The Chapel Cafe

The Chapel Cafe

Key - Summary Information - Bar

Name: The Chapel Cafe
Address: 91 The Esplanade, Cairns.
Cuisine Type: Modern Auz
Price Range: Cocktails $8.00-$13.00
Beers: Mainstream beers only. XXXX, VB etc…
EftPos/Credit Cards: Yes, all accepted
Parking: Nil - street parking only
Disabled Access: Main entrance street level. Stairs only to upstairs.
Deals: 1/2 price cocktails night Friday and Saturday
Dress Code: Smart Casual.
Smoking: Yes, but confined to some areas only.
Overall Rating 5 out of 10 – just, and only because it was cheap.
Drinks: 5 out of 10 (signature drink saved them)
Service: 3 out of 10
Ambience: 5 out of 10
Value for Money: 6 out of 10 (on cheap night)
Recommended: No, unless cheap night and service not important.


Hours:
DOWNSTAIRS
7am - 11pm 7 days
Breakfast - Lunch - Dinner

UPSTAIRS
Saturday – Thursday 6pm - 2am
Friday 4pm - 2am
Phone: (07) 4041 4222
Email: chapelcafe@ozemail.com.au

Review:

The Chapel Cafe is located in the heart of Cairns CBD just a hop, step, and jump away from the central pool area on the Esplanade. The Chapel has a bar and restaurant upstairs and downstairs. The downstairs restaurant and bar caters to the street level crowd, and also boasts an outdoor seating area.

There are plenty of televisions in the downstairs bar area featuring sport, and other television from the free to air channels. The downstairs area has an open bar feel to it and you are able to watch the people pass the by the bar on the Esplande and enjoy a cold ale or two. This is a good area to relax in with a group of friends.

When reviewing the Chapel, we were interested in reviewing the bar side of the establishment, however the Chapel will be reviewed in future as a restaurant. It is important to note that you can come here for a full meal with all the trimmings, however this side of the Chapel is not being reviewed at this time.

The staircase leading upstairs is on the right hand side of the bar as you face it from street level. The decorations on the staircase were a bit ‘ho hum’. There were lots of photos of frolicking young people taken in the bar at various times. These were put together in montage format and placed in between Henri Matisse prints from the nude blue series.

The upstairs area is glassed off from the staircase itself to create an almost atrium like effect on the stairway, which was a little unusual, however it does emphasise the distinction between the upstairs and downstairs areas. It provides a grand entrance to the upstairs bar area. We elected to go upstairs and see if we could enjoy the view across the Esplanade and out to the harbour.

We had heard that if you are seated outside just before dusk you can get an excellent view of the bats flying around as they head out to feed for the evening. Unfortunately we were a bit late starting to see them, however if you are able to be seated outside and are a wildlife fan this is something to look out for. Of course the usual lorikeets are present for early evening frolics.

The upstairs area is very different to downstairs and the owners are clearly trying for a lounge feel to the upstairs area. The lighting is quite dim, lots of candles, and lounge music was the main fare. DJ Jodie was spinning the discs that night and played Kylie Minogue and Michael Buble lounge music.

As soon as we got in the door we were informed by staff that we would not be able to be seated on the deck because all the seats were booked. There was only one couple sitting on the deck when we arrived and the bar itself was deserted. However, apparently all the tables were booked, so we took a seat at one of the booths. If you want to seat outside, we’d recommend booking in future, however it was a bit galling to be told that we couldn’t sit where we wanted to in a nearly deserted bar.

There was an extensive drinks list (including a fair to average array of wines), however we had to get the drinks list ourselves from the bar. The waiting staff were apparently too busy looking after all the punters that weren’t there to provide us with a drinks list or menu. Once we had decided, we then also had to order from the bar ourselves. Again the waiting staff must have had something better to do than look after paying customers. The Chapel could benefit from training their staff and informing them of what waiting staff are supposed to do. I don’t think they get paid to sit in the back of the upstairs bar area gossiping with the DJ and ignoring patrons.

I ordered a Boddingtons to wet my thirst on a warm Far North Queensland evening, and my associate the Pink Chapel Absolution, the signature drink of the Chapel. On ordering the Boddingtons from the drinks list we were advised that they didn't have Boddingtons, and hadn't had it for a year. One would think that they could have updated their drinks list in that time, but apparently that’s expecting a bit much. A pint of Heineken from the tap was substituted for the Boddingtons at short notice and fortunately there was plenty of that.

The Chapel Absolution arrived quickly along with the pint. As a signature drink, it was a little surprising when first tasted. It consisted of Absolut Citron, peach schnapps, cointreau, grenadine, with some coconut (desiccated) all blended in with the ice to form a slush. The Absolution initially struck the palate quite hard, but as you got further down the glass it did get a lot better and grew on you. That probably had something to do with the alcohol content, and it might be better to start with a wine and then graduate on to the Absolution. The Chapel Absolution was an interesting drink and worth trying again if you can put up with the poor service. On 1/2 price nights it is also good value and that might explain the lack of service we experienced, although I doubt the staff work on commission. Next time we might also find room for the Toblerone Daquiri and the Mango Daquiri which both sounded pretty good.

As the crowd increased it was apparent that The Chapel mainly draws in a younger crowd. Downstairs tends to have a mixed age level, and the younger crew come upstairs. The bar staff became more friendly during the evening, and we couldn’t help but wonder if that was because they learned we were locals. I can’t emphasise enough how disappointing the service was. No doubt the DJ featured at the Chapel helps bring in the younger set, and in the later hours The Chapel would definitely rock. Overall not recommended, unless on a cheap night and you don’t care what kind of service you get. The Chapel is not a beer lovers bar by any stretch of the imagination. Only run of the mill tap beers are available, The Chapel could do with getting some interesting brews in there, like Boddingtons which they falsely claimed to have.