Great cafe that is just perfect on a sunny day when you can sit outside, but if not, the whole menu is available as takeaway. Dog friendly so you can bring your fur friends with you as well. Food is tasty, coffee is good and the bacon and egg roll for breakfast will make sure that you can go through until dinner before being hungry. There is a bit of wait, but that is to be expected given how popular and great this place is!

Have been many times for breakfast over the years but never had lunch. Lunch was amazing - we're coming back for breakfast the next day. The tacos were massive (if you aren't too hungry you can be full after 2). The barramundi in the taco is cooked perfectly, and is bursting with flavour, the tempura prawns are fresh and fluffy, these are some seriously good tacos. The stone and wood Barra and chips is a highlight. The batter is extremely light and the taste and freshness puts most fine dining restaurants to shame. Definately get the Barra and chips, this paired well with a stone on wood on tap. Nitro cold brew is great, smooth and no bitterness, large is massive, probably get a small, as the large is big enough for two.

A wonderful dog-friendly cafe, with beautiful and tasty meals! The French toast was lovely with many sauces, and the açai had a great mix of ingredients that all complemented each other! Highly recommend!

As great as we expected 💯 Lovely staff, lovely food, lovely spot as well! The menu is actually a bit more exciting than most cafes and we loved our meals! We had Salmon and potato Croquette and Sicilian Seafood Panzanella Salad 🤩😋 so amazing. Also love that Coke comes in a glass and not a can (hygiene wise I prefer that) and that they do chai tea (which not every cafe offers) Highly recommend 👌🏽👌🏽

One of our favourite cafes in Nelson Bay. The food is always really interesting, taking a fresh twist on traditional meals and we have always enjoyed the coffee here. Today we ordered a prawn and crab pasta which was very nice, a roast pork Vietnamese roll (Bahn mi) and a kids cheeseburger meal. The malt chocolate milk shake was a lovely trip down memory lane with its malty flavour in the metal milk shake. Coffee today was ok but I have admittedly tasted better at other times.

Disappointing! Pricy for the food they serve. Food is nothing special, just looks/sounds fancy. So very pricy. Service could/should be way better, even for stuff and not talking about “attention to detail”, for example, the table was briefly wiped, but did not check if it's clean. Well, obviously not cleaned properly. Waste of time & effort. Not impressed. No! Won't return, that's 💯% sure!

Food was pretty good. If I was nitpicking prawn tacos maybe slightly under seasoned or missing some acidity, kids cheeseburger patty was dry (and used Swiss cheese which my son didn't like). Service wasn't super friendly depending who you get. But for what it is, coffee was good and most dishes well done.

My favourite breakfast place in the whole of Port Stephens. Coffee is excellent, and food is great, decent portions, too. I've had the turkish eggs, brekkie roll, and brekkie burrito. Out of them, the burrito was a little bland compared to the rest. I'd give it 5 stars if it had more diary free options

The Bacon Benedict at The Little Nel was the best way to start off our trip. It’ll definitely be hard to top that feed. The yolk perfectly cascaded down the tower of crispy bacon, perfectly wilted spinach, and golden toast. The hollandaise was delectable and was perfectly complimented by the sweet and smoky relish. Don’t worry if you spill the sauce on your white shirt, it would be a badge of honour that you were able to indulge in such a beautiful creation.

Great find. Food was tasty. Staff friendly. Very popular.

just wow! this cafe is absolutely amazing! was on a holiday and went to the cafe for breakfast and lunch. food and drinks were delicious and service was fast. the waitress who served us was super friendly. highly recommend!!

The vibe was great, the food was awesome, and the coffee was excellent too! I had the "Bombay Potatoes and Onion Bhajis". The portion size was great and added a side of poached eggs which was also went well with the meal. There was a really good balance of the sweetness of the chutney with the savoury of the bhaji and potato. The use of crumbled flake to top the capuccino was a good touch too!

Didn't disappoint. Great breakfast option. Tasty breakfast. Great coffee. Yummy Smoothies. Quick service. Not too pricey. Good spot (only issue is not a pram/wheelchair friendly - unless I missed it).

A little cafe that speaks volumes with their vibrant breakfast menu is what is found when you visit The Little Nel in Nelson Bay. Located on one of the main streets this popular cafe showcases a contemporary menu with some classics for breakfast. Accompanied by well made coffee it makes this location perfect for a quick breakfast catch up with friends or family. Parking was not too difficult to find as three shops down there is a small parking lot which is ticketed. The food was absolutely delicious with generous portions and beautiful presentation. I will definitely be back for more next time I'm in the area!

Coffee great service not so. Have to hail staff after a while to serve table.

Good place for breakfast but mostly busy. Give yourself ample time so that you can enjoy the food. Very friendly staff. They have very few vegan options.

Best breakfast I had in a long time. Good service, beautiful presentation, tasty, good vibe and nice seating. Try her out!!

