Alba Cafe - BERRI

Hot breakfast on a sunny morning right beside the mighty Murray. What could be better? Well the service could. Ours was appalling; a sullen waitress who was perhaps having a bad start to the day, so we trust this may not be the norm? Perhaps she was affronted by us asking for a freshly squeezed orange juice. Surely not an unreasonable request in Berri heart of Riverland citrus growing. Not only do River Jacks not offer freshly squeezed OJ, but it seemed pretty unavailable anywhere in Berri. Also the omlette we ordered was more like scrambled eggs served in a scarily hot pan, and the very average egg and bacon roll was also scorching. Coffees though were luke warm at best. Pity that the great architecture of the cafe and its superb location were badly let down by the service and food.

I went here with my mother after returning from a tour through Vietnam. I ordered the Vietnamese Summer Salad with duck, and a Fruity Tooty . The drink was quite nice, without being outstanding. There was very little about the salad that I would call Vietnamese, aside from some of the ingredients. The duck looked and tasted exactly like lamb or mutton for some reason. It 's a pity they didn 't let me know, 'cos I would have quite happily gone with the other option of prawns ... unless they were also going to look and taste like lamb. Average at best, and I reckon I could have prepared the same dish with a pre-packed salad and some dressing from Woolies. The only reason I gave it a 3 instead of a 2, was because Mum quite liked the taste of her Chicken Ceasar Salad , despite it being 70% cabbage, and absolutely loved her Gourmet Iced Chocolate . It was incredibly noisy inside, and conversation was extremely difficult.

Our lunch orders what great value, and such a pleasant environment to sit back and relax. Very friendly staff. I just couldn't get over the thickness of the steak and cooked to perfection

So calming sitting on the outside deck. An outstanding place to relax and take in the ambiance of the Murray. If we could have ordered yabbies done with a Greek slant it would have been perfect. Maybe next time.

Coffee was ok, nothing special but the service was great and the place on the river was outstanding. A stronger brew would have made it exceptional.