the bower & urban corner cafe

quirky décor, friendly and attentive service, along with beautifully presented, delicious food at reasonable prices. a real bonus was the early opening at 7am for breakfast, comprising perfectly cooked scrambled eggs with crispy bacon. encouraged by this experience, a second visit to the bower involved a smoky burger and hazelnut semifredo from the evening menu, both tasting as great as they looked. it'sgoodto have a cafe of this calibre in the neighbourhood - a drop-in spot for coffee and tasty cabinet fare (i spied an afghan that would feed a family of four!), or to share a pizza or a platter of freshly baked in-house bread with dips. while the only niggle is the invasive soundtrack (lower the volume or change the selection please), an oasis it is, and well worth a drive eastside down new brighton road.

the food at this place is amazing sogoodto have a nice local place that is not only a cafe but a bar and restaurant as well!!

the bower has been an occasional visit for us because of their kids playground which is fantastic. if you have children 8 and under, this place is a great venue to let them run around while you enjoy a meal.

the bower is a post-quake product. designed from shipping containers it’s been in place for some time. one side services people preferring an afternoon beer accompanied by the occasional band, whilst the other side is cafe style with a large outdoor dining area with children’s playground.

the menu has changed since we first started going many years ago, with a more recent introduction of smoked meats.

on this particular visit i ordered just a half rack of ribs which was $20 and a kids menu pizza for my son. the meat is tender and definitely fall off the bone. it’s not absolutely layered in bbq sauce which was a bonus as that dan often be overwhelming. on its own, the smoked meat was probably a 4. a bit light on the seasoning and perhaps didnt get as much smokey flavour as i would have liked but it was still lovely.

the one downside is that the pub side must have a smokers area down the other end of the corridor that houses the toilets. cigarette smoke wafts down that corridor and fills it up. given the place hosts a lot of kids, it would begoodif tye bower could ensure children weren’t exposed to the smoke. the one downside in this visit.

from what i have experienced the food is up and down,three passable and three substandard experiences so far.
the bar managers are good,but the female bar staff need to be more affable. they always look and act grumpy from what i have seen,it puts a real damper on things.
they have the oddgoodband on, but not a great choice of drinks.
another bar with a no show owner/publican/license holder,well i have never seen them anyway.

great new menu with smoked meats. some brilliant music on weekends, and bar staff always friendly andgoodfor a laugh. great atmosphere!

nice cafe,goodfood, friendly staff and nice atmosphere with lots of cool artwork decorating the walls. i have come here a few times on my lunch work breaks and i will come again in future :)

awesome place to come with kids! don't know about the food yet, but a great play area and the coffees weregoodand served  promptly. a wonderful place for a family lunch. they had a very appealing $20 lunch menu. food wasn't labelled gf but they could do several of the meals gf on request. one drawback was the total absence of gf cabinet food, though. cool decor and friendly staff :)

went to the urban cafe today with my mum and son for a little coffee date. was very impressed by the friendly service although i thought the price of a kids fluffy is a bit expensive at $3. do like the little cup it came in though. my son (20 months) loved the play area. it'sgoodto go to a cafe that is family friendly so you can enjoy your coffee while the kids play. will definitely be back :)

lovely food presented well. only thing i could fault was wobbly table. it was a nice meal nice people. i had the entree and a side . partner had pork belly lookedgoodand tasted nice. would love to go again and would recommend it to anyone.