Park & Vine - CITY BEACH

I have been to this little gem 5 times now for lunch.Food is wonderful.Everytime I have been though there are not many customers.They don't know what they are missing!

I was very surprised to read the negative reviews of Park&Vine after going there for lunch. The cafe is in Empire Village on the Boulevard and in the suburban area rather than the beach side of City Beach.We were greeted and served by friendly attentive staff and the food was good. It was expensive but most City Beach places are. The presentation was not Masterchef but it was fine.Good solid tables and chairs, tables for two are too close together. Nice outdoor area - a lovely cafe.

Considering the place was not very busy the amount of time we waited for food was a bit too long. We were a table of 11. The staff were friendly enough but the lady who served us was not up with the specials of the day. The food was quite tasty but presentation was poor. Soup of the day was delicious, served with crunchy bread. Most of us asked for HOT coffee and HOT we got! Hurray.

I really want to like this place, the fitout, location and ideas behind the suburban cafe are great but....the indifferent, inexperienced kitchen and wait staff have disappointed every time. The food has been ok, IF what you order is available or they can be bothered serving it.. three strikes for me, you're out.

Met up with wife & MIL for a quick feed it was suggested that the Empire Village SC had a couple of options. Well we chose the wrong one. The Italian was busy and we chose Park & Vine, wish i hadn't done that. The grilled Fish & Chips @ $26 was dry and nasty. The Penne was under cooked and bathed in a salty creamy sauce that had dissolved with the heat. 9 customers in the 1 1/2 hours we were there with 4 staff I don't think they would be making any money so i suggest they cut their losses and just do coffee and cakes. Surely you cant get that wrong.