Rider's Cafe

51 Fairways Drive

286965

6466 9819

For our 8th month, we drove down for brunch armed with a good trusty gps. the place could be quite hard to locate, but with a few U-turns, one eagle-eyed passenger and a patient driver, we were happily nestled in the waiting area at rider's cafe within 15 minutes. plush sofas aside, service was excruciatingly slow. We were asked for our names and contacts only after 20 minutes of waiting, only to be told we had to wait for another 30-45 minutes for a seat. Add another 15 minutes for food to arrive, that will sum up to a glorious 1hr20minutes to chow time. Lesson learnt: make a reservation in advance, as advanced as possible.

We read rave reviews about the egg benedict and pancakes, but sadly, the lady informed us that the menu changed since last September. Oh wells. Guess I would have to stick to Strictly Pancakes for the sweet fix. 

Joy had the sourdough bread with poached eggs, smoked salmon, avocado, asparagus, cheese fluffs & wild rocket ($15).

Joy: While I couldnt really appreciate the rave behind the poached eggs, the entire breakfast left me super full. The bread was a little hard though, but nothing some egg yolk can't solve. The combination of avocado and salmon was unique and quite an acquired taste, but I lapped all up since I liked salmon and avocados individually.

We might go back again for dinner since the menu looks promising, but YES we will make a way-advanced advance reservation. :)

Grade: B+ 

Paul had "the usual" which consisted of sourdough bread, bacon, breakfast bangers, mushrooms, scrambled eggs, wild rocket and absolutely yummy melted tomato ($16)

Paul: What made me order "The Usual" was the large variety involved(= value for money) and boy was I not disappointed. The serving of mushrooms was generous and done just right. There is nothing to rave about the scrambled eggs that was nestled atop my rock-hard bread.(Further furtive glances alerted me to the charred undersides of the slices of bread at neighbouring tables. Oh-oh). I like my scrambled eggs a lil' bit on the runny side and this was a disappointment. 
BUT. I would say that the egg provided atop Joy's bread was god send. Initially, I was wondering what a dallop of whipped cream was doing atop the smoked salmon.(What blasphemy!)But I was in bliss once I popped the whole egg into my mouth. With herbs delicately sprinkled atop the tousled egg white, I was in food bliss when the yolk exploded delightfully in my mouth. MEGA YUM.
The rest of the meal was pretty normal in my opinion. Breakfast bangers were just bratwurst sausages. So nothing special there. 
Overall, the food was filling and barely satisfying. Service (It's either they are too much of a greenhorn or they look dreamy while serving you) leaves much to be desired. The promise of european-like settings from reviews left me sorely disappointed as I was treated to clothes hanging around the stables. 


A return to this place? Possible. But not a definite MUST. 
Grade: B-

Total bill was $43.55 (incl. GST & Scv Charge)]

In conclusion,

Food: B

Service: B-

Ambience: B

Value-for-$: B- 

Overall grade: B 

Apples given: