Review Minestra - Prospect

Nice little cafe, serving breakfast, lunch and dinners. Order at the counter when ready, menu items and specials written on the wall chalk board. They encourage you to bring in your home grown garden herbs so they can use them!

Sunday brunch at Minestra was delicious. I have driven past this place more times than I can remember, I'll be stopping a lot more now! I had a 2 perfectly poached eggs on fresh toast with peperonata and pancetta and a long black of course. Everything was great. The staff welcoming and helpful.

It’s cosy, homely and serves great breakfast. The restaurant is more about comfort food and home-style cooking with well-sized portions than about a “restaurant-like” experience with fancy presentation and experimentation but it works very well. Friendly service. We’ve enjoyed our Mother’s Day brekky and I’m sure we will visit it again.

Good coffee, delicious cake. Nice staff3

The best cakes, coffees and food you’ll ever have! This place is my regular for good reason. Do yourself a favour and come and try the lemon curd cake when it’s available or a coffee....or anything else it’s all delicious!!

The coffee here is really good, served just at the right temperature, not too hot, not too cold just like Goldilocks likes! They have a large table from which you can work and dine from with indoor and outdoor seating. WiFi is quick and reliable, they serve food which I didn't try but it look like decent serving sizes. Staff are friendly and there's a bathroom on the premise. #BeatTheGrind

Love the pasta here. Cosy ambience and friendly staff. A prospect gem.

Their Vietnamese Iced Espresso is fantastic. Really great spot for a quick breakfast or a more leisurely coffee catchup. Be sure to check their opening times for pasta night and dinner reservations.

I love this place, delicious food and down to earth ambiance. Staff can be a bit hit and miss. Really great service one day and other times they seem a bit disgruntled and not that keen on serving.

The best Savoury French toast and donuts to die for !! Friendly atmosphere Such a find we will be back for pasta night. Not good for the diet though !!!

Best breakfast in Adelaide by far. Friday pasta night is a must! Fabulously friendly staff *****

Breakfast was so yum!! Home made style, perfect flavor!! Made with love �

It’s cosy, homely and serves great breakfast. The restaurant is more about comfort food and home-style cooking with well-sized portions than about a “restaurant-like” experience with fancy presentation and experimentation but it works very well. Friendly service. We’ve enjoyed our Mother’s Day brekky and I’m sure we will visit it again.

most amazing vegan pasta i have ever had. the ability to make the pasta taste so cheesy and good, without using actual cheese was fantastic. Thank you so much for everything :)

Have been here for yummy coffee and breakfast a few times. Finally made it to pasta night last night, and Minestra did not disappoint! Had the amazing gnocchi with pumpkin, sage and Gorgonzola and a rich lasagna made with ragu. Mmmmm!

Excellent food, simply made. The only thing I could ask for is a Sugar free drink for us diabetics.

My little family & I absolutely love this place. Great coffee and food!

Love Minestra, consistently good and great service. Love eating seasonal and local.

96% as good as my own Nonnas cooking � polenta to perfection.

Loved the food and the simplicity of this wonderful place

Four of us had beautiful bruchettas and fresh pasta meals at Minestra tonight. Amazing customer service and delicious desserts. Would highly recommend!

Delicious food, with excellent vegan options :) the polenta breakfast is the best!

Had such an amazing breakfast this morning, thank you！

Authentic Italian, great service, nothing not to like!

Delicious vegan food (some of it from my own garden) always made with love. Yaaaaaaay!

Awesome fresh pasta and great value for money. Will definitely be back!

We went for an early breakfast this morning and the coffee was perfect and the meals delightful and nutritious. Top job

I go here often, the food is great, the atmosphere wonderful and relaxing. Perfect for vegetarians.

Amazing food, great attention to detail oh and that pasta...... Beautiful! See you next Friday!

Relaxed atmosphere, great service, delicious seasonal food - try the polpette!

