Serenity Cafe On the Passage — Restaurant in Greater Brisbane

Took mum and my brothers here for high tea for mums eightieth birthday. Mum wanted somewhere not too public not a pub not a restaurant. She just wanted to be with her four kids and family and friends. After much searching we found the Serenity Cafe. Don't know why I didn't know about the high tea room. The staff were lovely. ALl of them that came in and out to serve all 17 of us with high tea or other cafe items were really nice ,smiling and helpful. 10 of us had high tea which was really affordable . All serves were eaten except for a few small cakes which were boxed for mum to take home. The sandwiches were nicely made and the little cakes/merengues were nicely presented. The scones were delicious. Wish mine came out that light and fluffy. Plenty of jam and cream to go with them. Not tiny little squirts of foam that melt before they get on the scone.Table was nicely set with real tea cups teapots ect. Music played quietly in the background so we could talk across the table. We were offered tea's and coffees. Only little tiny niggle was we would have liked an option on type of tea as a few of us like green tea. Only a small niggle as the black tea was nice and they did bring some green when we asked. The staff were pleasant to the young teenager with us encouraging him to place an order by himself. He wasn't having high tea but did sample a few morsals off the tiers. Even the decorative greens on the tiers were pleasantly edible to the grass munchers in the group. A little more savoury would have been nice,,however for the price these were very pleasant and tasty bites and my mum was happy. Would expect to pay more for a few more savouries. Knowing what high teas can cost these were good value. We had a lovely photo taken with mum in the cosy chair with her adult children. As there was a few of us we pretty much took up the whole room though the staff managed well. Coffees and ice coffees and chocolate milks were all nicely done. Also have a good selection of cold drinks to purchse if you don't want hot drinks. Those that didn't have high tea also cleared their plates. Food all came out pretty much together which is not easy for large groups Well done to the staff. For an inexpensive treat in a high pressured economy this was just what mum wanted. For those that want someone else to cook and clean up this was lovely for a light lunch or afternoon tea and long enough but short enough for the older members in the group. Mum went home with a smile and a happy heart. Simple and unpretentious but nicely done with a smile. I recommend it for a family group that wants something similar. We will be back for lunch because we would like to try some other menu items. Thankyou to all who made her...

Oh dear. Where to start. As a visitor to an awful lot of cafes, there's a fair bit to unwrap here. But let me start with the positives...

The view. Lovely. Stunning. That's it. It's all downhill from here.

So now for the down the hill bits.

Edit: I was most of the way through the negative side of this review when one of the waitresses stopped to pat a lovely old dog...then continued to serve customers their food without washing their hands.

Edit #2 after reading other reviews. It seems that management have frequently replied to people complaining about the coffee that it should have been brought to their attention rather than leaving a bad review. But after an awful lot of negative reviews saying the exact same thing, why not fix the clear and obvious problem??

I ordered a latte, a pot of green tea and two basic breakfasts; one with a runny poached egg, the other hard. I was asked if I'd like milk on the side. Um...no,i don't want that, thanks. Not with green tea. "So you don't want the green tea?". I want the green tea, just not the milk on the side. We're off to a shaky start here.

When the brekkies were delivered, neither the waitress, myself or my better half could tell which egg was hard and which soft. Either way, they weren't the best poached eggs I've ever had. They weren'tthe best poached eggs I've had on Bribie Island. Come to think of it, they weren't the best poached eggs I've had on this side the street.

The coffee. If anyone on Bribie has done the first day of a barista course, please come down and give these guys a much needed lesson. Hopefully, you've also completed an hour or so of a Food Safety course. More than enough to offer the staff a few big tips. This failing is on the management rather than the kids working there....lesson number one should be not to touch the animals and food at the same time.

In conclusion, avoid. The view is Serene, but that's where it all ends. I did try to speak to an older man who I assumed was the manager but he didn't seem interested other that to say he'd noticed that the pour was mud and to offer me another coffee that was no doubt going to be the same...

A nice little cafe overlooking the water. I love how they’ve used what little space they have and maximised it. My partner and I came in when they were super packed, yet the food still came out quickly and perfectly— nothing was skipped over or rushed! The older lady working on Saturday was a gem! So lovely and her smile was absolutely beautiful and infectious. We unfortunately devoured all our food before I could take photos, but I promise it looked amazing!

Cheeseburger One of the first burgers I’ve had with good cheese! Didn’t taste like the plastic stuff most places get- and you could tell that by the way the cheese actually melted! Burger was thick and juicy and hot and perfect, I would absolutely recommend!

Rib fillet steak works burger So many flavours! Yet the flavours still didn’t overpower the steak—which was cooked perfectly. Very filling and very great price!

Med chips Aioli Spicy sauce Very yummy !

Iced chocolate skim milk Good flavour, not too strong not too weak! Love that it came out cold (most places don’t stir the chocolate so it comes out warm) but this one was perfect.

Mango milkshake It was enjoyable, however it was done with syrup instead of real mango pieces, which wasn’t the worst, but just...