Very accomodating for our party of 15 in the conference room. Quality food and generous portions.

The food here is great! Drinks as well.

food was awesome...coffee was even better....lovely spot friendly staff.

Spacious seating and great kids menu

We had breakfast here. Very popular place, lots of people. Good coffee. The acai bowl was also very good, lots of fresh fruit in it

Amazing breakfast and friendly staff. Highly recommend this place

Really popular and cute little cafe with delicious food. We went for breakfast and I really enjoyed the food here. Wait times are on the longer side for a cafe since it was quite busy on a weekday.

Visited on Wednesday 14th Sept For food, we ordered the Ham & Cheese Croissant and Sourdough with two poached eggs. For drinks, we ordered a large Strong Cappuccino and a coffee frappe with ice cream. The Croissant was crispy and a decent portion. The chilli jam goes well with the Croissant. A very pleasant combination. The Sourdough was a decent size and the edges were not burnt or hard, and the middle was soft, combined with the jam, they're not too bad for a brekkie and quick option to go for. The Cappuccino was a nice coffee with strong tastes, less Milky, which is what I liked. The coffee frappe comes with blended ice cream, ice and cream. They seem to be very busy and again like in all hospitality venues, short staffed, so our drinks did take a bit longer than usual. We have been here about four years ago, and the service is still just as good as it was back then, pre COVID.

Came here for brunch, arrived at 10am on a Friday and was seated almost immediately however all tables were full and there was a line outside waiting for larger tables. Menu was extensive and had nice variety. We ordered the pea and zucchini fritters and the breakfast burrito, as well as the mango and banana smoothie and nitro cold brew. All was delicious and had good portion sizing. Pricing was as-expected for a trendy little brunch spot. Service was relatively fast, waitresses all friendly and eager to assist. Enjoyable brunch experience. Street parking available.

We recently visited for breakfast. The food was delicious and the staff very friendly and helpful. You can tell that a lot of care and attention goes into this place. Would not hesitate to visit again.

The food was lovely, the wait staff are young but it takes a bit to catch their attention to order more but they are helpful once you catch them. Great value for money.

Unbelievable meal. Beautifully plated, and the fruit tasted so fresh! The staff were excellent, definitely recommend!

Our family of 4 and my fur baby went to The Little Nel for lunch yesterday. Staff are so friendly and attentive. Our lunch was so fresh with such beautiful presentation. Coffee was wonderful. The fish and chips are very yummy. Highly recommended. 10/10.

Lovely cafe in Nelson Bay, the food was very good and the service from the very young wait staff was excellent….highly recommended

Went here the morning of my birthday for the first time & started the day right! Service was lovely, food came quicker than expected and was delicious, an elevated homestyle type of cafe. We even came back a few days later again for brekky because it was so good. They’ve got vegan options for a few meals which was amazing! They’ve even got vegan friendly smoothies. Overall 10/10 🤩

A truly beautiful restaurant that once formed part of a hotel but has now (in my opinion) taken on a whole life of its own. The Little Nel is an incredibly pretty spot, with bits of ocean view from certain spots and plenty of sunshine across its premises. There is ample indoor, outdoor, and shaded seating, so you can be sure of finding somewhere perfect to sit. The food was great. Relatively classic Australian fare with a few twists along the way. Everything was cooked to a high standard and the ingredients were clearly high quality. Coffee was great, with good flavour and decent latte art throughout. Staff were super friendly, prices were reasonable for the local area, and there were highchairs available. Do note though that getting prams in and using the baby changing area both rely on the hotel so accessibility is a little tricky.

Reason for 3 stars is that we generally seemed forgotten about and the water situation. Friendly greeting upon arrival, seated promptly despite being very busy on a Sunday. Then they seemed to forget about us, we tried to wave them down a couple of times and they ended up taking our order after about 20 minutes. There weren't many glasses for water self-serve and they had goobies on them! The food and coffee was good quality and delicious. I was very happy with my Medowie mushrooms. The kids waffles were a bit too small for children over 6 years old, so probably best to order from the adult menu if you have hungry children!

This is a great cafe located close to the CBD and Marina in Nelson Bay. We love the varied menu with dairy free options (important for me!), all the little extra touches ie edible flowers, dukkah etc, service is quick and friendly. Our local weekend hangout!

Service was so friendly, we dined in and although very busy we didn’t wait too long. Table service and a very good menu made breakfast an experience. The burrito is a must try. Seemed dog friendly also but I would check that for yourself

Brilliant spot - cannot recommend enough, really good food and coffee, staff are such a delight and a good diverse menu on offer for breakfast / lunch. Very very busy so expect a wait but it’s run very smoothly - highly recommend the cold brew, not too expensive either

This cafe is amazing! Was really impressed by their food and was totally thinking about having a second serve 🤣 the combination of flavours were really smart and delicious! Service was really good and even the kid’s breakfast was big and tasty! Would totally go back again

Very cool place. Breakfast was nice and you had food envy looking at other peoples breakfast so that is a good sign. Tables and outside area could have been cleaner.

