Review Harbour Lights Cafe - Hobart

As a solo diner I enjoyed my breakfast here so much I came back twice. Service is friendly and efficient. The food, bacon Benedict, was delicious and the fresh sprouts on top was a nice touch. Outdoor seating is nice on a warm day, but inside next to the window (upstairs or downstairs) is a great spot to enjoy your meal and people watch.

We were walking on the way to Salamanca Market and we went to this café, they were fully packed as we walked in, I knew Harbour Lights Cafe was the real deal. They have an amazing atmosphere and service. The food was pretty good.

A lovely little cafe by the water. The food and coffee is good and the staff are delightful. There's also an upstairs level, but getting up there is a narrow winding staircase. It's a cute view from the window that makes it worth it.

Charming café that boasts lovely food, atmosphere, and friendly service. The staff appeared to know most customers (and their pets) by name, a sure-fire indicator of a great spot. My pancakes were delicious with great seasonal fruit and perfect portion size (nothing's worse than paying almost $20 for 1-2 little underwhelming pancakes that are inexpensive to make). I loved that the cream, maple syrup and ice-cream were served in little dishes - nothing worse than it all melting into one puddle, great plating. My only complaint would be that the food took about half an hour to come out, a bit long, but it was a Sunday and we weren't in a hurry. Warm and friendly customer service and tasty food with a nice view of the harbour.

We had take away Breakfast from harbour Lights Cafe. Staffs are friendly, food is great and Good coffee. Good size tasty big breakfast and salmon Benedict. Overall we are happy.

Excellent breakfast spot. We liked all the meals and drinks we ordered. It's a nice location with views (I suggest a reservation if you want a table with views). We were surprised by just how quickly the drinks arrived with the meals hot on their heels despite being quite busy. The only negative was that it was really quite noisy inside ..but I didn't remove a star as the noise seemed to be mostly due to a table with boisterous kids.... perhaps it's not always noisy!

We loved the coffee shop until today. We were waiting 45mins for poached eggs and toast. When the food arrived the toast was cold and the butter was melted it. We are not coming again.

Morning stroll with amazing breakfast or brunch would give you the best start to your day! Have it here or take away with waterviews and park, it simply looks picturesque.

We didn't have a booking but on a very busy evening they found us a table. Our food was delicious, the service was excellent and the atmosphere was lovely. Highly recommend this lovely little place.

Being mothers day every place was booked out, so happy we stumbled across this beautiful cafe where my hubby & I was able to enjoy a tasty brekky. From the moment we walked in the lovely staff were very friendly, the food was amazing & to top if off they gave me a voucher to use for our next visit. This place has definitely exceeded our expectations, will definitely come back and enjoy the atmosphere. *Top cafe in the heart of hobart*

I loved the food and the service being not much of an Italian eating person it was hard for me to decide but we chose to eat gnocchi and a salmon dish both were beautiful and the house bread was made to perfection ... totally worth visiting this place on my holiday

Had an amazing breakfast and coffee here whilst visiting Hobart! Had P.eggs w/ Dukkah and a cappuccino and it was the best! The staff were so lovely and accommodating and love the cafes style. Will definitely be returning.

One of the best, if not the best pizza I have ever had. Compliments to the chef today!

After a bumpy start to Hobart hospitality we discovered this lovely place- great atmosphere, delicious food and fabulous hospitality from wait staff. We had a bubbly and charming young woman from Perth wait our table. ��

Another great meal here tonight! Real authentic Italian food, washed down with the best Tasmanian wines and professional service. We always come here for the quality when we visit from Brisbane.

We went for coffee and cake one evening during our Hobart stay, Then returned for lunch the following day. The staff are so friendly. Food is delicious. I bought some coffee beans to take back home to Brisbane. Highly recommend.

Have been there on two occasions, breakfast New Years Day & Dinner last night. Both times were exceptional. Was dining alone, was made to feel very welcome. Food , staff, ambience, value for money, can not be faulted. I do not live I. Hobart but will be choosing to venture there whenever I visit, also recommend to friends or anyone who is looking for a fabulous food & service experience.

