The Old Mill Cafe & Restaurant — Restaurant in Millthorpe

When visiting a lovely heritage village such as Millthorpe, your dream is to find that ideal perfect version of a place to stop and refuel. Today, that dream was reliased. This quaint delightful eatery met every expectation and more. Firstly, the team was amazing from the welcomer to the servers, and refreshingly, the kitchen team all had wonderful personable communication skills. Their smiles , energy, and obvious love and passion for what they do were palpable. I was instantly at ease and felt extremely welcomed, and they were happy to see me. You can see through and experience the kitchen ambience and vibe, and to witness such upbeat, fun energy from the team makes a huge impression. Their presentation and clean fresh appearances gives one joy knowing that this team was producing my lunch. My lunch was faultless, the portions were very generous, and my fish and chips were perfect. Usually, you get with this dish a token of salad that does not balance out the amount of fat with the deep fried and chip's and towards the end of your plate, you have a greasy palette. Not so with this dish there was an abundance of salad which gave a fresh mouthful of tangy dressing and a fresh cruch of salad with every bite of fish and chips right to the end , these small things are what makes this establishment stand out for me . Similarly, this dish usually comes with enough tartar sauce for two mouthfuls, then you're left again with the taste of fat, not here I had a large serving of tasty sauce which met with every mouthful. There was no taste of fat as obviously the deep fryer oil is kept fresh . My coffee and glass of wine was the perfect addition to my lunch. Then came my dessert. I was all ready full but the impressive cake and dessert display which were expertly placed at the entrance and at eye level , very clever , and kudos who ever thought of that, was to tempting. I had I believe a lemon curd baked bavoiur cake with cream and ice cream. Again, the very generous portion arrived , this was the best dessert cake I have had . Outstanding and I when I mentioned it , the courteous chef explained his mum taught him the recipe, I melted with the thought of his passion being family oriented. The ambience and the gorgeous garden where I sat had the most comfortable relaxing environment coming from a gentle water feature and wonderful visual delights in the courtyard garden. I always add to my experience a visit to the bathroom as this can often indicate the commitment to standards and deputation, and as you can see from my pic, it passed with flying colours. This inspired establishment is a must on your visit to Millthorpe. What they are presenting and offering is the standard to which all others should aspire to. Congratulations to the complete team and proprietor, and thank you for a truly memorable day. I will be returning often during the coming summer season and I eagerly look forward to seeing and experiencing you all...

Last time we ate here everything was great...and it was busy. This time, not overly busy and it was appalling. We were told to sit and that someone would bring menus over to us. No one did. We had to grab them ourselves after waiting for some time having being forgotten about even though other tables around us were being attended to having food delivered, tables wiped down etc and they could see us waiting yet no one approached or asked us anything. When food did arrive only half the food was delivered and they asked us was that all we ordered...aren't staff reading dockets and communicating? We had to remind them of the rest. The additional food arrived and I had to then say my coffee was absent. Again, communication issues. I was then brought a different drink altogether. Appalling communication between staff. I explained again what i ordered. With my coffee at that point overly late it was made with little regard except to 'get it out', was overly burnt and watery so i have to make the educated guess it was made without using the previous coffee handles grind from last customer. Thanks a lot. Inexcusable. The breakfast I ordered was ok, the toast was overly cooked and one of our desserts was a tad dry. Coffee this time was really poor and service well below par. But reducing the stars and review to be more honest and reflective further for the worst case of PR in a response below to a most unpleasant sitting. That's not how you deal with your business being the issue! You hope next time is better? Really....

It is a very charming cafe with lovely food.

We came to visit Millththorpe. It was a windy and very cold morning (less than 10 degree) We were lucky to get a table inside. All other tables were reserved.

We saw many people got turned away and some sitting outside in the cold having their breakfast as they didn’t make a booking.

As we were leaving I saw the entire indoor area was empty as those who reserved the table have not even arrived for the whole time (about 1 hour) we were there.

Walking out of the cafe, I saw at least 15 - 20 people sitting in the icy cold outdoor area. They must be all visitors who didn’t know they have to book.

I just hope the cafe owner would consider changing the policy that no longer taking bookings. First come first served will allow more visitors to enjoy the Old Mill’s old world charms and wonderful food.

Or some outdoor heating...