orange12

7.3 Recommended

Food  8      Ambience  8      Service  7      Value  6     

My partner and I have eaten here for a few years and have always enjoyed everything about the place. A recent Saturday night though, I'll get the not so good comments out of the way first. I made a booking for 8 pm. We arrived on time, there was no table for us, so we were encouraged by the owner Eileen to go and have a drink and come back in 15 minutes. We did this without complaint. We got back to the restaurant 15 minutes later and again there was no table for us. Again it was implied go and have another drink. So at close to 8.45 pm we are seated in the restaurant.

The food as always was lovely, the service friendly and quick. Disappointingly though no one acknowledged that we had a long wait, despite having a booking was a disappointment. It would have been nice to to be given a glass of wine to say "thank you so much for you patience".

We will go back as hopefully this was an isolated experience. Suggestion though to Eileen, the room you have upstairs which is not used on busy Friday or Saturday nights, have some lovely tables and chairs up there, sell your punters a glass of wine, you win as you are getting extra revenue, your customers aren't expected to walk two blocks to the Rose Hotel and everyone is the happier.

Sep 21, 2011

6.3 Average

Food  6      Ambience  6      Service  7      Value  6     

We arrived without booking, and were initially greeted by a very friendly smiley young guy and then a moody girl with an Irish accent showed us to our table. This I thought did not bode well for the rest of the night. We were sat in the back room, which we didn't mine, as I said we did not book. The food was good, it didn't have any wow factor, but it was tasty nonetheless. Another waitress, a darker girl was brilliant, very friendly and professional. I would go back as the restaurant itself had a nice ambience to it and the food is good, but the prices too high for the quality of the food served. So as you can tell I have mixed feelings. Nutshell, would I go back, yes, to give it another whirl at least.

Aug 11, 2011

3.5 Below Average

Food  4      Ambience  3      Service  3      Value  4     

Had dinner here for the first time recently, Tuesday night. The place was not full and we were promptly seated. Our overall experience was not fantastic to be honest. There was no subtle music to give any hint of ambience, the service was minimal and took no effort at all to explain the different dishes. Our food was ok, but not worth the prices being charged. The worst thing though was when we had paid the meal, the sulky bored looking waitress, did not say goodbye or make any effort to see if we had a time dinner. It was just an overwhelming attitude of couldn't give a rats about the customer. Would not go back, I would not recommend this restaurant to readers and I and my partner eat out a lot, at least three times a week and this place really needs to lift up its socks and look like they enjoy being in the hospitality business.

Aug 11, 2011

0 of 1 people found the following review helpful

9 Highly Recommended

Food  9      Ambience  10      Service  9      Value  8     

Loved it. Really the Italians just do everything well from food, wine, fashion, culture etc. We both had the Rolled Stuffed Veal served with Buffalo Mozzarella, beautiful. With this we enjoyed a bottle of shiraz. For dessert tried the Cassata Siciliana and the Panna Cotta with hot chocolate and strawberries.

We found the whole experience to be lovely, the decor, the service was first class and friendly and we will definitely be back.

May 18, 2011

8.5 Highly Recommended

Food  7      Ambience  9      Service  10      Value  8     

Visited for the time last saturday for lunch. Before I talk about the food, can I just comment on the service first. My partner and I found the service to be exceptional, so I can only assume the owner has replaced some staff, going by recent reviews. The owner, well whom we presumed to be the owner was lovely. She was elegantly presented and and kept an eye on everything without skipping a beat, she certainly upstaged the younger girls on staff. She made sure water was always on a table and made sure we wanted for nothing. So service here is definitely excellent.

Food wise, I ordered the Indian style curry and my partner ordered the Prwan Salad. Both dishes were of a good standard. Coffee too was great. The decor we loved, both of us appreciated the unique flavour, too many cafes seem to look the same and do not scream at you when you walk past to come inside and try me. Elephant Boy Cafe did, we walked up and down the street and came back to this one as it felt like we should go inside. If in Bowral I'd highly recommend going to this cafe. If I was a local this would be my cafe without a doubt.

Apr 14, 2011

7.3 Recommended

Food  8      Ambience  8      Service  7      Value  6     

My partner and I have eaten here for a few years and have always enjoyed everything about the place. A recent Saturday night though, I'll get the not so good comments out of the way first. I made a booking for 8 pm. We arrived on time, there was no table for us, so we were encouraged by the owner Eileen to go and have a drink and come back in 15 minutes. We did this without complaint. We got back to the restaurant 15 minutes later and again there was no table for us. Again it was implied go and have another drink. So at close to 8.45 pm we are seated in the restaurant.

The food as always was lovely, the service friendly and quick. Disappointingly though no one acknowledged that we had a long wait, despite having a booking was a disappointment. It would have been nice to to be given a glass of wine to say "thank you so much for you patience".

We will go back as hopefully this was an isolated experience. Suggestion though to Eileen, the room you have upstairs which is not used on busy Friday or Saturday nights, have some lovely tables and chairs up there, sell your punters a glass of wine, you win as you are getting extra revenue, your customers aren't expected to walk two blocks to the Rose Hotel and everyone is the happier.

