so things got forgotten. Pizzas were average but not expensive. Wine is expensive and no BYO option.

Jan 06, 2012 

3 Below Average

Food  7      Ambience  1      Service  1      Value  3     

I have just come back from coffee and breakfast with a friend here and was pretty shocked at the service - our waiter was grumpy and stressed from the start, made me carry the high chair to the table myself (even though I was carrying my baby and my friend was pregnant) and then didn't look at us when taking our order. Such a shame, as such a beautiful and relaxing setting - yet such a stressful vibe. Food was nice but slow to come.

Jan 06, 2012 

3 Below Average

Food  4      Ambience  6      Service  1      Value  1     

I had a birthday lunch at La Repubblica with 5 guests. I had spoken to them a week ago about the menu, at which point they gave me a menu which looked delicious. When I arrived, we were given the 'public holiday' menu which had a total of 6 meals on it. When we asked about the possibility of getting some garlic bread to share, we were told it was impossible.

I was very disappointed given that it was my birthday and when we booked we were assured that we would have a full menu. Another guest arrived towards the end, and she asked for some water. The waitress filled up a glass, put her fingers all over the rim and gave a single glass to the person who asked for water, never mind that we were given one glass of water at the beginning of the meal which we had long since finished.

When the senior staff spoke to us, he assured us he would be able to 'do something' (assumption being, a discount) due to the fact that we were told we could have entrees and mains when we booked. We never received any discount, and a half hearted apology was it.

Our food took an hour to come, and for $30, you got a very small piece of trout which had been panfried, some salad and chips. I weigh 55 kgs and don't eat that much, but the meal didn't fill me at all. The people who arrived 30 minutes after us received their meals well before us. If you are after good service, value for money and good old fashioned hospitality, do not go here. The one positive was that the coffee was good.

Jan 03, 2012 

4 Below Average

Food  2      Ambience  10      Service  2      Value  2     

Are you kidding me? went there for breakfast, well, they ran out of bread. We decided to have the muesli with organic joghurt and two black coffees. The muesli was below average considering the price of 17$! just some chaep band out of a packet....(get the one from aldi if you don't know how to put it together yourself). One table spoon of yoghurt on the side and a tiny amount of fruit on top.

The first coffee arrives, ok, the second comes different size? ok, probably ran out of clean cups as well, but 60 cents for soy milk on the side? the young man who carried the coffee managed to put one hand on the plate and one on the rim of the cup, I just hoped he washed his hands this morning, eating the muesli, half way through one of the three waiters who served the same station asked me if I was finished? guys! you need a floor manager! unbelievable! never again!spend your money some where else!

Jan 02, 2012 

9.5 Highly Recommended

Food  9      Ambience  10      Service  10      Value  9     

I decided to book my birthday lunch here as my friends and I enjoy coming to this little jewel by the beach! The food is always sensational, I have my favourites, the freshly roasted coffee, divine angel hair pasta with mudcrab, ocean trout, oh and the desserts are delish!

The fabulous hospitality started right from the time we were organising the set menus and continued with exceptional service on the day! We were seated upstairs where we had a fantastic view of Balmoral Beach and enjoyed the seabreeze. Perfect setting for a celebration!

There were 20 of us, and with such a large group of people, they were so attentive and didn't miss a thing! Every single one of us had a wonderful time, and it made the day so special. We will definitely keep coming back and spreading the love. Grazie mille per l'ospitalita' e per l'ottimo pranzo!

Dec 12, 2011 

3 Below Average

Food  6      Ambience  4      Service  1      Value  1     

The restaurant (especially upstairs) is really loud, so you can only really talk to the person next to you. Beautiful location, but awful service and terrible value.

They charged us for a whole meal they didn't serve, and they charged us for salads that they didn't give us. They charged us $7.50/bottle of water when we thought we were getting tap water.

So for a table of 13 with zero alcohol, the bill came to over $900. WTF? They said that they had to charge us extra because we didn't drink as much alcohol as they thought we would.

They made no apologies, and were just completely nasty and devious about the whole thing. Will never go back there, and this place is now blacklisted amongst all my friends and family.

Dec 11, 2011