Service and Quality and freshness ... Never have room for desert but did a takeaway of three Desert today (could not makeup my mind ) All Amazing

First time here for me, but not for my friends who come here often. I will certainly visit again. The breakfast was scrumptious and the service was friendly,.. Thank you

My fave cafe in Adelaide. Excellent food, coffee and service.

So great! Amazing coffee, friendly service, low key chilled out vibe. And delicious delicious foods. So glad these guys are my local :)

Delicious and authentic. Fab first experience. Awesome coffee. Will definitely be back!

Delicious food, great service and vegan friendly!!

Anyone that won't allow tables to be moved to cater for a group of 7 doesn't deserve our patronage

Adelaide people's do you know about this place? It's seriously, seriously good! Seriously yum! Seriously!

Fantastic, lovingly prepared meals made with quality ingredients. Great place to do lunch if you work in the vicinity

Minestra is community focussed. If you have extra veg from your garden they'll swap it for coffee. They have a small chalk menu which means they can change it up regularly. Small but quality wine offerings. Friendly staff. Definitely book but be prepared for a good meal.

Clean, good vibe, friendly and smiling staff, tasty food but over priced with huge portions .<br/>Went for a Sunday breakfast with my daughter.<br/>She had a toastie with egg & bacon which was huge.<br/>I had eggs on toast with a kind of grilled vegetables which was tasty but again too much.<br/>Was not a bad breakfast but will not go back again.

Have been here about 6 times, never had a bad meal or coffee. Food has always been incredible & delicious. Once they kept me waiting for my food. I didn’t complain. However even though I didn’t complain they still took full responsibility & were amazing how they dealt with it. Definitely a 5 star for me.

This is me every time I come here. I don’t get the piadina because I’m coeliac, so they do the polenta for me. It’s either salad or minestra veggies, both are delicious! Coffees fantastic every time. Love this place.

I did not like the food here. Nope. Not going back. Cute place. Good service. Let down by food flavour. I had high hopes. But I was disappointed.

Great local cafe in the burbs! I've been for breakfast a few times and a couple pasta nights! Enjoy my meal each time, great breakfast options, great flavours, great coffee and tasty sweets!

Our favourite place to eat dinner. Pasta nights on fridays are soo good, home made gnocchi (missus had lamb gnocchi, i had gnocchi gorgonzola.) Both were tasty AF. Olives served on arrival which was a nice touch. Also a favourite the cannelini bean and roasted capsicum bruschetta. Desserts are also very nice, simple, but nice. Our regular dessert is the polish yeast risen doughnut with a coffee 👌

Cute little cafe in Prospect serving genuine Italian food for brunch and lunch. Lovely staff and friendly service. They have a pasta night on Friday which is good value for money. The casarecce are super delicious, just like Nonna would make. Pop in next time you're nearby, you'll be pleasently surprised.

I'm never disappointed with the food at Minestra. It's the best, most homely Italian food I've tried in Adelaide outside of my Nonna's house. Would recommend.

Went here for lunch and ordered the betroot and potato salad and asked for an additional egg. The salad was beautiful and the ingredients all tasted nice and fresh. Generous size and served with a piece of toasted bread. Also had a chai tea/latte served in a tea pot which was a really nice subtle chai flavour. The place is rustic looking and laid back inside with magazines to read. Will definitely go back as I'm eager to try their vegan and pasta dishes.

One of the best local cafes around. This is a regular place I keep coming back too. Worth also checking out their Friday night past night, great food in a nice suburban location.

Minestra is a beautiful Italian cafe specialising in Calabrian style food. Their ingredients are sourced from local neighbours grown in their backyards or anyone that has a surplus in homegrown vegetables. Their menu is always changing depending on what ingredients they have available. My weak mocha was lovely with a good balance of coffee and chocolate. The milk was nicely steamed with a creamy layer of froth on top.