We had breakfast this morning, with our two small children. Absolutely lovely food and lovely staff �

Well what can I say..... Lol...always striving to be up there with the best...

Had breakfast today Magic eggs Benny & coffee! Staff are amazing under pressure, Busy in Hobart with all the yachts & tourists in town Highly recommend

Our last night in Tasmania. Best pizza ever had. Great service A must visit when come to Tasmania

The people are so lovely here. Food is great! Lovely place! Have been here 2 days in a row and will prob come back tomorrow!

Being Mother's Day we had a bit of a wait for our food. But it was so worth waiting for. Generous serving. Food was tasty and cook perfectly. Exceptional friendly service. Will definitely be back. No wonder the place was packed.

Lovely breakfast. Wonderful staff. Everyone so friendly. Highly recommend a visit

Friendly staff and great quality breakfast. Loved it. If i am back in Hobart will be coming back here ��

We went here last night after being VERY disapointed with Custom House poor service, we came here for take away dessert � they were flatout, but couldn't have made us feel anymore welcome, so we went there for breakfast the next morning, even better service and the food was 10 outta 10, we will be back and we will certainly be recommending to others, thank you so much x

Great customer service, great quality and fresh food and ingredients. Bit of a wait for the food but well worth the wait and good pricing.

Brilliant food, friendly service & great view from upstairs. Will definitely be visiting again when I'm next in Hobart :)

Today is the last day that I darken the doorway of Harbour Lights Cafe. I have talked to staff and nothing seems to sink in. I bought an $8.90 salad today which consists of lettuce, carrot peels, red onion and some fetta cheese. No, tomato, cucumber or any other salad vegetable. A tiny container as well. Friday had a toasted ham cheese and tomato sandwhich but when I go back to my workplace, it was only ham and cheese - no tomato. Previously I had some party pies costing $10 and again went back to work to find that they were dried out and crushed. I don't think I have ordered anything too difficult but can't seem to win a trick.

Amazing food and the best service I’ve had for a long time. Keep it up guys :)

Lovely coffee .. dinner was amazing and the staff so pleasant. It will be our go to place when in Hobart..

Every meal I've had at Harbour Lights has been delicious. The breakfasts are particularly excellent.

Highly recommend. Food was fresh and cooked perfectly. Staff were fantastic. Have been a few times and excellent every time.

Amazing breakfast. The French toast with poached eggs, bacon and maple was delicious. If you're in Hobart don't miss this little gem.

Wonderful food and coffee. Thank you Robbie and staff.

Food was tasty and staff friendly and attentive. Great place for lunch

Got stung with a $6.50 flat white here. And there's a $10 minimum, despite them using an eftpos system that warrants nothing of the sort.

My husband and I visited harbour lights cafe for brunch. Absolutely amazing great coffee, poached eggs were cooked to perfection and really friendly staff. Great prices too.

3.5/5<br/><br/>Harbour Lights Cafe caught our attention as 'best cafe in Hobart' in 2019. We ordered the scallop pie (must try in Tasmania), bacon benedict, and cheesecake. The scallop pie has the flaky crust from the outside, and the fillings of flavourful curry sauce blended with plenty of scallops. The curry was a little bit spicy, but not overpowering. I went on trying scallop pies at other places but none of them could match Habour Lights' standard. The bacon benedict was delicious. The cheesecake was lovely. It had a very soft texture, and the amount the sweetness was just right. <br/><br/>Service was friendly and attentive. <br/><br/>I must disagree with other foodies about the coffee being the best, as I find the coffee at Parkland Expresso superior.

Character cafe across from the waterfront where we stopped for Sunday brekkie. It’s super busy & I’m guessing the popularity has a lot to do with the coffee: best we’ve had so far. Meals competently covered off the basics with no surprises. Of particular note was the creamy hollandaise on the salmon eggs bene. <br/><br/>Having keen spacial awareness, the proximity of the downstairs tables really made me squirm. But trust me on this, they’re still preferable to the upstairs cafeteria-style area. Efficient team carefully checked on us & everyone else despite their hectic morning. People next to us were unhappy with something (I know this because we were close enough to hear their hearts beating) & staff bent over backwards to fix it for them. Overall a decent start to the day.

