Cracked Pepper

Although I had been here a few times in past years for breakfast/brunch, I took my husband for dinner and what a wonderful choice. The menu is very extensive with specials and on our night a Mexican buffet also offered. I chose the Coastal pasta which was so delicious with chicken, prawns, mushrooms and capsicum in a wonderful creamy sauce. he chose the lamb shanks which fell off the bone and not a scrap was left except the bones. The service was excellent and as we also had an Entertainment Book voucher the price was outstanding value. It must rate as one of the best restaurants along the Esplanade.

Approximate cost: $20-$25

I have now been there on 2 occasions, first time was breakfast and to be honest I was disappointed. I ordered a breakfast burrito, on the menu and sounded delicious but when it came out it was cold and there was a really spicy sauce that really turner me off. Next was lunch about a week ago, my partner and I walked in around 2pm, and they lady at the front abruptly told us we couldn't sit inside as they were setting up for dinner. Fine by us, we sat outside. We then waited for her to come and take our order, no sign of her appearing so I went to order at the counter, she then told me it's table service didn't you know. I said it would be quicker this way. When I paid she was very short and not a friendly employee.
I won't be going back there, cracked pepper you've now put a sour taste in my mouth.

One of our favourite venues for lunch, we decided to try breakfast this time. One of us is vegetarian, the other allergic to eggs but we were assured we could adapt any menu dish to match our wishes. We settled on the vegetarian dish. Out came the most delicious combination of turkish bread, mushrooms, tomatoes, feta, and avocado with added bacon for the carnivore. With two pots of tea and two coffees and the good company it was a breakfast which became brunch and one we will certainly repeat. Cracked Pepper is also in the Entertainment Book and offers 25% off the total bill.

Had a very mixed up time having dinner here. It wasn't a good experience at all.

Wait person was friendly enough, but was totally inexperienced. It took forever to clarify what was being offered for us to actually eat. We wanted to know if their "special of the day" board menu was available and how to go about ordering things.

Finally, we were given a specials menu to make a selection from (why were not given this when seated, I have no idea) and we placed our order - two different entrees and two main meals the same and a kids meal for the child.

We settled in ordered drinks, got them, drank them, waited a long time for entree got them ate them (absolutely the worst bruschetta I have ever had with soggy wet bread).

Then we were told that the items we had ordered as mains were NOT available!

If we had known this in the beginning we would have just ordered off the main menu - no problems.

There were no other meals on the "specials" list we wanted so we asked if we could just choose something from the main menu and pay the difference if it cost more than the specials price.

After ages more waiting we were finally told yes, that will be fine.

We ordered again, waited again, ate the main meal.

At payment time, we were not billed at the specials price as promised, but for the full price of everything (even the soggy bruschetta!)

We pointed out that this was not right, so off we went again into another long wait. They must have spoken to someone in authority because the end result was that the meals would not be at the special price.

We had a small baby and a 6 year old with us and it wasn't easy to deal with all the waiting. The whole unsatisfactory experience lasted about 2-3 hours!

This was supposed to be a special treat for my daughter and we had had such a miserable time, we had politely waited and waited and pointed out the problem with the bill. I just paid and off we went, never to return.

A business that does not take responsibility for fulfilling what their waitstaff has advised the customer or who does not see that customers are a) efficiently looked after & b) satisfied, should make immediate restitution or adequate compensation for the deficiencies in their service.

Especially in a competitive area such as Mooloolaba where, maybe they can get away with things like this in the busy season, but in the quiet times surely are wanting to win the locals' business?

First and last time for me and while I feel sorry for the new waitstaff I have no patience for the people she answered to.

To add insult to injury the child did not even receive their promised icecream - but by this time they were so fractious they didn't even notice.

We went here last night just for a drink, ordered two Pure Blondes draught. Service was excellent but way overpriced for draught beer at $6.40 a schooner, with a lack of beachfront bars in Mooloolaba a better price point here, they could draw a larger crowd.

We arrived at the restaurant for breakfast. It was about a third full, so not too busy. While we waited to be seated, a waiter walked straight past us without even acknowledging us. After waiting around 5 minutes, we were finally seated. We ordered our coffees before we even sat down, and our meal as well - pancakes with bacon, eggs and maple syrup. We waited probably around 15 minutes before our food came out - no coffee. The food was one smallish pancake, a good helping of bacon and a sunny side up egg with maple syrup already drizzled on top. The egg, unfortunately was almost cold which kind of ruined it for us. We didn't complain, as after all, the meal had only cost around $13. We asked about our coffees when we could get the waiter's attention and he said he would chase them up. After another 10 minutes, having finished our meal, we were going to leave when, in the nick of time, we received our coffees. The waitress seemed unsure of what type of coffees they were, first said "A large flat white and a cappuccino?" We said, no, it was a large flat white and a small flat white, to which she responded "Oh, yeah, I'm pretty sure that's what they are." The coffee was TERRIBLE. We left them after one sip, got up, paid and went down the road to Gloria Jeans for a real coffee, one we could actually drink.

Approximate cost: $13

Had a lovely relaxing lunch here. The staff were laid back and the food as expected for a lunch menu. Lovely location on the esplanade.

This is a very nice restaurant right on the esplanade on Mooloolaba. They offer breakfast right through to dinner and the meals are always very good. The are reasonably priced and the staff recommend dishes when your are ordering so they are also helpful.