Great cafe located in Prospect. Menu changes depending on produce and different pasta on every Friday. Tried the sugo and poached eggs with greens and it was really good. Would definitely recommend.

Minestra is a great cafe in the prospect area. It provides hearty, healthy home cooked meals that are so beautifully simple yet have the most amazing flavours. The eggs in sugo / smashed avo / polpotte and minestra greens are some of my favourite dishes. The crunchy toast slathered in olive oil is also a life changer! excellent coffee and friendly staff. They also do a pasta night every friday which has a relaxed vibe and is the perfect place to have a glass of red and relax on a friday night. Plus eat some delicious pasta.

We have been several times to Minestra and enjoy the family feel. It is unpretentious and simple but charming in its own way. The food is like coming back to Mamma's kitchen - hearty. The breakfast including the coffee is very good. Dinner we have been twice on a Friday night and whilst the pasta has been very good, the service a little slow and the music inappropriate (heavy rock). It's almost a bit quirky but we like it for its simplicity and good wholesome food and value.

Excellent quality comfort food at great prices and served in gorgeous hearty portions. We had the soup and some pasta. The best authentic Italian served with love. It's like being at a friends. Heartwarming. Sandy is cooking family favorites and he doesn't want his Nona to turn over in her grave. She's smiling in heaven Sandy!

Minestra is a cafe located on the busy Churchill Road.  Don't worry, there are plenty of parking spaces on the side street.  It is a little cafe which offers a couple of tables for outdoor seatings and a few more inside.  I noticed a little herb veggie garden at the front, so I thought hmmm I hope the ingredients will be fresh.

Fantastic! The pappardelle pasta with lamb ragu hit the spot, with some rustic bread with a basil pesto to top it all off. My only want is to finish it off with a glass of red! Which unfortunately they do not serve. Will be back for breakfast :)

I've been here twice for brunch as it is around the corner from where I live. Each time I've been disappointed. The food is not terrible but there are a heap of brunch places around in the area and elsewhere which do brunch way better. Although the staff were friendly, on both occasion orders were lost and on the second occasion we sat waiting for 30 minutes whilst half our meals had been served but the other half had been forgotten. <br/><br/>I live around the corner and won't go back for brunch. So if you don't live nearby I don't think it would be worth driving out of the way for. I've not been for Friday pasta night so can't comment on that.

Great just great the smashed avocado is to die for as is mamas Sugo recipe<br/>Seriously fine tucker with a sense of kitchen pride <br/>Like the peperonata <br/>And the pea soup with rosemary <br/> makes carnivores vegan

Went here for lunch with my super cool Grandparents who just love coming for breakfast or lunch. I had the Polpette with Minestra. Both had such beautiful flavours. Coffee was smooth and delicious. Service was friendly, recommend and will return.

Always good here, good service, great food and coffee breakfast or lunch. If your looking to have a fresh juice, get in early, sells quick! If you haven't been, i recommend you do.

Great breakfast! First time, will be back! So many different choices. I am looking forward to the lunch menu, just saw one of the guys write it up and everything looks really homely.

Long time patron for breakfast. Love the vibe and menu. Came for Friday pasta night and arrived just before most things sold out (make sure you get there no later than 7 to avoid disappointment). The food was fresh and flavours great. Slightly larger serve size would have been appreciated.

Beautiful menu with most items having a vegetarian and vegan option. My minestra has surprise vegan ricotta! My espresso wasn't the best but it could have been bad luck.

Being a coffee and food snob from melbourne it's always hard to find a good place in Adelaide. Gotta say the food was great! Had the eggs sugo and was very tasty. Only thing I'd say is put salt and pepper on the tables as well as sugar and serve the coffee before the food not with. But all in all a good experience.

Delicious.. Reasonably priced, delicious.

Overpriced. The guys were polite and provided good service, but in all honesty, everything that we ordered on the menu, was quite expensive and loaded with extra sugar, fat of some kind and dented my bank balance. I could have stayed home and cooked myself so much healthier and cheaper for under $2 and not commuted 25km to get there.