Sep 21, 2011

6.3 Average

Food  6      Ambience  6      Service  7      Value  6     

We arrived without booking, and were initially greeted by a very friendly smiley young guy and then a moody girl with an Irish accent showed us to our table. This I thought did not bode well for the rest of the night. We were sat in the back room, which we didn't mine, as I said we did not book. The food was good, it didn't have any wow factor, but it was tasty nonetheless. Another waitress, a darker girl was brilliant, very friendly and professional. I would go back as the restaurant itself had a nice ambience to it and the food is good, but the prices too high for the quality of the food served. So as you can tell I have mixed feelings. Nutshell, would I go back, yes, to give it another whirl at least.

Aug 11, 2011

3.5 Below Average

Food  4      Ambience  3      Service  3      Value  4     

Had dinner here for the first time recently, Tuesday night. The place was not full and we were promptly seated. Our overall experience was not fantastic to be honest. There was no subtle music to give any hint of ambience, the service was minimal and took no effort at all to explain the different dishes. Our food was ok, but not worth the prices being charged. The worst thing though was when we had paid the meal, the sulky bored looking waitress, did not say goodbye or make any effort to see if we had a time dinner. It was just an overwhelming attitude of couldn't give a rats about the customer. Would not go back, I would not recommend this restaurant to readers and I and my partner eat out a lot, at least three times a week and this place really needs to lift up its socks and look like they enjoy being in the hospitality business.

Aug 11, 2011

0 of 1 people found the following review helpful

9 Highly Recommended

Food  9      Ambience  10      Service  9      Value  8     

Loved it. Really the Italians just do everything well from food, wine, fashion, culture etc. We both had the Rolled Stuffed Veal served with Buffalo Mozzarella, beautiful. With this we enjoyed a bottle of shiraz. For dessert tried the Cassata Siciliana and the Panna Cotta with hot chocolate and strawberries.

We found the whole experience to be lovely, the decor, the service was first class and friendly and we will definitely be back.

May 18, 2011

8.5 Highly Recommended

Food  7      Ambience  9      Service  10      Value  8     

Visited for the time last saturday for lunch. Before I talk about the food, can I just comment on the service first. My partner and I found the service to be exceptional, so I can only assume the owner has replaced some staff, going by recent reviews. The owner, well whom we presumed to be the owner was lovely. She was elegantly presented and and kept an eye on everything without skipping a beat, she certainly upstaged the younger girls on staff. She made sure water was always on a table and made sure we wanted for nothing. So service here is definitely excellent.

Food wise, I ordered the Indian style curry and my partner ordered the Prwan Salad. Both dishes were of a good standard. Coffee too was great. The decor we loved, both of us appreciated the unique flavour, too many cafes seem to look the same and do not scream at you when you walk past to come inside and try me. Elephant Boy Cafe did, we walked up and down the street and came back to this one as it felt like we should go inside. If in Bowral I'd highly recommend going to this cafe. If I was a local this would be my cafe without a doubt.

Apr 14, 2011

7.5 Recommended

Food  8      Ambience  7      Service  8      Value  7     

Had dinner here last night. The decor is simple, yet smart. Service was friendly, informative and quick. For entree we shared the Smoked Chicken Croquettes and the Seared Scallops. Both were sensational. Mains we both had the slow cooked lamb, again beautiful flavour and beautifully presented.
A great little restaurant.

Apr 07, 2011

4.8 Average

Food  6      Ambience  5      Service  3      Value  5     

I had lunch here on Saturday. For entree we both had the Potato & Blue Cheese Soup, the soup itself was tasty but the bread served with it was stale. For mains we shared an antipasto plate. Everything on the plate was tasty, just one thing, no olives. What good chef would not put olives on a anti pasto or a mezze plate? The service is hard to rate, as you have to order the food at the bar and then you are given the cutlery etc to take back to the table.

Price was ok, but I do no think I'd rush back.

Apr 04, 2011

6.4 Recommended

Food  6      Drinks  6      Ambience  7      Service  7      Value  6     

Had dinner here for the first time last night, a Thursday. The food is of a good quality and the fresh salads are lovely too.

Mar 18, 2011

9 Highly Recommended

Food  9      Ambience  9      Service  9      Value  9     

My partner and I have dined here twice now. Love it. First time we enjoyed the Banana Flower Salad and the Barramundi Salad. The flavours of each were lovely. The service we could not fault, especially on the second visit. It gets very busy, so I'd suggest to book before hand.

Mar 18, 2011

6.5 Recommended

Food  7      Ambience  6      Service  7      Value  6     

We had dinner here for the first time last Saturday night. I disagree with the grammatically poor review below. We ordered a traditional dish which consisted of pieces of pork and served with potato. It was tasty, just too much meat. We ordered a lovely bottle of portuguese red wine. Overall we found the experience to be pleasant. We found the service to be attentive and efficient.

Mar 07, 2011