Riva Kitchen & Events — Restaurant in Brisbane City

Feedback is a Gift. After numerous sub par experiences which have included: a breakfast bun being opened, turned upside down, placed on the back side of a paper plate, shoved into a brown packet and handed over as a takeaway meal. Only for the second server to question why the grease is oozing through the first packet and then to place it in a second packet. Only once I got home and opened the packet did the reason for all the oil/grease become evident. Yes, as mentioned the first server (gent with long brown hair who now serves coffee had done the aforementioned). This was a few months back when they were renovating and operating out of the kiosk. I let it slide and considered it lack of experience. multiple occasions when food and or coffee for two people is served at different times, sometimes up to 10 minutes apart. waiting 31 minutes for two milkshakes when the restaurant had no more than 5 tables with customers. So not busy at all, and yes, there certainly appeared to be a full staff compliment. finally the coffee and service received on Saturday. First coffee, a cappuccino came out 5 minutes before my partners coffee. The server, a new blond gent, asked several times if I had order the cappuccino and each time I said “yes” he would say “awesome” and keep the cup on the tray. Honestly, I couldn’t believe he was serving me this cup (see picture) as it was not full and the cup was clearly very dirty. You cannot tell from the pic, but those coffee stains were not fresh/wet as if they had been an overflow from pouring my cappuccino, they were dry and crusty from a previous pour and an unwashed cup.

My experiences have been sub par. I won’t be back for a while. I hope the owner makes some real commercial decisions to address the service.

It is a lovely spot to...

Overall, our Sunday lunch was enjoyable at Riva. It was a hot sunny Brisbane day yesterday, but as Riva is right on the Brisbane River, there was a lovely breeze, and the outside tables are covered by large umbrellas. We didn’t need to move our table, but the couple next to us lifted their plastic table and chairs to shift into the shade as the sun moved. Simply done with no fuss. The service was friendly and helpful - my friend asked if a glass of ice could be brought out to re-chill our drinks and the waiter did this quickly and with a smile. My Chicken Caesar salad was fresh, but the dressing lacked flavour unfortunately. The coffee was good, but not great, and the Portuguese tart was delicious. Overall, an enjoyable dining experience. Don’t be put off by the fact that you seem to drive a long way through an industrial area before reaching Riva. Once there, the garden and parkland next to it are lush and pretty, with several young jacaranda trees currently in flower. I imagine that more dining and shopping facilities will be built around it before long, although that area is notorious for flooding. The CityCat ferry and the ferry to Stradbroke Island have jetties right out the front if Riva, so in future I’ll take the ferry. They weren’t noisy nor smelling of fumes, and we sat about 30m away. I advise against trying to park in the limited carpark next to the restaurant unless you have a passenger willing to run in and scope out car space availability. It is a dead end and not really wide enough for two cars to pass one another, let along do a three-point turn with cars backed up behind. There is plenty of street parking, but be prepared to walk. And walk. Better still, take the ferry, which is the loveliest way to get about Brisbane in my...

A most disappointing experience. A group booking for 12 chosen to celebrate my wife's birthday with family and friends. According to their website, Group bookings is where they really shine!! We were pointed to our reserved table and left to our own devices. No wait staff appeared so had to organise drinks and menu ordering for the group using the on table checkin. First drinks order was declined which wasn't apparent until I checked in to my phone to make sure I had placed the order when it hadn't arrived. Couldn't someone have come and said "hey, your drink order didn't go through would you try again". Of the meals ordered, 5 were fish and chips (including one kids serving). Of these 4 (including the kids meal) discovered several bones in their fish. No one came to the table to clear our plates after the main, that was also left to us. If the place was busy with a lunchtime rush, the lack of service could be somewhat explained but we had to make our booking for 1pm (presumably so they could deal with lunch time) and while we were there, there were only a handful of other diners. What I'd planned as a pleasant experience for my wife and I dining with friends, turned into a constant hassle placing and...