Lemon ricotta ball & coffee. Will be back again, must bring some fruit & veg to trade next time

Disclaimer: I don't really understand going out for breakfast / bunch. These are meals you can very easily prepare at home with some practice. Can't vouch for the coffee here either as I didn't try it. With all that out of the way, I guess all I can review is the ambience. With the charm of polished concrete and solid brick walls this place tends to be a very noisy. Not ideal for the hard of hearing or those wanting a quiet hideout. Other than that, nothing else worth mentioning

What a meal.. Wowsers. Amazing little place, do yourself a favour and visit. Our flat whites were mid strength, great flavour, text book pour, terrific. Our eggs in sugo and polenta with peperonatta dishes were superb, faultless, great flavour, well presented. We shared an awesome ricotta ball to finish. Non pretentious, lovely feel/atmosphere, great staff. I can't remember the last time I was this impressed with my breakfast. Don't all rush there at once because I want an immediate seat on my next visit.

Coffee is ok. Wait time was quite long- not the barista's fault. He was by himself. Didn't try the food but looks great. If I lived in the area I would probably visit often but I wouldn't travel from far to come here.

Perfection!. This is by far my favourite cafe. The food is simple, fresh, beautiful. The staff are excellent, tentative yet know when to leave you be. The coffee is really yummy. My breakfast at midday today made my Sunday perfect, particularly as it was accompanied by Madonna blaring from the kitchen.

One of the best. Dined there twice recently for brunch and cannot fault the food. Excellent quality. Loved the changing menu and fresh juice prepared using available ingredients which are often sourced from local gardens. Coffee also really good. Eftpos is available as I used it. Loved it, just great - a real suburban gem!!

Great Hippy Heathy Food Cash Only. My girlfriends invited me to Minestra to my surprise its a great little healthy hippy style café that deals in cash only, I had poached eggs on toasted pancetta with a zucchini potato side dish with beans and tomatoes and it was awesome. what a great little gem of a place :) you can also take your own fresh produce and they will trade produce for their food (what a great idea :)<br/>Annette

Not bad for a local.. Just moved into the area and was told about this place by a few acquaintances. After reading about it on Urbanspoon, we finally gave it a go on a late saturday morning around 11 ish. Place was busy but not packed and thankfully we must have come towards thens of the rush because our food didn't take long to come out. <br/><br/>The food was pretty decent, although i thought that there was way too much olive oil on my avocado and toast, given that avocado is fatty to begin with its completely unnecessary and over the top to drizzle everything with oil (but very nice quality) including the already "pre" oiled bread. Sometimes i find chefs use oil as garnish not thinking about either the macronutrient content (i.e. high fat) and greasy texture it gives to the whole dish. Id even say its a lazy chefs garnish.But this is a relatively minor gripe. <br/><br/>My partner had polenta with eggs and he seemed happy munching away. Coffee was good but writing this a week later i can't say it was memorable. Although this may sound like a disappointing review, its not. Everything was as expected, good service and good food. The heart here is very well and truly set in the right place. The people who own the cafe seem to have soul, happy to buy backyard produce from their customers and keeping their menu small and seasonal. I will be back its an easy and lazy Saturday breakfast.

Step into the 21st century! No eftpos!! After hearing good things about this vendor my partner and I went for sunday lunch/coffee. No eftpos facilities and not an atm near by, for the hassel of driving around for nearly 20 minutes to find an atm just to go back it was not worth it. They Lost my business and im sure we are not the only ones! Lift your game Minestra and there more to owning a business then ripping of the tax department!!

