Dawn Cafe — Restaurant in Ocean Grove

Dawn Café deserves more than 5 stars!

My friends and I visited twice for brunch during our Easter getaway in Ocean Grove, and we absolutely loved everything about it.

The food is incredible — the burger was hands down one of the best we’ve ever had, the mussels were full of flavour, the egg and bacon roll was top-tier, and the smashed avo was generously portioned and tasty. Their special bruschetta with prosciutto was beautifully made. We also loved their coffee and fresh juice — just perfect.

But beyond the food, it’s the staff and their kindness that truly made our experience unforgettable.

On our second visit, something very upsetting happened. While we were enjoying our meal outside, a group of four people aggressively parked their car far too close to our table — almost hitting our puppy by just a finger’s width. We all called out to stop them, but they laughed and stared at us with no apology, leaving our friend and the puppy visibly shaken. Their attitude was disappointing and unacceptable.

What made a real difference, though, was the response from one of the café’s staff. A lovely lady came outside to check on us, clearly noticing how poorly the car had been parked compared to others (and it wasn’t even a large vehicle, just a regular SUV). She offered us some Easter chocolates as a gesture of apology on behalf of the café. It was a small act, but it meant a lot — a real sign of empathy, care, and professionalism. This is the kind of service that defines a place — and we’re deeply grateful.

To the person driving the white Subaru (1IQ-50P): your behavior was irresponsible and rude. Being a local doesn't give you the right to ignore safety and basic decency. We hope your children, who witnessed your actions, will grow up to show more compassion than what they were shown that day.

Thank you again, Dawn Café, for turning a stressful situation into one where we still left feeling cared for. We’ll definitely be back — and we’ll be recommending you to everyone we know.

🌟🌟🌟🌟🌟🌟🌟🌟🌟🌟 (If we could give 10...

Great coffee beans and a wonderful cake selection. The former cafe in this premises was the usual old ‘seaside town monopoly’ type of deal. Mediocre everything at monopoly prices. Instead, Dawn offers an inner city bourgeois experience with fashionable workers who are always conscientious and attentive with style to boot… and serving quality product. Be that as it may, today the good barista who made great, smooth coffee yesterday when the cafe was busier but more relaxed (no workers literally running like some did today) instead was acting as a waiter while an older man, looking somewhat stressed and in turn passing this stress on to everyone else, turned the good coffee beans into mediocre coffee. Either the milk was partially re-steamed, or else simply made too hot. It was almost like a different cafe today compared to yesterday; all because of the overall effect that the man behind the espresso machine had on the workflow. It is a testament to the good floor staff that they could still hold it all together with smiles while this guy behind the machine was doing the usual (bad) managerial ‘create the very disorder that you then project onto others and see yourself as the only person capable of resolving.’ I do not know if he is a manager, but the barista is the most important person in a cafe’s workflow. Hence, when (bad) managers get stressed, they will often blame the (good) professional barista, make them do waiting duties and then take over the espresso machine, inevitably to the detriment of coffee quality and especially speed… but bad managerial style will then blame not themselves, but, again, the workers. I am overall really impressed with this cafe and I love having access to good coffee and food when regularly down the coast. Hence why I am bothering to note what, if it is not nipped in the bud, is a tendency that will lead to the downfall of what is otherwise a 5...

This is one of those locals only know about hidden gems, blink and you’ll miss it. It’s in a great spot considering it’s on the roadside, you don’t notice the traffic. Firstly, I loved that the staff came out to greet us and take our orders. Cold water and clean glasses put on your table as you sat down, which adds to your experience of going out for lunch, you feel welcomed and the staff were friendly and helpful. They have both indoor and outdoor spaces, we sat outside, there were plenty of long park bench style tables with umbrellas.

The menu reads well and has enough choices to please most. For me, great flavours but I didn’t like the quality of bread or rolls they used, no flavour and not really suited to the fillings. I ordered the lobster roll, which would have been more than enough food for lunch, except the filling was put into a cheap supermarket hotdog roll. The fish taco’s are delicious and enough for a shared plate. I would say that the prices are correct for the type of meals on the menu. Their coffee is definitely in the top 5 in the area, it’s a smooth daytime coffee, not your wake up sleepyhead, first coffee of the day type, so great coffee bean choice and the barista certainly knows what they’re doing.

You’re able to sit with your dog, they have plenty of water bowls and there is shade under the tables for them.

Across the road is the dog walking beach with plenty of parking and there is an actual toilet block, as well as dog poop bags at the top of the steps leading down to the beach, which is awesome for the “oops, I ran out of...