NOA Restaurant Cairns — Restaurant in Queensland

2nd Edit: Thanks for your clarification, I’m relieved to see you’ve managed to avoid actually calling me a liar while still suggesting my recollection is “inaccurate.” Impressive. I suppose the good news is we can now agree on the facts: 1. I approached the bar, was 2. repeatedly told to sit down, and 3. my wife was later approached for my contact details. So at least accuracy isn’t really in dispute BUT only tone and interpretation, which was precisely my point. I’ll leave it there, but thank you for confirming MY experiences in your own way. Next time the teachers are out, we’ll go elsewhere [it was actually my wife’s leaving drink-do… nice]. Edit: After I left, my wife who had the good grace to remain seated at the table, was accosted by the same server and asked for my email address, apparently because the server “had an issue” with the accuracy of my account. Others at her table witnessed the incident and backed up my recollections. If management genuinely doubts what happened, CCTV should make my movements and interactions crystal clear. And if you insist on challenging my comments, please provide your lawyer’s details and I will address them directly. For the same reasons I walked out of your venue, I have no interest in further dialogue with you. Thursday 21st August, 4pm: NOA- a flood of negative emotions from the stressed out staff. I walked up to the bar to look at the bottles of mezcal. Anyone who knows me know i almost only drink mezcal when out. Server: “Please sit down, it’s table service.” Me: “It’s okay, I just want to look.” [She walks away.] Server (again): “Please sit down, we have table service. I’ll take your order at the table.” Me: “Heard you the first time. I want to choose my mezcal.” At this point the barman, who’s way more helpful, had already assisted me in picking a smoky mezcal. He obviously knows his stuff and dissuaded me from making my margarita spicy, to savour the smoke. I obliged. No spicy was the plan. Server (once more, same words): “Please sit down, order from the table.” Me: “I have just ordered.” Server: “He’s too busy to take your order.” Me: “That’s fine, I’ll just leave.” Server: “You’ll need to cancel your order.” Me: “Strange… I thought I hadn’t ordered.” The entire exchange felt like a looped recording, as if courtesy had been replaced by a script. What could have been a straightforward, enjoyable moment turned into a tedious back-and-forth that left me feeling like a nuisance rather than a guest. The repetition, the tone, and the lack of basic hospitality made it very clear: I...

I had high hopes for NOA as I’ve heard good things about this restaurant but unfortunately our experience was quite average and nothing special. We went for breakfast. The staff are very friendly. The restaurant is quite hot as the giant windows remain open and the AC in our section was only turned on by staff right as we were leaving. I could see others using the menus to fan themselves to cool off. I know weather is out of their control but maybe more AC could make the experience a bit more enjoyable. Or maybe even closing a few windows. It’s very pretty and large inside and a nice atmosphere, i totally get keeping windows open for the vibes, but we purposely chose to sit inside and not on the patio as we expected it to be cooler. Right away they got my coffee order wrong, so I had to wait for my correct coffee to come out which took a while and ended up coming out after I had ate some of my food. I would’ve assumed they’d put my coffee in front of the queue as it was an error, but seems like they waited until all other coffees were made first to make my correct one. I got the eggs Benedict and my boyfriend got the French toast. I enjoyed my eggs Benedict but to be honest it was nothing extremely special. I like that it comes with bacon and hashbrown already. The price is pretty comparable to other restaurants (and I have tried many many many egg bennies all over in cairns). My boyfriend liked his French toast, but he said the portion size was very small (only one piece of brioche toast) compared to other restaurants including the nearby Ozmosis cafe which provide 2 pieces of brioche and lots more toppings. We felt like the price for this was a bit much for the portion you received. This left him not completely full and still needing more food. The service was efficient, and as I said very friendly, definitely can’t say anything bad about the lovely staff. However it was a bit hard to flag down staff to fix my coffee order, we were seated up in the corner. I almost had to get up and go to the counter to ask. Overall it wasn’t a terrible experience, but to be honest I don’t think I’d go back and spend 75$ again on this same meal. Maybe...

This will be the longest review related to bread that you’ll likely ready today. I think NOA is great and highly recommend it.

The Reuben: I was first introduced to NOA through Uber eats. I saw the Reuben sandwich and being a fan of proper cured meats I thought I was in for a treat. The corned beef is great, the sandwich is well constructed, but it isn’t a Reuben. It’s a corned beef bunwich. If you google “Reuben sandwich” you’ll see it is always made with rye bread. My preference is to a light rye (sissel), but that can be hard to source in Australia, so any wheat rye will work in a pinch.

Unfortunately NOA used a wheat bun for the Reuben. Rye or not, it’s just a corned beaf bunwich at this point and definitely not a reuben. On a subsequent visit to the restaurant I saw the Reuben was on the menu and the rye bread was listed. I asked to confirm it was actual rye bread and not a bun, but unfortunately the rye wasn’t available so they defaulted back to the bunwich. Unfortunately the bunwich is far too bready to come close to being a reuben, so it’s simply a poor quality counterfeit. It tastes like the chef read was briefly told what a reuben was and then tried to make one. Fortunately I’ve found a local source for property salted and smoked meats as well as a proper deli/Jewish rye.

Another thing that troubled me was the presence of corned beef in the restaurant, but no corned beef hash available on the breakfast menu. This makes me a little sad.

Edit: The mango-passion fruit-mint soda is great, but the straw is too narrow for the passion fruit seeds which get caught in the straw. They need a higher caliber straws...