Great looking restraunt with a fantastic view from the second floor.  However, is was a very tight seating space and our waitress was a little brash and very direct making us all feel a little uncomfortable. Breakfast was ok just bacon and eggs but I would skip the coffee as it tasted bitter and burnt.

Read many glowing reviews about their Scallop Pie and I had to try one! The curry paste was a little spicier than I had expected, but really tasty. Scallops were nothing much to shout about, as the curry taste overpowered the scallops. It's quite satiating. I ate half for lunch and kept the other half for dinner with a drink. If you're a light eater, this might be worth your money as it covers two meals. Staff were friendly and quick on their feet. Fuss-free service.

The coffee is burning,and tastes is very light,I’m not recommended this place,if you want to drink something.<br/>But the food is ok,views is good.

It’s a beautiful cafe with a harbour view upstairs.<br/>The staff are very welcoming and attentive. Service was good. We had two cappuccinos and coffee came in a nice canary yellow cup. It was a bit runny and tasted ok. For breakfast we had two bruschettas. It was nice and creative but I didn’t like the onions for breakfast. <br/>They should definitely add more vegetarian options to the menu and mark them for their customers’ convenience.

Great place for breakfast! I was on a short trip to Hobart and have fallen in love with their Salmon Benedict. Amazing flavours, amazing location just near Salamanca market. Definitely come here, and go early if you don’t want to see a long queue!

Had breakfast here for our holiday in Tasmania few weeks back. I was in love by the amazing yummy food and great coffee! Definitely highly recommended to everyone. Thanks for making our stay worth and yummylicious.

A great cafe we found while visiting Tasmania. Having tasted coffee from all over Australia I can say that Harbour Lights has one of the best house blends I have experienced. <br/><br/>A great place for coffee and breakfast. A must for anyone visiting Hobart!

Dined for breakfast today. We shared the salmon eggs - scrambled eggs topped with Tasmanian smoked salmon with grilled cherry tomatoes & sour dough. Meal was tasty & service very friendly.

This cafe had a lovely view which drew us in. However, we had to wait for 45 minutes for our meals to arrive and there was no apology for the wait. My eggs were not done to order which was disappointing. <br/>

The food was delicious, but we waited about 30 mins (unsure if this is common). Coffee was also beautiful and arrived very quickly. Would recommend this for tourists for a delicious brekkie.

Came here for Sunday breakfast with my family. The service was very good and the meals were okay. However the big let down was the coffee. The flat white and the cappuccino we ordered were poor. My coffee was burnt and bitter.

I made this place my destination for my large coffees every morning. The Barrister was great. I took away a few of the pre-made breakfast rolls with egg & bacon. My homies were happy with their breaky rolls. <br/>Good value at this place & good Coffee!

My partner and I came here in Australia Day morning for breaky. We were told by the waitress to head upstairs as there was a table for 2 available. There was 1 waiter upstairs who was absolutely frantic as it was pretty busy and he was alone. We stood at the top of the stairs as the 2 empty tables had empty plates, glasses and food scraps. The waiter did not aknowledge us so after standing there awkwardly, we sat down at one of the tables and then waited another 10 minutes for him to look up and say ‘I’ll be with you shortly’. He came over and said ‘are you ready to order?’. No sorry for the wait, welcome, nothing! We ordered 2 coffees, my parter orders the eggs Benedict and I ordered the breakfast bruschetta only to be told they have run out of avocado..AT 10AM ON A PUBLIC HOLIDAY! I reluctantly said that’s fine and he went away and put our order into the computer. 50mins later, no food. We looked around and not a single table had food, and they had been there when we initially sat down. We had plans to have a nice breaky before our day at Port Arthur as we are from Melbourne, but instead we got up and asked to cancel our order (to be told - ‘I don’t think I can do that for you’ by the waiter). We went downstairs and said we’d like to pay for our coffees and we left. <br/>Come on guys - knowing full well you would be pumping on a public holiday you should have had more staff on or at least advised the people walking in that there would be a substantial wait for food. The staff just seemed like they didn’t give a crap. Seriously terrible management. No idea how this place survives.