Always had great service and high quality of coffee and food here. One of my favourite places in the bay!

As good a breakfast as you'll get anywhere. Coffee is also pretty good.

Lovely toasted muesli!

Nice place with good view, food is pretty fresh however staff was a bit slow and didn’t care much and it is pricy.

Came here for breakfast here today with my wife. Cafe is situated within the Nel hotel. The place provides a warm and inviting atmosphere and there is an extensive choice of breakfast options. The staff was was extremely friendly in providing us with a suggestion and we ended up choosing bacon Benedict and little Nel breakfast burrito. Both choice was extremely delicious and they came out nicely presented. Will defiantly come again to try other choices.

Perfect service, Molly & Grace were great. Coffee was on point food looked great and tasted even better. 10/10 would 100% recommend

Best brekkie!

Took 25 minutes to even come up to us after we asked to order then explained it was another 20 minutes wait before any food would come out.

Large servings, very delicious but slightly pricey

Nice location,but little bit busy in the morning

Best breakfast in Nelson Bay by far!!!

This is an amazing cafe which has a great breakfast menu, went three times during our stay and each time was delicious. Service quick and friendly even though it was so busy. The burrito was the stand out dish for me everything on the menu did not disappoint.

Didn’t expect much of a cafe attached to a hotel but the food blew us away. Simple food done really well. It was pretty much filled by 8am on a Monday morning and the place have a fair bit of seating deep into the shop! Will be back next time we are in Nelson bay

The fritters were crazy good, eggs were cooked to perfection and the nitro coffee was not overly bitter. Very pleasant experience. Prices are on the high side.

Great fresh and tasty food. Extremely slow service though. Takes a bit to have a waitress come to your table and take your order.

Good variety of seafood options on the menu. greeted with warm staff, really enjoyed our lunch of crispy pork belly green papaya salad + serve of scallops (was missing a bit of a chilli and fish sauce kick that you’d normally expect if served in a traditional viet restaurant) - overall not too bad. Loved the battered king prawn tacos as the tomato and avocado salsa was nicely balanced. The open air wooden deck with views to the Nelson bay marina was lovely. Recommended!

Delicious food here! I definitely would recommend this place. Yummy food, good coffee and great staff.

Recently enjoyed a week's stay in Shoal Bay. On the first day we had lunch at the Little Nel and it was wonderful - innovative menu, delicious fresh food, great atmosphere, attentive service, good prices. All of us enjoyed it so much that we went again! The second time was even better (despite a couple of tiny issues which the wait staff and owner/chef handled very professionally)! Highly recommend this little gem.

Was okay place. Pricey and touristy. Didnt like the coffee, neither my friends As well need to have options for paper straws instead of plastic ones.

Wow, this is some tasty food! We came here because of the high rating, and it did not disappoint. We had the garlic mushrooms and the French crepes, only criticism is that I want even more of it. Coffee was good, service is fast and friendly, nice atmosphere, but the food is just amazing. We definitely come back here the next time in port Stephens!

Great cafe! The food is delicious and very reasonably priced, compared to other cafes around it. Great staff and the atmosphere is chilled and relaxed. A must visit in Nelson Bay! I would definitely come back here again.

Fantastic food! Only dropping a star because they’re still using plastic straws. Booo!

Great coffee, great food and friendly, efficient service, too.

Its always hard to find good coffee in little baech towns but not hear.

Great coffee well organised and friendly staff

Best coffee in Nelson Bay. Excellent service by a large team of mostly teenage staff. Great job!

Great coffee friendly service

Awesome service Food was very fresh, the tuna dish is a must try! If you are in the zone you must visit for breakky or lunch

Was there as a weekend escape trip with my wife. Very friendly stuff and good services, though it took us 10mins waiting to order, hard to grad a raffle to order. Loved the coffee and great food, very well presented and we finished all!!! It’s a little bit pricey but okay.

Best breakfast place in Nelson Bay. Our number 1 breakfast spot every time we are in town.

(Translated by Google) Ordered a prawn crab noodle and crispy pork salad. The sauce is a bit sweet, I like it very much. 30 per capita. The scenery is limited because the location is not near the sea. As a scenic restaurant, enough to reach 5 stars satisfaction (Original) 点了个大虾青蟹面和脆皮猪肉色拉。酱料偏甜口，我很喜欢。人均30。风景有限，因为位置不是临海的。作为景区餐厅，足够达到5星满意

Excellent service and delicious food... I really enjoyed

pasta is really good!! highly recommend here

Fantastic seafood lunch.

Well cooked Barramundi and Prawn

Great food and friendly staff