Lillipad Cafe

Yummmmm. We have been coming to Cairns for Christmas for over 10 year now to share it with family. One of our must do's is to have breakfast/lunch or coffee and CAKE at the Lilly Pad Cafe. It has never disappointed. Thanks guys!

delicious food.. generally a busy, packed little place but hey the food is fresh local and well worth it.. :-)

Loved my "Basbushka" Partner had the crepes and son had steak sandwich...everything was hot, tasty and inexpensive...10/10!!!

Customer service was decent, not good not bad, wait time was reasonable though I was in at a non busy time, food was AWESOME. I had the temptress( the one with tempeh) and it was a very good size and very tasty. Would def go again for the food.

I loved every bit of it! huge portions, decent price. Wonderful service!

Rude service.
Ignor you then make you feel like being an inconveinence for being a customer.
I haven't got my food yet, but doesn't matter how good it is, because I already have a foul taste in my mouth.
0 stars

On first bite: ''Why the f#@$ does that taste so good?!'' Beautiful atmosphere. I wish there was a place like this at home.

I love the Breaky Burrito......... yummmmmm!!!
see you soon!!
yuri

I was taken to the lilypad by a friend, and I must admit I was dubious about a place that advertised vegetarian food, being mainly carnivore myself. But they had so much more to offer than vegetarian food, a lot of their meals are available with meat and a few are predominantly meat and they can cook it very well. My meal was massive (and I'm a very big eater) the food was delicious, the atmosphere is great. I don't write in these blogs usually I'm not the kind of person who really takes the time. Maybe that can tell you how special this place was. I have been back many times and the quality has never changed, I will continue to go back as long as they produce great value meals.

Great Food, Great Menu, always consistent and friendly attitude

We frequent lillipads often, It is probally the best quality and best value of all cairns cafes.

I love the Breaky Burrito......... hmmmmmm

Great food but always well slow with the orders whether they are full or not. I did see some of the workers out the back smoking so I can understand if they take their time to do things. The power on hot days cuts out and they have too many tables and seats inside. You will find that people trying to walk past you will make some sort of contact with you - that also goes whilst you are sat down and they are too. I guess if you enjoy having a few more people at your table its fine.
Overall, clearing the tables to make some space is a given, so I normally put the plates etc on the coffee table (you can locate this to the right as you walk in).

The Lillipad breakfasts are great- I especially love the vege cooked breakfast and I'm not even vegetarian. The atmosphere is also really interesting, the staff friendly and efficient and the ingredients they use seem to be very high quality. There is nothing wrong about this place- I really love it!

Im visiting Lillipad Cafe every week ( sometimes 2 times :) and food is all the time fresh and very very good. I think everybody can choose from very big menu. Im always really happy with meal. But this place is not for people which are in rush :) You can wait for meal more then half an hour :)

Cafe of my dreams
Reviewed on: 2003-08-08
Reviewer's rating: 4

There was once a time, long ago, when Cairns locals owned and ran small retail shops and cafes in the old buildings that line many of Cairns' streets. Customers would park their cars on the side of the road and wander from shop to shop, occasionally getting rained on but certainly enjoying themselves. But over the past few years, with the help of economic rationalisation ideologies, mega retail chains and huge shopping malls have been erected alongside the small shops, and sometimes on top of them. Huge buildings that claim they are the ‘centre of everything' dominate the streetscape so the small operators are literally squashed out of business. I blatantly call this process "the slow destruction of the ‘old' Cairns". By that, I refer to street side shops that have been around for longer than I can recall being run out of business. This process of economic obliteration dismays me.

So when I stumbled across a small independent café called the Lillipad Café on Grafton Street, I was immediately thrown back to a time when small cafes were the norm on Cairns city streets. To be fair, there has been a recent resurgence of locally owned shops around Cairns since the invasion of the big boys, but it has taken a long time and a lot of businesses with it.

I was thrilled when I sat down at an old, small table with writing on it ranging from interesting anecdotes to philosophic musings. It was lunchtime and all the tables, inside and out, were fully occupied. There was a buzz in the air. Some people were chatting and laughing, others were leaning back in their comfortable chairs pondering the nature of the universe. Funky music was playing softly in the background and post-modernist artwork hung from the brightly painted walls. A waitress came to my table and took my order for the biggest cappuccino they had and a chicken, onion and mushroom foccacia.

It was a wonderful experience to know I was sitting on the side of the street, chatting wildly with my partner, breathing the fresh air and enjoying the midday sun. There were no mega-chain food stores in sight, and no pastel-coloured paint to be seen.

Then the greatness of the Lillipad Café was heightened. My coffee was delicious and massive - enough to double the speed of my conversation and triple the rate of my eye flickering. My foccacia was fresh and delicious, obviously made on the spot, and completely satisfying. The price for my meal was well below what I expected to pay, so I opted for a chunky piece of chocolate mudcake for lunch-dessert. I must admit, I'm never sure whether lunch is supposed to have a dessert, but when I next return to the Lillipad Café I will make it my duty to reaffirm my lunch-dessert vows. The chocolate cake was massive and filling.

For a lunchtime or snack venue, this Cairns café is difficult to beat. The coffee is excellent and is available with soy milk if you prefer. The food is fresh and healthy with many vegetarian options. You can choose to eat al fresco on the sidewalk or inside in the funky dining area. I highly recommend The Lillipad Café as a venue for lunch or a coffee break. It's genuine ‘Cairns locals' charm has me hooked - I love it.

- Diner Diller