Frothy Coffee Boatshed — Restaurant in Smiths Lake

My wife & I spent a week holidaying at Smiths Lake & decided to take a walk from the house we rented down to the Boatshed to see what they had to offer. We had our small dog with us (a Cavalier King Charles Spaniel) on a short lead. What we hadn't seen advertised anywhere was that they didn't allow pets onto the premises, not even on the outside dining deck. The first we knew about this was the chalkboard sign at the entrance stating dogs not allowed. As a result, we didn't get a chance to try any of their food offerings. We were told we could order takeaway but that didn't appeal to us at the time. We had wanted to take a seat & enjoy the view across the lake while we had a meal. There is a small childrens playground in the park beside the Boathouse & public use electric bbqs. We also took note that you could hire sailing boats, stand up paddle boards, or tinnies with small outboards. Maybe it was due to it being end of season, but a quick look over the gear available wasn't inspiring. It all looked tired & run down. Overall, we were disappointed & as we didn't get a chance to try the food I can't rate the location any higher than 2 stars overall, nor can I rate the food, service or atmosphere. Howver, the couple of staff members we spoke with were...

Reviewed scoring as 2nd visit, totally different reception and experience. Friendly competent service, lots of tables overlooking the lake full of the full range of brunching customers, from preschoolers to retirees. Most clearing their plates. Excellent coffee, although no dogs allowed inside, a bucket of clean water brought out unprompted for our 2 thirsty pooches. Clearly it pays to visit mornings or early afternoons. Menu looked fine, all those brunching looked to have had decent platefuls.

1st visit.. We arrived at 15:45, the cafe was empty, the 'closed sign' by the door which was still open. Three teenaged girls clustered talking around the til. I asked "are you closed?" Maybe the wrong question, as also clearly visible was the sign indicating opening hours 10:00 til 16:00, but the reply was "yes we are closed" I note reading through other's reviews that there is a low scoring review which mentions not being a local might have explained a poor level of service. However, at the other extreme the water craft hire service in the same building is 5+*. An enthusiastic, knowledgable person centred young man made it clear that if we wanted to go out on the water..he had the equipment, and nothing would have been too...

Went for a stroll to Frothy Coffee for morning tea. As a first time visitor, I was surprised to see how big it was. Plenty of seating both indoors and outside on the verandah.

The view of the lake is stunning with a flock of pelicans swimming by and a cheeky egret sunning themselves on the deck.

The coffee, chai and scones were all great...nice and hot. Scones were still warm and fresh cream tasted so much better than squirty cream from a can! ;)

The menu is extensive with a lot to choose from and it all looked yum as it came out. I have to say though that the prices for some of the items were pretty expensive but I guess given the location, delivery costs, and basically the cost of everything these days....it's to be expected.

The staff were spot on! Efficient, friendly, happy to crack a joke or two and just really nice people.

Definitely recommend a visit if you're in the area.....pop in and give a local business a go.

P.S. We left with a batch of raspberry and white chocolate muffins and went back the next day for coffee and left with some...