Conservation Hut Cafe — Restaurant in New South Wales

I had high hopes for the Conservation Hut, but unfortunately, my experience fell well below expectations.

Food The food quality was disappointing. I ordered sourdough toast with poached eggs—a simple dish—but it arrived over-toasted to the point of being biscuit-like, heavily slathered with butter. My companion opted for a breakfast burrito, which was dry, crumbly, and lacked flavour. The wait time for these two dishes was unusually long, especially considering the venue was half-empty(see picture attached) and there were plenty of staff present. I was already hungry from my bushwalk, and needed sustenance so I powered through the meal despite it being really bad, i could just imagine the amount of wait i needed to do again, just for them to get such a simple dish right, I also find it rude to give back food as I wouldn’t want to waste food. You’d expect a cafe to do sourdough, poached eggs properly. A massive red flag if this cant be done right.

We also ordered coffees: an espresso and a flat white with an extra shot. Both were burnt, and the poor quality of the espresso was unmistakable—even the milk in the flat white couldn’t mask it.

Service Although there were many staff members, they appeared disorganised and inefficient. Despite the venue being half-empty(see the attached photos), there was a lengthy wait for simple items like tap water. Instead of being served a jug, as we noticed on other tables, we received just one glass of water each.

When asked for feedback on our meal, we replied honestly that it was “average”, which accurately sums up the experience. However, no effort was made by the staff to address or improve our concerns.

Ambiance The Conservation Hut is known for its great views, but these are only accessible if you’re seated outdoors. As a party of two, we were not offered the option to wait for an outdoor table, nor was it even mentioned. This was disappointing, as the view was part of why we decided to visit.

Value for Money For what we experienced, the food and service were grossly overpriced. We spent $50 on two simple dishes and two drinks, which felt unjustified given the quality and overall lacklustre experience.

We ended up spending more time waiting for things to happen than actually enjoying the food & venue.

If you’re already visiting the Blue Mountains and are doing the tracks next to Conservation Hut, it might be worth considering as a quick stop if you are out of options or did not pack your own food. However, if you’re planning a visit to the area specifically for this cafe, I’d strongly advise reconsidering. The experience, particularly for those traveling a long distance, is not worth the effort, as there are plenty of better options in the Blue Mountains.

Edit - October 2025

It looks like the owner deleted their original response to my review. I have attached a screenshot of the owner’s response to my review at the time it was posted to show how it was managed. I encourage you to reflect on whether it is worth going to a hospitality venue that treats their customers as such and use hostile behaviour or language when provided with...

Check your receipts! To start positively, it is a nice view if you can get one of the outside tables. Inside is well lit and ventilated, but is more densely packed and acoustically louder. Service was friendly and the food came out within a reasonable time even during a busy time. Food was ok. The "nasi goreng" was a bit on the smaller side and the fried enoki, while a unique substitute for fried shallots did not have the crunch I would expect. The "deep pan" pancake was an interestingly unique texture and flavour, but going "super" I think ruined it for me with a tonne of sugar. I think it's the same pancake for both options, the "macadamia pancake" is just the plain one with chopped macadamia sprinkled on top. Unfortunately what brought it all down was the bill. Now just to make sure the math is correct, it was a public holiday (and they had clear signage a 15% surcharge was in place) and I paid cash so the card surcharge was not applicable. I attached the receipt for reference. I doubt that the menu price of the fried rice was $31.62 so some form of surcharge was already being applied. From memory the pancake should have been closer to $26 but it was billed as $29.9. That would have been fair, if not for an additional $9.90 Holiday surcharge on top of everything. If my math is right, with 15% on top of 15% the final surcharge is...

Having dined at The Conservation Hut previously during peak times and enjoyed positive experiences, today's visit was quite disappointing.

Upon arrival, the waitresses were pleasant, but the front-of-house guy wearing a beret seemed very arrogant. Initially ignoring us, he eventually acknowledged us and informed us they were fully booked, despite the fact that tables are usually not reservable. When I pointed this out, he curtly mentioned a large group was expected, though we were a table of four. We were seated at 11:30 but were told we had to leave by 1 pm as the table was booked. It was noticeable that he treated another table with more respect, informing them of the soup of the day and mentioning they had table service.

We ordered promptly, and while our waitress was lovely, she seemed quite overwhelmed. Our food arrived without cutlery, and our coffees were served after the food. We ordered the "Man Bun," which was very messy and came without chips, the kids' fish and chips, which looked quite sad, and pancakes that were delicious but needed more maple syrup.

When we went to pay with cash, the beret guy informed us he didn’t have enough change, so I paid with my card and incurred an extra $2 surcharge. It felt a bit like a tourist trap. Overall, the service fell short today, and unfortunately I don't think I'll be returning...