The Banksia Tree Cafe and Restaurant — Restaurant in Adelaide

Today I visited Banksia Tree Café, and my experience was disappointing.

First, they ran out of seasonal greens, but instead of informing us and offering something else, the meal was just dropped at our table as if we should accept it without question. When I raised this with the counter staff and asked for a substitute, they initially agreed but then later returned back out to the table to ask for payment for a hash brown replacement. Only after I challenged this did they bring out the substitute—unbelievable!

When the beverages arrived, the spoon with my coffee was visibly dirty. I went inside to swap it, only to return to the table and notice the new spoon was dirty too! A second trip inside finally got me a clean spoon, but it left me seriously questioning their cleaning practices.

On top of that, the cutlery holders at our table had only one serviette, while other tables around us had none. I had to get up and go inside yet again to fetch more. Whether it was because of the wind or poor planning, it was a hassle and an irritation. Staff should be checking these and restocking them between customers.

To top it off, while the food itself wasn’t bad, my Florentine had large chunks of what seemed like vegetable stalk, which added an unpleasant, crunchy texture.

Overall, despite the food being passable, the service, hygiene, and lack of communication made this a place I’m unlikely to return to anytime soon. Banksia Tree Café needs a serious overhaul in customer care and basic cleanliness.

Edit: I should say the coffee was...

Visited this cafe on Sunday last for brunch/lunch with my girls and left wanting to visit again as soon as we can. If fact, as I write this review I believe my daughter is there having lunch again within a week of our last visit.

From the moment you walk in, you are greeted with friendly smiles and service and the awesome aroma of wood smoking away over different cuts of meat. It’s not an overpowering smell and you don’t reak of smoke when you leave or anything like that.

I found it a tad odd eating there because as a kid i remember this as my local chemist - must just confirm I’m getting old!

The layout is nice and you don’t notice passing traffic - the menu is good and the food was seriously good. I ate the banksia cafe burger and its one of the best burgers I’ve had in years and I eat plenty of burgers. Similarly my daughter loved her breakfast burger on potato bun and all three of us loved the sweet potato fries - which in most cafes are very hard to make crispy and delicious but they were both. The fresh apple juice was also really nice - I think mainly if not all granny Smith’s and that tartness was a nice contrast to decadent burgers.

All up this place was great and I think it may become a regular cafe to visit for me and my family.

Received a genuine thank you and goodbye as we left which was also a nice touch. It’s often little details like that which can make the difference for a customers...

Really frustrating experience. I placed my order with the waitress for bacon and eggs (served with toast) and waited for my order. After 15 minutes, another waitress came up and asked if I would actually like to order. I advised I had ordered already and was still waiting for my food. Took close to another 10 minutes for my order to arrive. When my order did finally arrive, the bacon was burnt (I did ask for crispy bacon but this was just burnt) and also no butter was provided so I went to the counter to ask for some. This butter took another 5 minutes to arrive, so the toast was getting cold. When the butter did arrive it had clearly just come out of the fridge so was not spreadable and as the toast had cooled down, I couldn't use the heat from the toast to soften the butter. For $18 to small rashers of bacon (which did not taste pleasant), 2 fried eggs and a slice of toast, this was really overpriced and beyond disappointing. Chose this place based on the google reviews but I unfortunately didn't seem to get the same experience everyone else listed on the other reviews. Felt completely ripped off.

Note: Amended review to three stars as Fabian (the owner) contacted me with a kind reply and sincere apology for my experience whilst making a fair gesture to rectify the situation. Would be prepared to try again...