Welcome to Bennion Street Cafe

The food itself shows potential with quality products and an inspired menu, however the output is inconsistent and greed seems to get the better of them so when things get busy and they run out of ingredients they send any old thing out. For example, we received a "vegetable stack" that didn't stack up. A half burnt soggy peice of bread topped with half a roasted onion does not a vege stack make. We had a 0:8 success rate with not one meal coming out as ordered let alone hot. When I order a cream sauce I don't really mean powdered gravy. What a big let down.

Again, inconsistent ranging from pleasant and friendly to stressed and reluctant. The manager especially seemed as if he would rather we weren't all there. Lunch took 1 1/5 hours to arrive - no warning. Ordering at the counter only adds to the problems caused by the overcrowding.

Without that glorious uninterrupted view over the Indian Ocean I fear this place would be emptier than a politicians promise.

Skip it and take a picnic to the beach across the road and enjoy the view without the disappointment.

I went to Bennion Street today with my husband and daughter (17 months). We were told that we need to book on Sundays but were given a table (rather reluctantly). The man was rather stressed which made us feel a bit uncomfortable and turning people away who had not booked. We ordered the parmesan and tomato bread, which was really a large bread roll with grilled parmesan and sundried tomatoes, which was OK.

My daughter got her smoothie and my husband had his coffee but I had to ask 3 times for the coke I ordered at the same time.

We ordered the seafood platter to share ($90) which was great and really different. There was everything on there with chunky chips and salad. Everything was fresh and well cooked.

One of the staff hardly spoke English and they were a little slow to respond to our requests. Our daughter had a little play in the children's area and if we went again we would definitely book a table next to that.

We had a pleasant lunch despite the fact that we felt a bit ignored with drinks. I believe there is a children's menu but we were never offered one and our daughter had some of ours.

I had arranged to have lunch here yesterday with 2 other girlfriends.

We had a great view of the ocean from the ocean facing balcony and I think this is the best spot in the restaurant.

Our orders were taken at the table and we had attentive service making sure our bottles of wine were sorted out with a cooler or stored in their fridge.

The food when it arrived was well presented. The deep fried King Snapper was very tasty and went well with the homemade potato salad. The open steak sandwich was tasty and went well with the chips - huge serve. I had the coconut lamb curry with green noodles and Asian vegetables. This didn't have strong 'curry' like flavours but was all the same very flavorsome and savory - I didn't think the green noodles added to the dish and think it would have worked better with rice.

Over time this cafe seems to have added more tables which can make it a bit loud at times - didn't bother us that day as we had the perfect spot.

The restroom situation needs to be reviewed as they have one room that serves as a unisex toilet and baby changing room. Given the number of tables in the establishment these facilities seem poor especially for mums with kids in a hurry.

Went here for an impromptu girls lunch Saturday.

Firstly, the weather was fabulous (hard to believe it is winter!) and the view of the beach is amazing J

The café was quite busy but we found a table without fuss. What we didn’t realise was that you have to order at the counter.

The glasses (both wine and water) on the table were dirty (about half of them) I realise they are busy but this is really off-putting. We exchanged them after a short wait at the counter.

We didn’t really do entrees but did order the dip of the day (I think pumpkin and sundried tomato) which I found completely tasteless. What was nice was the $6 serving of marinated octopus! Delicious and a very large amount for that price.

Being very unadventurous that day most of us opted for the open chicken sandwiches (from memory they had marinated chicken ,bacon, avo, tomato, parmesan etc) served with tasty chips. These were really yummy, a bit hard to eat as open sandwiches generally are, and a generous size. Others opted for the surf burgers which again were tasty and large!

A bit hit and miss with the cleanliness/service but otherwise a great spot on the beach for a casual bite to eat. A lot of the other dishes looked very appealing so I will have to return.

What a great view.
Went for Sunday lunch.
Was a busy day and looked a little chaotic.

Let's start with the good stuff, the food.
We had the fig and fennel sour dough with evoo and balsamic, olive tapenade and basil pesto. The bread was delicious it was a real change as the figs made it taste sweet, dipped in the evoo and balsamic it was fantastic.

We then shared a Caesar salad and chicken with prosciutto, this should be served with a blue cheese crust but they had run out so we chose a side of mushrooms instead.

I usually try to avoid ordering salads but my other half goes for them frequently so we decided to share. I was impressed with this salad, there was loads of tender chicken. The sauce was not overpowering but just the right balance, there was also ample parmesan and bacon pieces.

The chicken dish was also good. I did not get to taste it all as my other half has not quite grasped the concept of sharing! What I did have was very good, it came with mash and snow peas and was a good size serving.

On a bad note I would not recommend the smoothies- for $5.95 there were small and I had the berry smoothie which tasted liked watered down milk.

Overall I would say the food is great. Their desert cabinet looked amazing but we did not try any as you have to pay for the meal when you order at the counter so we couldn't be bothered to wait in the que again.

The service---
It is lacking, our table was never wiped despite been dirty when we arrived. You order your food at the counter and pay, now I do not know if they have a system for identifying where to take the food but it did not look like they did. Some people were given numbers some not, they did not ask where we were sitting. We were frequently asked by waitresses wandering around with plates of food if we had ordered this etc.

Overall was a good experience, we choose to eat here as we had the entertainment voucher which made it more reasonably priced for what we had it came to approx $50 with the voucher.

This place is also popular with people stopping in for cake and coffee, give it a try I think I may have to go back for coffee and cake one day soon.