River Cafe

Fabulous atmosphere, food, and service. And the view of Adelaide at night is breathtaking. Highly recommended.

Had an anniversary luncheon at this venue recently.not mine but a rellie.
Setting - was just gorgeous.food was amazing, and the waitress was a great conduit between the kitchen and the guests, looking after both ends of things with a generous dollop of panache.
Definitely recommend having a meal here, if you haven't before. I will be back.
With thanks.

We enjoyed a relaxed tasty dinner and wine overlooking the river torrens and the city lights.
The staff were attentive, friendly and helpful. There was a 30% discount on food which was great. A glass of wine was an acceptable about $12. All up a nice evening. Only thing for me was the wine selection wasn't very extensive, but that's a minor issue.

Very small portions, freezing cold (heating would have been nice). Very short staffed, but setting, 100%, even in the pouring rain.

We had the beef cheeks and eye fillet. Both were amazingly cooked. Entree and dessert were delicious

This restaurant offers the worst steak that I have ever eaten. I could hardly even cut it with the knife as it was so tough. The cut of meat was totally unsuitable for a steak. I would not even use it for a casserole. Unsurprisingly nearly the entire steak went back to the kitchen. The restaurant claims that they check after 5 minutes if the food is ok and take action if the food isn't eaten. This did not occur when I dined there. A

From the outside this restaurant does not look inviting. Do not be deceived! It is fantastic. The food was delicious and varied, while the service was sublime. Our server remembered everything we ordered and didn't need to ask who had what drink or dish. And we never felt rushed at any point. Very impressed!

Beautiful location, especially if you get a window seat. Nice food and good service (although it wasn't busy when we went - only two other tables - I would like to go when it's busy and reassess). Lovely cheese platter for dessert - it definitely serves two!

Nice relaxed place quiet nice outlook pleasant service nice food serves just right size quality not quantity easy parking

Lovely dinner, great food, friendly and helpful staff all to a lovely view over the Torrens

UPDATE: we stopped going here after the food quality deteriorated. We were served uncooked risotto (on 19 June 2020) etc. No longer seems worth the expense. Sad cos it's a nice place. Photos below are from 2018.

**
Never disappoints. Food is delicious. Service a little slow sometimes but definitely worth the wait. Very nice river views. Clean and well laid out restaurant. Bar with sitting area. Friendly, professional staff. Reasonable amount of parking with the option of a riverside stroll after dinner.

Crab linguine disappointing. 3 of us had it and it contained the tiniest amount of crab. The remainder ended up being spaghetti in sauce with bits of tomato. Full marks however to waiter. She was fabulous

Have been been coming here for over 20 years. However, our recent lunch here was disappointing.
Food and service was lacklustre at best.
A big decline from previous experiences.
Has a special place in our hearts but needs to improve or it may be confined to history.
Here's hoping it will return to it's glorious days.
Cheers, Q.
Owner has replied and it is most likely we will be back.
Way too many memories and I'm sure things will be better in the future.

It is very easy to give this restaurant a 5 star review. We asked for a quiet table and they happily obliged.

The food was excellent, some innovative ideas which enhanced the experience.

The food was very well presented, made the visual experience a pleasure.

The quality was excellent in fact pefect, the quantities generous. A truly nice pleasant experience.

Everyone on the table was impressed.

The waiting staff were attentive, professional and very pleasant. They made the night.

It was nice to meet the manager who was always making sure people were enjoying themselves and being attended to.

Thank you for an excellent night.

It’s a shame when reviews make similar comments, and no changes are made by the venue. We enjoyed our meal, and the waitresses were wonderful. Unfortunately, a rude male staff member put a dampener on our evening when he walked over to our table and straight away accused us of ‘cancelling’ our entree order. There was prior miscommunication around the menu between ourselves and the waitress when we ordered, and we were happy to accept that this happened and continue with eating a meal we didn’t actually order. However the male staff member was rude, accusational and didn’t allow us the opportunity to explain what had actually happened, nor did he apologise for the miscommunication. This is no way to treat anyone. It’s disappointing, and we won’t be back.

4 Star for view 3 Star for food 3 star for service and 1 star for everything else.
Service: When you presented with a mosquito in your glass of water on your arrival, it kinda had set the tone, not a good start. The service was okay, however something was just not right with the manager who directed us to our seating as posted by other reviews.

Food: We ordered the Tapas to start of with and for mains - Free-range chicken with green tahini yogurt, charred greens and pan juices and the Potato gnocchi with mushrooms, ricotta salata, balsamic and radicchio. The gnocchi was second class lacking taste, presentation and freshness whilst the chicken was well cooked, dressed and seasoned and presented well. No desert as we were not prepared to spend another dollar or more of our time which was being spoilt by the ambiance.

View: The view overlooking Adelaide across the river torrens would of got a 5 star if it was not for all the unacceptable spider webs, spider eggs and god knows what else all over the outside windows. As we were sitting next to the window, we were not about to have our food whilst we developed arachnophobia. So we asked to move to another table. When we told the manger why, he told us that the outside windows was not his fault. Maybe it was maybe it was not?

Everything else: i have to agree with majority of posters, you sense there is something not right with this place. I put it down to ambiance and general cleanness, outdated fixtures and of course the windows infested with spider webs.

Its really difficult to understand with the million dollar views and the cascading water fall kitchen facilities and the outdoor environment how you could stuff this up! But they have.

I had lunch there, so can not review the wine list. The meals were very good. The view from the restaurant over the Lake is also superb. The service was good without being hurried or obtrusive. The menu was not extensive, but this was lunch after all.

It was lovely. The chef could cater for vegan and lowfodmap but very, very limited as it's an Italian restaurant.
Very expensive but service is outstanding. And of course the view:)

The food is amazing and well worth a visit. Great views as well and good parking.
They did struggle with our order though, I tried to order a raspberry drink and they didn't know what it was. Didn't understand no sauce on the main and by desert we had decided not to ask questions about the ingredients in the meal as the waitress didn't know the menu with the other courses.
Mixed grill is fantastic although the sausage is spicy. I recommend this with tapas for entrees.

Excellent cuisine. We have the prawn pasta and the marinara pasta followed by two delightful desserts. Staff were friendly and helpful. Would highly recommend.