Amazing - walked in and was told they were booked - took our number and we came back.. glad we did Alec was the girl who served us I think she was so good... thank you the food and pasta simply beautiful... if you in this part a must great pasta and pizza 🍕

Appealing on the outside which drew us in, but internally was nothing special. They advertised pasta but only had two options available for lunch, and we waited over half an hour for our food and it wasn’t that busy. Food wasn’t worth the wait. Staff were friendly and did their best. Would not go back.

Lovely and very helpful staff. Food was delicious. Thankyou guys for a great breakfast! We would definately recommend this place to anyone visiting Hobart. <br/>

After setting foot in this place we became overwhelmed by the smell of pizza and ordered the margarita and the Mediterranean 👌<br/>We got a GF base for one of the pizzas and we even got Parmesan extra on the side upon request.

I was very disappointed with my meal here. I ordered the bruschetta pizza. It looked so good when it was served to me. Lots of toppings but it tasted so heavily of raw garlic, I could not eat it. The base was also thick and doughy (I prefer my bases thin and crispy). My partner had the specials penne which came with 2 bits of garlic bread. The sauce was nice, pasta cooked well. No issues there. Chips were fine.

Yummy cup of tea & lamington - staff were really lovely and attentive even on what has to be one of the busiest days of the year. Would recommend.

Great little cafe in a quaint little building with a water view. Not a great deal of seating in side so you may need to time it right for a table. Great bunch of friendly staff, a modern and charming decor and good food. My French toast was generous and delicious in one. Happy find after an early morning wander around the streets.

Came for the first time and had a great experience. Lovely man as our waiter. Food was delicious. Coffee ok... Came back the next day. Waited 20min for the bottled orange juice. Waited 40min and still no breakfast. When asked where the food was, we got the run around and ignored before being told that it got lost in the system "but it is a Saturday so it's expected to be busy." Ended up leaving hungry with no food and bad service. Disappointing!!

Don't go here! It is really busy on a Sunday morning because it is one of the few places open. The service and coffee was slow, the food was very average and very expensive. We were a group of 4 and all of us walked away disappointed with our meals. Wander a bit further and find somewhere decent

Pleasant staff provided us with a tasty breakfast and excellent coffee. The curried scallop pie was excellent and the curried flavour was not overpowering. The maple bacon burrito was also delicious and a nice alternate option for breakfast.

Here for a late lunch on our visit to Hobart.<br/>Friendly service by staff that were attempting to be helpful.<br/>The antipasto dish was put together well, the wagyu beef burger was cooked well and the chips with calamari was also done well.<br/><br/>Unfortunately nothing from the meal was outstanding or something that one would rave about.<br/><br/>Overall a reasonable meal but one would expect to get it at any decent food establishment

We were walking around Salamanca market and the pier looking for place for dinner and this seems to be decent one. The owner and the waitresses are attentive. We ordered pappardelle, calzone as mains and tiramisu, expresso and soft drink. All the food are good and total is A$66.

Standard cappuccino tasted like double shot. The scallop pie is alright but didn't taste much different compare to other seafood pie. Considering its price of $17 for a pie with tiny serve of salad, wouldn't recommend to visit.

What a shambles! Fresh off an interstate flight we walked into Harbour Lights looking for some much needed sustenance! As a result of being quite busy, we were sat out the back in what appeared to be a store cupboard. We had to go back out to the main cafe twice after 20mins to retrieve our own menus and then another 20 mins later to try and order ourselves. 1hr later we still had not received our meals and after assuming we'd been forgotten we moved ourselves out to the main cafe where there were many spare tables rendering it completely unnecessary to be sitting in the store cupboard. After another half an hour waiting only two of our three meals came out with the third obviously forgotten altogether. Another 20mins later we finally got our food which was average and really just not at all worth the ridiculous wait. Would not return. Would not recommend. Would probably go as far as discouraging others from dining here.