50th Birthday. I would like to thank Sandy and his crew for a beautiful evening Saturday 01st February. Having visited the place on several occassions and thouroughly enjoyed everything I was more than comortable to entrust Minestra to cater for my milestone occassion. Three courses of beautiful food, a considerable byo allocation, a quaint setting and considerate attentative staff. Not to mention 30 beautiful guests. Sandy, Adam and the lovely ladies delivered exactly what they said they would. The food reminds me of growing up in Salisbury with my Calabrese friends and their mother's cooking. Beautiful, simple, honest down to earth cooking with passion. Well done I say and thank you very much. Regards Ian.

Quality food cooked by a passionate Chef!

Great place, food was excellent. We got the pancetta sandwiche and the rissoles. Both good portion size and hit the spot. The goats cheese panne cotta was amazing. The only complaint was it was a bit loud, so probably not the best place for a quiet conversation although outside on the patio may be better since it's on a quiet residential street

I dropped in to Minestra for lunch today, which I've been meaning to do since I first spotted it a few weeks ago. I've always wishes for a cafe/restaurant at Minestra's location, as for many years it was some sort of casual ethnic community club and it always looked like a great spot for some authentic cuisine. I ordered the pumpkin soup with rocket and parsley paste. It was delicious. My only criticism would be that the amount of (very good) olive oil that had been sploshed over the top of the soup was excessive. I timed my meal after reading previous reviews that complained of slow service. My soup took exactly 13 minutes from ordering to delivery. Not bad when there were at least 7-8 people who had ordered before me and there was only one person (the owner) in the kitchen. I can see how it could be slow on a busy weekend morning if they don't top-up their kitchen staff. I was talked into a coffee by the owner (a very nice bloke) and decided to try their iced coffee. It was strong and sweet (but not overly sweet) and the hint of spice (cinnamon) that the owner had mentioned was in perfect balance. Not cheap ($12 for soup and $6 for iced coffee) but not overpriced either, given the generous size of the servings. I'll be going back and recommending Minestra to family and friends.

A BIG YUM. I've been to Minestra a few times now and it's my new local. The food is fresh and delicious and I love how the menu is always changing. I like the concept of people donating their homegrown produce to the kitchen. It does get busy on the weekend but I've never had to wait longer than 20 minutes for my food. I would recommend giving Minestra a go.

No food is worth THAT long a wait. I was really excited about this place when it first opened and bragged about it to all my friends, and after a few months I'd finally roped them all into heading there for Sunday brunch. I was extremely disappointed to find that timely service doesn't seem to exist here, despite the fact that Minestra doesn't seat that many people. We waited nearly 1.5 hours hours for our meals, even longer for COFFEES, which came out after our food. Apparently disgruntled and starving, as compensation the waitress brought over one, teaspoon-sized zeppole donut (for a table of five of us). I really love the food and the vibe of this place but please instruct your staff on the benefits of multi-tasking and efficient service - sad to say I probably won't go back because no food is worth keeling over in hunger for!

Really fresh tasty food. Love the rissoles and minestra. Coffee very good and reliable. Occasionally the wait for food can be about 20-30mins, but worth it

I tried the polpette and it was definitely lacking some kind of sauce. The salad leaves were bitter and were literally just leaves. The Nutella milkshake was fab, however coffees where bitter. Service is slow, however he staff are fab. Apple cider donut was fantastic, however the salted caramel brownie was overcooked and hard, a brownie should be goey. Didn't love it enough to want to go back.

Recently went for a coffee and ended up waiting 20' to get the coffee. 2nd time..Not fault of person taking orders, taking money, making coffees and... Serving the coffees to the tables.. A one man show . Manager and others pottering in kitchen .. Mind you manager came out and chatted to friends? I believe it is run poorly and he needs to lift his game and help w service to avoid dissatisfied customers. The server was excellent and handled a stressful afternoon exceptionally well!!

Went for lunch and that was great, just had breakfast, another great meal. The coffee alone is worth a trip.

Great little place.. The vegetarian meatballs with minestra was divine. Coffee was good. Prices very reasonable. Will definitely be returning to try the other menu options. Staff were very accommodating. A must try.

