The Colour Nine — Restaurant in Brisbane City

Hubby and I headed here again (after 6 years!) This time, we enjoyed the atmosphere and the food. It's the usual order-at-the-counter type situation, and service was prompt, if a little abrupt. Hubby had the corn fritter stack; he said these were full of corn flavour and a generous serve. I had a smoked salmon salad which was fresh and tasty (if a wee bit bland); I was very appreciative of the cos lettuce rather than the usual rocket etc that you mostly get in other places. We both had a frappe - mine a coffee one, while hubby's was raspberry and white chocolate. Both good. We had a fine time here, and would come again. Such a surprise in a very suburban area/street.

Previous review (6 years ago) Hubby and I headed here for lunch this week, after reading some positive reviews. Plus, it’s nearby - always a winner for a quick weekday lunch. The café presents pleasantly, being in a quiet suburban area. Sadly, unlike others who raved about the friendly atmosphere and staff, we felt there was a dark cloud hanging over it. No-one greeted us or gave any assistance; our table was left with other people’s unfinished meals and dirty crockery. In fact two staff passed by at different times, hands empty and totally ignoring the mess. We had to go in and ask for it to be cleaned. Even though it was lunchtime, it was not particularly busy so we couldn’t figure out why the service was so slack and unfriendly. We grabbed a menu, and did the usual – i.e. go and order at the counter. Our drinks came out: strawberry thickshake for him ($7.50), and banana espresso smoothie for me ($7). Mine was nicely cold and strong in flavour. Hubby’s was okay but needed a bit more blending he said. Kudos to them for my metal straw, and hubby’s paper one. Better than plastic any day! He had the Thai red beef curry ($19.50), which was disappointing. The beef was not tender, and there was not much sauce with it. It looked more like a regular beef stew with the carrots and beans, and not particularly Thai. My mushroom bowl was okay, but I wouldn’t rush back for it. My plate had a weird oily orange sauce painted around it; and the potato cake tasted a bit odd. My poor little poached egg was a curled up little ball of misery. Sorry guys, my meal was not a winner. The fries were fries, so went down just fine. We ate and ran, not wanting to spend any more of our precious time or money here. I understand that everyone has bad days, so perhaps we just caught them at a bad time. But I’m not willing to chance it...

Was rather disappointed with the lack of compassion and care from the staff upon my visit. I had booked a table for two, a couple of days prior and had the reservation confirmed. I booked in advance because the person I was with has had a major injury occur in the past months so wanted to make sure we would get an appropriate table for her and I didn't think I needed to explain this in order to get a proper table. But on arriving to the busy café I thought to myself that I was glad I had booked. However when I went to the counter and asked about my booking, I was met with confused faces while they doubled checked the booking sheet. I was then told that I could sit anywhere I could find a seat, but if I was to sit inside I would have to leave within an hour because they had other bookings needing that table. I think anyone who books just expects to have a proper table on hold for them because they've made the time to go online and book in advance. We managed to find a seat at the bench outside to enjoy our meal but was greatly uncomfortable for my injured friend. The overall service was poor, we had to find our own menus (which we borrowed form another couple) and were told to grab our own water. The food however made up for there service, as both our meals were great. I just hope that this problem can be fixed so that others in the future don't have the same...

I thought this café was okay... I was a bit disappointed by a few things.

1. I made a booking and was seated inside. I asked the server if she could please keep an eye out for outside spots as I would love to sit out there. I saw quite a few spots come up free that definitely hadn't been reserved but the server never returned to let me know.
2. I got the corn fritters and they were tiny. They gave three fritters but they should really increase the size of these as they were very small rounds.
3. only given one menu which was weird since it was a table for two...
4. some of the inside tables just have stools as their seats which I know are super funky and cool but totally uncomfortable. I just think that's not a smart choice when you want people to have a pleasant and enjoyable experience which is hard when you are sitting on an industrial stool...
5. we ordered tea and the tea pot was sooooo tiny. I don't think that's right considering it's a cheap item for them sell (tea + water) so it should be, if not generous, then reasonably sized to enjoy.

Maybe the above are too nit-picky but there are so many cafes in Brisbane so to come across one with such high ratings but be very underwhelming was a...