The Grounds of the City

Couldn’t have it in another way. Our girls-get-together-night-out was perfect :)

All staff were courteous and hardly noticeable, in the best way.
Helpful, observant and pleasant.
This is almost a repeat of previous responses following previous visits to the restaurant

Always such a great spot for breakfast, service, food and ambience are always fantastic.

My food was cold. Coffee also. Plates were never cleared - and we were there for 4 hours.

Very nice:)

I was shocked and disappointed you do not stock any vodka or Pimms, what decent bar / restaurant doesn't stock the basics! Also my hubby had to ask three times as to where his GT was. Food was ok nothing to rave about just standard pub fare food.

Amazing food. We had the High Tea, which was beautiful! Very popular spot so a little bit noisy but still fantastic. I recommend booking in advance (which is really easy to do) if you have your heart set on the high tea etc as lots of people!

Booked a table, but waited for almost an hour - we were offered a glass of wine each which was nice but because we had booked to see a show at the state theatre it meant we only had time for some chips and a cocktail each before we had to leave to go see the show.

The service was very poor.
Asked a wait person 3 times for a dessert menu and they still forgot.

We both enjoyed lunch yesterday, 6/12 starting with a very pleasant receptionist and being shown to our table which was positioned very well. Service overall was very friendly and informed. Dishes we chose were tasty , not too much food on our plates, just enough! Of course there is a degree of lively conversational noise but nothing we could complain about. A comfortable atmosphere - a reminder of the European bistro 'feel'.
Overall definitely recommended. Staff manoeuvre deftly through quite narrow spaces!
J-A P.

great food and ambience

Perfect place for a regular catch up with a friend

Absolute delight in every way except for noise levels which is a major problem of most restaurants now. In fact I won’t go to the city grounds at lunchtime because it is simplydeafening which causes headaches and worst of all is a total conversation killer. May not be as aesthetically pleasing and not as hygienic but bring back sound absorbing floor covers!!! BUT this place is a credit to the owners. Shades of Katoomba’ famous Paragon Cafe. xxxxxxx

Great feel to the place. There was a great buzz and you could comfortably hold a conversation. Location was really convenient. Amazing Bloody Mary's! Will definitely be going back

We had a great time. Food was lovely. Table staff were great.

The food was good, the live music was excellent, the service was friendly but a little on the slow side. otherwis, a great evening was had. nex time I would come a little later than 6.45 in mid-week as the restaurant really emptied out after about 7.30.

Just loved the food here and want to go again as soon as possible. An amazing main course salad of nuts, grains and roasted carrots with a buttermilk dressing was the highlight.

The overall experience was very good. It was a lively, buzzy atmosphere, great decor and ambience. The waiters were excellent, as they were professional, friendly, respectful and nothing was too much trouble for them. We shared 3 small plates, and the food was very tasty. Portion wise, the servings were quite small for the price. I didn't think that was value for money. The total bill for 3 people was $111.00 for three small plates, one dessert (small tart) to share, 3 coffees and one glass of wine. For what we had, I thought that was a bit pricey. However, I would certainly return and recommend it to other people.

The Grounds of the City is a great place with great food and service. My favourite place for breakfast catch ups with friends and colleagues.

Our server was totally amazing. Great range of meal choices not such a big wine list.

I made the RSVP for the friend birthday breakfast at 7:45am, however, it took 45+minutes to serve the food. We all end up getting to work late.

Great vibe and ambience. Very noisy, and coffee was warm. Food was average and too many chips with a $25 burger. I suggest a side salad with smaller amount of fries. Staff are very pleasant and would go back when less crowded.

Amazing staff and service, steak cooked perfectly and the most welcoming and comfortable atmosphere. Thanks for a very memorable birthday dinner

Fantastic, friendly service elevates this hidden gem from good to excellent.
A far superior experience to it's sister endeavour in Alexandria. Booking highly recommended.

Overall great experience. Only down fall was we were seated at a booth close to the kitchen where they was the dishes so quiet loud and distracting.
Great food, cocktails and venue

The food and service were great but the seating was uncomfortable, there’s practically no space between the tables and very little leg room. I guess they had to do it this way, the place was already super busy a and packed at 9am.
We had steak and egg, pastries, they were all delicious.

Food was fine - just sooo busy and noisy!
Would go at a different time rather than lunch

Easy and hassle free booking

This was the second time I had been, having visited for the first time the previous day for breakfast. What I love - the decor and style is awesome, I really love it. The staff are really nice and accommodating, I can't fault them at all, great job team! My burger was one of the best I've had in a long time. A true American-style burger. A few things of note - I ordered a Coke with lunch and it was flat. For $4.50 I'd prefer to have a drink fresh from the bottle rather than flat post-mix. The previous morning I had the fruit toast. Whilst I love thick cut toast, it was ridiculously big and dry, so much so I found it cumbersome to eat. And one sachet of butter wasn't enough. These are obviously minor things, which won't stop me from coming back, but worth mentioning.

The whole experience was disappointing. Service poor, food well below expectations, tables too close to each other. Unfortunately I will never go there again. I think they bought my meal from Mc Donald’s in the same complex and just added $25 to it.

Our meal and the service was terrible. I have been to the Alexandria grounds and it was great. Worst experience in a restaurant that I have had for over a decade.

Man at the window taking people in for seating was rude and incompetent, we had a booking and were still waiting to be seated for about 15 minutes due to the incompetence

I love this relaxed place especially interior and food.

A must try would be the grilled bone marrow, such heaven. It literally melts in your mouth and the taste is just magnificent. It comes with ox tail on top, which just adds to its delicacy. The price was very reasonable for a gourmet dish.

Staffs were really friendly and suggested our meal, which we took in and I was very happy we did. Definitely worth a try and I will visit them again when in Sydney.

Great looking venue however on the night we went we couldn't have the Chardonnay we wanted, or the Shiraz we had chosen, or the Oysters we wanted. In fact everything we chose was greeted with "just let me see if that is still available". Mains arrived prior to entree being finished. Main plates then stayed on the table for half and hour before being cleared. Drinks were also very slow to arrive.

We were visitors to Sydney and stumbled across this incredible looking restaurant and appeared to have ambience plus, we made a reservation for brunch one day and made another straight away for lunch the next. Exceptional service, food was very tasteful, the look and feel are old-worldly with a touch of Victorian steampunk. As long as you do not mind the noise, lot of people sitting very close to each other, then you will enjoy the experience.

The only issue I have there was nobody at the front to seat us so we had to go in and find somebody. After that everything was good. Food and wine and service was excellent. I would go back

Please extend our Compliments to the maitre de - he offered his arm and escorted my ageing mother to the table - she was very impressed by this 'old fashioned service". She also liked the linen serviettes! All wait staff friendly & helpful. Fabulous experience - we will be back. Thank you

The staff were very disorganised and slow. We also had numerous servers who seemed very confused about orders and about what we would get for the high tea. We also had a request for one vegetarian high tea but did not get it.

Had the high tea - was very reasonably priced ($35) and included a nice selection of sweet and savoury options