A delightful place, unassuming with really good Italian food! Nice service, aesthetically feels good...look forward to going back!

Fabulous Food. Excellent coffee. More than friendly service. After eating several meals at Minestra I am totally sold!! Prospect has been crying out for a unique, character filled cafe that is welcoming and serves the most delicious food. Locally sourced backyard ingredients mean a fresh and varied menu that changes depending on what's been sourced. Whoever's cooking really knows what they are doing with such yummy fresh ingredients and my god the sweets are to die for(I particularly love the salted caramel brownies.) Staff go out of their way to look after you and even when they are flat out wait times are really good. The one time my food took more than 15 minutes I was given a free coffee!! I highly recommend Minestra. You will fall in love with the place

Disappointing breakfast experience. Firstly, the wait times are not acceptable. there were about 15 diners in the cafe and I saw at least 7 staff members, yet we still had to wait 15 minutes for 2 coffees and about 35 minutes for one meal.<br/><br/>the coffee was awful - basically just warmed brown milk. i asked for soy but was given regular milk.<br/><br/>as for the meal - the poached eggs were well over done, solid yolk. if you can't poach an egg properly, you probably shouldn't open a cafe.<br/><br/>the 'minestra fagiloi' had me excited but i was disappointed to see it was just plain cooked spinach with a few very undercooked beans through it. some of the beans were actually rock hard - not good. the sugo was nice but nothing exceptional and it had obviously been sitting long enough for the bread to go totally soggy. the best thing on the plate was the mushroom that was actually really tasty but that wasn't enough the salvage an otherwise very average meal. <br/><br/>if i had waited a reasonable time i wouldn't have minded so much, but after such a long wait it was a huge let down.<br/><br/>i will return to try the lunch menu but next time i'll opt for tea, i can't stomach another cup of that 'coffee'.<br/><br/>there are a lot of great cafes in this area now so minesta is going to have to sort themselves out if they want to survive.

Very relaxed atmosphere, good service, home cooked Calabrese food which has not disappointed. Particularly like the coffee and the home-grown ingredients. A creative daily menu which means I can go and have the signature polpette and minestra (yes!!) but remain distracted by all the choices!

Delicious food good service. We just rocked up here with a group of seven people for a delicious late lunch. The service was great, and their was a good choice of food, which was all very good quality and reasonably priced. Great selection of vegetarian and also vegan food too if that floats your boat. We had the salad, the rissoles, the lasagne, and also the pork belly, which were all great. I would recommend visiting Minestra for breakfast or lunch or even a chinnoto/espresso spider!

Friendly, local, relaxed atmosphere and amazing food ! The poloette (rissoles) blew my mind and they turned my thoughts on polenta upside down with the Grilled Polenta breakfast.

New life has been given to an old corner store in Prospect. With an original blue tiled façade filled with reclaimed furniture, retro light fittings, and a big old deli serving counter, Minestra is a rustic little café serving traditional Italian dishes in a simple peasant style. No frills, no fuss, just generous servings of good food with fantastic flavour combinations.

Minestra Grilled polenta, sage mushrooms, peperonata and toast; 13.50 Polpette (Italian for rissoles): meat rissoles served in piadine with salad; $12.00 A local cafe serving Calabresi (a region in Southern Italy) home style and home grown food just popped up in the burbs of Prospect some months ago under the name of Minestra which translates to ‘soup’ in Italian. Don’t let the name fool you as they serve more than just soups here. Owner Sandy Cenin serves food using recipes from his grandma with meals catered for everyone: vegans, vegetarians and omnivores. N and I grabbed swung by over the weekend to grab a small bite. She ordered the grilled polenta whilst I opted for the rissoles. We weren’t too fond of the polenta and found the dish bland which needed extra seasoning from the trusty salt shaker on the communal table. The meat polpettes faired better, moist and juicy with subtle flavours. It felt as if I went to a friends house for lunch and their grandma did all the cooking – simp