Welcome to Bridge Cafe (The)

The food was wonderful. We had the entree platter which consisted of tasting size portions of the various other entrees. My wife had the fish of the day, Blue Grouper and Prawns for her main. I had the Pepper Squid. They were more than happy to swap the garlic mash for steamed vegetables. We both had the date pudding and ice-cream for dessert which was a dream to eat. We finished with an adequate coffee and our own chocolates. We also ordered a bottle of white wine from the limited but adequate selection. The presentation was good and fitted in with the general ambience. I was pleased to hear that they are happy for people to drop in, even later in the evening, for coffee and cake.

The initial experience was good. The staff came over to us as we went in the door and chattered away when they brought the menus. There was a period before taking the dessert order where all three staff were chatting to other customers.

Visually the restaurant is a pleasant with nice brown, red and black textures. The air was warm even through the night was cold. It is a bit let down by the toilet area which is not up to the same standard.

A pleasant night out, with the food as a highlight.

We decided at the last minute to try this cafe. We were not disappointed. The tom yum soup was good and the mains - fillet steak and snapper we very tasty - nice sides well cooked and presented. The apple pecan calvados for dessert was excellent.

I will go again.

I met up with MJAIL and her youngest son for a quick bite of lunch today at The Bridge Cafe. When I last visited this site (about 15 years ago), it was Peaches Restaurant (and it was Citrons after that) and I was interested in seeing its latest transformation, especially as MJAIL thinks highly of the venue. They (or Citrons) have remodelled since I was here last and it is a much more open cafe-style restaurant with a more airy feel than before. I was quite busy talking so didn't take in the details of my surroundings only to note that everything looked stylish and the table/chairs were comfortable. All the busy activity of Canning Highway streamed by our window table but the noise doesn't seem to enter the cafe. (Well maybe it did and I was just yakking too much to notice!)

The service was quite prompt after we had ordered but initially didn't seem interested in taking our orders and just left us talking. At this point we were the only diners, although later two or three other tables walked in. So for this delay, I did deduct half a star but then when we went to leave, a staff member was waiting for us at the door purely to open it for us, so I gave the star back! All the staff were polite and friendly without actually interacting with us.

We both opted for their lunch specials menu, MJAIL choosing the Tori Karaage Salad, while I went for the Beef Bulgogi. MJAIL's dish arrived in quite a large bowl and I must admit the salad looked fresh and inviting. My equally large dish had a large mound of plain rice with the beef, carrot and onion mixture to one side. While less attractive looking than MJAIL's lunch, it was just the nature of the dish and was no less tasty, although I also deducted half a star for my dish as I found there to be a distinct lack of carrot which as it was described as beef, carrot and onion, I thought was a bit slack. Now if you like your food spicy, don't go for this dish or otherwise order a side serve of chillis as the flavours are very mild. As it happens, mild is my middle name, so I was happy. Both dishes were around the $10 mark and were very good value indeed.

If those dishes didn't grab you, there are several more cheap lunch options to choose from as well as the normal a la carte menu. Parking is available on site as well as in a Council site next door.

Well worth a visit if you are in the vicinity.

We had the Red Seafood Curry and the Squid. Both where very tasty, spicy and fresh, and overall excellent value for money, with dinner for 2, garlic bread, a beer and a glass of wine coming to $62. I would not have the garlic bread next time, because it was ordinary for $6 and we were totally full after our mains anyway.

When we arrived the place was empty (6:15) but by 7 it is really filling up on a Tuesday.

The host is chatty but overall the service was a little sparse, but overall reasonable and no worse that at some far more expensive places. Although we did wait 25 minutes for dinner when the place was empty. I could see this might be slow if busy.

Not a bad little cafe, as cafe's go. The mango chicken is worth a try, with almost a whole cheek worth of mango strips on the chicken! The staff were very busy and distracted though - twice delivering meals to the wrong people and then walking off without even checking they had got it right! But overall, considering the decent price, this wasn't a big thing.

(Before, I begin my review I have to add that the very first review I did on this site was this cafe. And because it was yonks that I had hubby all to myself, I was influenced by the peace and romanticism of the meal that I admitted I rated them too high.)

But having said all this, I'm still adamant that The Bridge Cafe does deliver quality food in a very pleasant atmosphere. Finally, went back to try their lunch special. Today's lunch crowd must be the biggest they ever had. Word must have gone round to the value lunches they serve as we were there at noon with the place bustling and the menu took some time to come to us as they had run out and were busy printing them !

The taste of the Thai red curry was really delicious with a creamy coconut texture served mainly with bamboo shoots but I chose the beef ($9.90) which although still tender was a tad dry. I've heard that the fish ($11.90) is good. The other diners had tori karaage ($10.90) - fried chicken thigh with a creamy chilli mayo sauce which was very tasty, fish teriyaki ($11.90) which was quite good and a generous serve at it too and the bulgogi beef ($9.90)which I did not sample but the diner seemed happy with it. The dishes came with rice and a soft drink and was absolutely good value. There were about 10 choices but were restricted to being Asian dishes.

It's a sure bet that I'll return to try the Thai fish red curry.

I'm not normally a fan of fusion food but the Bridge cafe has managed to balance this style of cooking very nicely. Being a special occasion, took my best friend out for lunch, we decided to splash out on the ala carte menus instead of the lunch specials which are 9.90 and can be upgraded to include a soft drink or tea or coffee for an extra dollar. I'm keeping this for next time as they did look pretty good. Having been there before and sampled the lamp rump, I recommended this to my friend. Tender lamb rump served with a gently gingery spicy sauce on sweet potato mash. Can't remember the veggies that came with it, could've been asparagus. The sauce was a little too sweet for my friend as she is not normally a fan of sweetish sauces. I had the steak done with soy and served with garlic and chive mash and steamed bok choy. This hit the spot. The steak came as requested, medium rare. Too many restaurants when asked for medium rare end up serving it medium well so needless to say, I was very happy already!! The service was prompt, with water carafes replaced when the water levels dipped down to the half way mark without being overly attentive. Even though we did not have it this time, I also highly recommend the tasting plate for 2 as entree, the red curry fish cakes were delightful and the satay perfectly done. Didn't taste the sauce as I am avoiding peanuts. A good place for a nice meal out.

It truly was our lucky day. Hubby not only received a voucher for his 40th birthday but also the added offer of babysitting our 3 kids aged 17 mths - 6 years. We finally had time for ourselves and to top it off the food was simply superb !

The food was a blend between East & West. For entree, we had the tomyam mussels and stir fried tiger prawns in chilli garlic sauce and for the mains we chose the fish of the day which was pink snapper cooked in a creamy tom yam sauce served with mash and bok choy and the lamp rump cooked medium in a unique ginger sauce served with mushroom, spinach and sweet potatoe mash. How yummy the dishes were and we will definitely return again.

Currently they have a lunch special for about $10 which includes a main dish and a soft drink. However, it's open for lunch only on weekdays.