Cafe El Nido — Restaurant in Torquay

You can find the El Nido Cafe at one of the entrances to the Dunes Village Shopping Centre. It is the perfect place to grab a bite on the road [with the service station across the way]. Very popular during COVID-19 with their external takeaway window, which was heavily in use while I had breakfast there.

There is limited indoor seating - a bench with bar stools, but outside there are ample tables and chairs. For those waiting for takeaway orders, there is a seating area opposite.

Orders are taken/paid for at the counter, and if you have a keep cup, they will ask you to wait and pass it to them to fill and return when your name comes up. The staff work super hard here and are quite friendly.

They have a range of healthy pre-made snacks, muffins and wraps/rolls. They have a small 'all-day' menu complete with street food, drinks, and cater to your dietary needs.

Recommendation: El Nido Brekky Burger - fried egg, bacon, hash brown, tomato, cheese, spinach, relish, avocado on a brioche bun accompanied by sweet potato fries. *From a local source, I was told their dumplings are incredible. Coffee - they use the St Ali brand, a medium-strength blend, perfect to accompany your breakfast. Like many places around here, they sell their own branded keep cups and other bits and pieces.

A great place for a grab and run snack/drink at reasonable prices and...

My first impression upon arrival was that the staff were loud. Really loud. It felt like they were screaming at each other in chitter chatter. For breakfast, I’d prefer a quieter environment.

I ordered scrambled eggs on toast with bacon and halloumi. The eggs tasted of nothing and I ate about 1/3 of them. The sides of bacon and halloumi were cooked perfectly, were tasty and generous portions. The coffee was delicious. And why cafes pile 2 pieces of toast, unbuttered, on top of each other still makes no sense to me.

Why only 2 stars?

The staff member who was making coffee coughed and coughed……and coughed and coughed and on not one occasion did I see her even attempt to cover her mouth or nose. She was right in my line of vision so I could see her clearly.

It was absolutely gross and even that the other staff didn’t say anything to her suggests that this might be considered normal behaviour in this cafe.

And for that reason, I will never return to...

Am very new in Greater Geelong -Surf Coast area and I’m impressed to see Filo resto/cafe in Geelong but I don’t want to do the drive there just yet. Then I found this after more searches & not to mention I love Torquay. So, to cut the story… we came first time, then second time then 3rd time in a span of a month! So impressed with the food on offer, good portions & the Filo-taste of pork Longanisa, belly tosino made me think of old Mama’s home cooking… kudos to Danii & her team giving us sumptuous food in this li’l quaint town.

Looking at the menu, one can tell that the one who made it really used famous places of the country in their drinks… another proud moment. And off course the coffee is superb… I ended up buying St Ali beans.

And the staff are so friendly when their time allows —ready with a smile & recommends with gusto! Definitely coming back with family, friends and...