The Cafe – QPAC

I have had a number of lovely evenings here with friends and live music and a few bottles of wine and snacks.
If you are not in a rush for a show then it is a nice place to relax for an afternoon if there is some live music on.

I’ve been here a couple times for a pre show bite, an after show discussion and mid morning snack before hitting the museum and art gallery. The café is located next a lovely grassy are on the ‘ground’ level of QPAC and has lots of seating. If it’s a fine day/​evening it’s quite a pleasant spot to eat and drink, if it’s raining you can forget it, everything gets wet. Some of the evening food and drink is nice, smaller portions, but well made and tasty. The coffee is really nothing to write home about but does the job. The prices are a little expensive for the portion size that you get and in all reality Little Stanley Street with the variety of restaurants is a 5 minute walk away and not enough to justify the cost of the menu items. Where this café is let down is their ‘breakfast’ offerings. Now this place is definitely a ‘hole in the wall’ grab and go kind of place and I certainly don’t expect a full menu. The offerings at first seem great, melts, bacon and egg roll but the serving sizes vs how much they charge… disappointing. I had to repeat a very basic order 3 times to the girl behind the counter, who was hostile at best. The Flat White and Latte that we ordered ended up being the same coffee’s both flat whites and dumped on the table. We also ordered a bacon, ricotta cheese and tomato chutney melt… what I got was 1 piece of ciabiatta bread which was smaller than a normal sized slice of bread… I don’t think I’ll be returning here. Too many misses.

Do you like great customer service and delicious food at a reasonable price?
Then go somewhere else.
Probably the rudest staff I’ve encountered at any QPAC venue. It’s not just the lack of smiles, they were just all incredibly rude. Leaning right in front of you to wipe a little water off the table. I guess they were wanting us to move on instead of leisurely enjoying our food and drinks.
We also witnessed staff just about abusing patrons after the staff screwed up orders.
The food? Well, it’s okay. It’s pretty much small bites to eat at full meal prices. Quite frankly you’re better off hitting the Bistro if it’s open, the food is better at least.
Look, go there if you have no other choice. But you’re in Southbank, there’s a lot of other choices.

Went here just last night to enjoy a dinner before the 7:30pm show. At first glance, I was a bit disappointed that The Bistro wasn’t open but this place seemed okay.
There is a very pretty outdoor grassy stage area right where the seats look out and besides the heavy chairs, it is pleasure to be sitting here alfresco looking out into the green lighted tree (see pics).
We ordered the Pork Cotoletta and the Slow Cooked Beef with some Bruschetta, Cappuccino and an Angostora’s Lemon Lime and Bitters in a can (who’d have thought). The dinner cost us $ 64.50 which wasn’t bad for QPAC and the Pork was definetely worth it. It was very tasty indeed. The Beef was a little bit of a disappointment, was a bit dry, the red wine sauce was okay and the scoop of mash looked like it was dished out from a cafeteria. The $ 12.50 Bruschetta was a bit of a rip off because the bread (see pics) consisted of 3 small slices and were a bit soggy underneath.
If everything came out like the Pork I would be bustin’ to give this Unilocaling place 4 glorious stars, but the rest was a bit of a let down unfortunately.
Given the atmosphere and the beautiful night though, this place does deserve a good solid 3.

For a long time, being hungry at QPAC could be quite the quandary. There was a time when the only eating options here were the Lyrebird restaurant which is a fairly expensive, sit-​down affair, or the bars inside where you can get a $ 4 packet of chips or nuts. If you wanted something in between a sit-​down dinner and a packet of chips, you were in trouble and I can recall sitting through many a musical with my stomach rumbling.
It’s really handy to finally have a mid-​level venue at QPAC where you can get a sandwich, cake, or salad with a coffee or drink before seeing a show. I saw Mary Poppins last week (so good. I wanna go again!!!), and true to form had forgotten that I wouldn’t be home till after eleven and hadn’t yet eaten. ‘DOOOOM’ thought I, until I noticed the (relatively) new QPAC café where I enjoyed a mega-​sized Anzac biscuit and a passable coffee before chim chimminy chim chim cheroo-​ing the night away in the Lyric Theatre. It’s nothing amazing, but it’s a good option and has been sorely needed for some time.

I lead a bit of a second life as a singer/​actor and have had the privilege of performing at QPAC a few times. Consequently (especially when the show is in technical rehearsals and the performers have a lot of time on their hands) I got to know all the different bars and restaurants in and around QPAC. The Café came to my rescue a few times when coffee was a necessity and when a bacon and egg wrap can keep you going through a whole day of intense rehearsals. But it’s not just for performers, there’s a fantastic undercover grassed area where people can lounge before a day in South Bank, or get some fuel before going to a show.
I will warn you that The Café can often take its sweet time, so if you’re in a rush be aware that you could lose your patience. Once I waited half an hour for 2 pieces of fruit toast and 2 coffees and to be honest, they weren’t even overrun with people. In saying this, the food I have had is always good and there’s some fantastic salads and pastries in the glass cabinet at the front of the counter. Overall I quite like The Café, but I must admit that’s more out of convenience than out of admiration, but if you’re in the performing arts precinct and in need of something to eat, The Café can help you out.