Cafe de Orient — Restaurant in Sunshine Coast Regional

This is a small restaurant that I suppose once would have been on the main thoroughfare of Palmwoods. It is now located in a tiny street just adjacent to the new town square.

It’s been 10 years since I last visited Cafe de Orient. Aside from a little decor, nothing much has changed. We were served by a young lady. She was exceptional, from start to finish. Not obtrusive, patient and helpful.

The food was sensational. In fact perhaps one of the better restaurants I have been to in my time on the coast. Indeed, there is an excellent chef at this restaurant.

My biggest complaint of this restaurant is that the portion sizes are just too small or the cost of those dishes are too high. A $24 dish included 4 good size prawns and a single oyster. All of the mains were just not big enough. Our bill not including alcohol was $94 for 3 people (3 mains and a fried rice + 2 entrees). And singularly this is why we haven’t been back here in 10yrs. Very poor value for money.

The alcoholic beverage menu is a bit of a joke. Almost an after thought. The wines offered to purchase are quite poor. I believe the place is still BYO, which would more than make up for this.

On sunset the scene was fantastic, temperature just right and the lorikeets had just commenced...

Loved the ambience of the place for dinner. Ordered duck red curry with rice and tempura starters. Tbh the starter portion is too little for 12$ (on the photo it's 3 pieces but actually was given 4 pieces, but still). The red curry was good but rather on the sweet side, it also has longan/lychee in it, we thought it would be spicy. I shared the curry with my husband as we ate it with rice. The portions for the curry and the rice are quite huge we actually took the rice to go since it's too much. The service was okay, the staff was friendly and responsive. We had to wait for our order for a bit since the place was rather packed/it was Friday night. Otherwise pretty decent, would love to try other...

I grew up in Palmwoods for 18 years and this restaurant has been around as long as I can remember, it’s become a staple of my life here. I now live in Brisbane, but every time I come to visit my parents we get takeaway from Cafe De Orient (my go-to dish, the Sweet and Sour Chicken, has remained one of my favourite foods for the past 10 years and I cannot find a suitable replacement in Brisbane). Although the staff change, they have always been exceptionally lovely people. I dread the day my parents move and Cafe De Orient won’t be the go-to takeaway, although I’d still be willing to make the drive for that Sweet and Sour Chicken. I cannot recommend this...