Had breakfast here because it was convenient to our accommodation. A bit shocked at how many of the breakfast basics were an extra charge. The food was tasty but very overpriced. Sitting in the bay window in the sunshine was pleasant.

Underwhelming. Store bought regular tin bread, store bought hollandaise(when it specifically said it wasn't) and cheeky pricing. Keep walking, you'll find something better.

Pretty average cafe really. Very busy and a great location but took forever for our meal to arrive. Coffee average. Service friendly but couldn't call it efficient. Food when it arrived was okay.

So disappointed after having great expectations. Upon entering the restaurant, we did notice that it was very busy but the staff were happy to find us a table and seat us straight away. This is one of the only positives of our experience at Harbour Lights Cafe tonight. We were then left on the table with no menus for 15 minutes until someone finally came over to take our order only to realise we had no menus. We were then given our drinks and left with menus with a promise that our order would be taken in 5 minutes (in reality it was about 30 minutes and we had to flag a waitress down to place our order) After this time, no wait staff came to our table for a full 2 hours. By this time, it was 9pm and we were all hungry and frustrated. We were only offered the one round of drinks, and no effort was made to assure us that our food was coming. After all of this time of waiting, a table behind us received their meal despite ordering half an hour after us. To our table and the only other table left upstairs, that was the last straw and we all got up and left after paying for the drinks and the garlic pizza we had consumed. There was no compensation at all for the time we had waited for our food which didn't help to smooth over any frustrations we had. Needless to say, we won't be back and we won't be recommending this restaurant. It doesn't take much effort to look after patrons or to apologise appropriately.

Four of us went in for dinner (no reservation admittedly) at 7pm. We were given a table and then sat for about 10 minutes before a waitress brought over a menu. She said she'd be back in 5 minutes to take our order. After 15 minutes we had to call someone over (they were busy clearing other tables but our table hadn't been cleared) and we placed our order. Almost 2 hours later!!!!!! we had to ask about our meals while watching people who had come in 60 minutes after us receive their entrees and main meals. We were told that our meals were being cooked and were 10 minutes away. We waited another 25 minutes before giving up, asking for our drinks bill and walking out. There was another table of 4 who walked out with us, for the same reason as us, so we were not the only unhappy customers! <br/>At no stage during our frustrating wait, did any staff member try to explain, apologise or offer any kind of compensation for our wait. Apart from our original drinks order, we were not even asked if we wanted more drinks. We were not offered anything in the way of incentive to make us want to try to eat here again and so, we will not! <br/>Not good enough at all Harbour Lights!

Great Coffee. Had a long black here on Wednesday and it was great. I reckon it was one of the best I have had in Hobart. The place is very clean, looks like the staff enjoy being there and a fantastic location! Keep up the good work

Fairly disappointing meal. Ordered pancakes & they looked & tasted like supermarket pre-made ones. Not even warmed up. The apple/cinnamon topping was gloopy & cold. It tasted fine but when you're being charged $17 for a serving of pancakes, you expect them to be freshly made, fluffy & hot. Maybe my standards are too high?<br/>Serving staff we friendly & efficient. I liked that our server repeated our order back to us - not enough people are that thorough.

We dine out in Hobart frequently, and have had some great restaurant experiences. This place was somewhere that we hadn't visited for some time, and thought we'd give it a go and see if the pizza was still as good. The verdict - pizza ok, but not as great as pervious years. The 'pesto pasta' main that we had was disappointing to say the least, especially as it was a ridiculously small serving for a main / $17 dish, and being comprised of the cheapest shop bought pasta with what tasted like shop bought green pesto from Coles, was disappointing to say the least. Will not be back, there was no Italian authenticity - have not felt this. Ripped off for a while. The serving size might have been alright had the pasta been fresh made. Do not recommend this place - great Italian eats in Hobart are Maldini's & Di Angelo's. Good luck and enjoy

Very professional - too much bacon. Ordered an egg and bacon roll this morning on way to work. Place works like a well oiled machine, perhaps at the expense of a bit of atmosphere. E&B roll well cooked, but (and I never thought I would say this), but too much bacon! Almost as thick as a steak.

Beautiful breakfast. I had a beautiful breakfast with smoked salmon and perfectly poached eggs and a very tasty hollandaise sauce with a side order of some delicious mushrooms. Will definitely come back. Very friendly staff as well.

I had the angus beef burger. The bread with herb really added flavor on the burger. Location is good just fewsteps from the parliament square, good view on the dining area at second floor.

I greatly recommend this place to anyone!! Beautiful food. I had the pollo vandastona and was sooooo yummy!! Beautiful flavours, and the side of veggies comes out on a seperate plate was a really really nice touch. Very good tasting food. The atmosphere is nice, relaxing music and good service. Coffee is beautiful and strong. Loved it!! Will definitely be back!! :)

The only place to eat in Hobart. OMG there is not one dish of food that is not nice that we've had there. From pizzas to tiramisu dessert, it is an enjoyable atmosphere, friendly staff and food that just leaves you wanting to go back when you go to Tassie. Highly recommend this place!!

Food was excellent. Gluten free Brekky was just perfect and contrary to other moaners, the amount of Hollandaise was just right for my partner. Coffee was the best I have had in Tasmania.

Breakfast was terrible! Hollandaise downed my eggs Benedict and the sourdough was slathered in butter. Eggs overlooked, deep fried bacon and coffee was bitter. Overall a bad meal and overpriced for what we got. Don't bother!

Say "CHEESE". We ate here last night after a full day at Mona. We came straight from the ferry and arrived at about 6.40pm. We were very tired by now so were thankful for the reasonably short time our meal came. We started with a garlic pizza and a roast vegetable side dish which came covered with an almost "fondue" cheese sauce and then baked a bit. A nice shared entrée. Mains were also tasty and covered with the same cheese sauce. The mains also come with roast potatoes and the same vegetable dish we shared for entrée. Staff were friendly and efficient and there is a good "bistro" feel to the restaurant. Too full to try the great looking desserts. Would recommend here for those who want a genuine Italian style meal at a reasonable price. If cheese is not your thing there are still plenty of dishes to order without it.

Incredible.. We booked a table for dinner, just expecting a nice view and acceptable dinner. What we got was SO much more! Best Italian I've ever had, bar my childhood neighbour. <br/><br/>The decor is clean and well presented. <br/>The views are, well, it's on the waterfront! <br/>The music is classic Deano era stuff that's not too loud. <br/><br/>We're booking a table for tomorrow night!

Have been in for breakfast twice this week, too bad this cafe isn't in Sydney. Great food, good coffee and friendly staff. Definitely recommend!

SCALLOP PIE LIGHTS ME UP. Lunch Sunday - 2 x Scallop Pie & Salad $17.00ea<br/>Pie was hot & tasty, a very nice mixed salad.<br/>Great Value<br/>Nice little spot across from the water.

Tasty food, decent chai, didn't get to try coffee. Quite a cozy little place, would come back!

Not happy Jan!!! I called this morning to ask if the hollondaise sauce was made from scratch (as opposed to out of a jar), and was assured it was made fresh. Pretty annoyed that my eggs Benedict arrived covered in a slimy, jar sauce. My wife's order was incomplete, only took 2 trips to the kitchen to get it right. Other than that, the food was OK, not great.

I came here for breakfast while in Hobart for work. The service could not be faulted, my order was taken quickly, my coffee was at my table in a matter of minutes and by the time I sent a couple of emails my food had arrived too. Although I had a simple "eggs any way" it was presented perfectly and was cooked exactly as I asked. The coffee was great and the prices are pretty reasonable too. I would come back here next time I'm after breakfast by the water, and if it was a bit warmer I'd sit outside and soak up the relaxing view.

Go here for breakfast- fantastic!! And service is great too.

Great service. Very accommodating