The Strand Cafe - How much for a few pieces of lettuce?

Cafe Strand - 108 Jetty Road, Glenelg

A perfect 30 degree Summer day in Adelaide definitely calls for a drive down to Glenelg. Jetty Road seems to change every time I see it but I've walked past The Strand a few times and never really payed much attention to it, I'd always thought it's just your average Cafe serving Italian food. However I was in a mood for a wood fired pizza so I thought I'd give it a go.

Fancy napkins

The place was quite busy at 12:45pm, greeted by friendly staff who quickly offered us a table.

We'd been strawberry picking at Beerenberg and wine tasting at Shaw and Smith earlier in the morning, so we weren't looking for a big meal, my wife pretty much was only interested in the salad section.

We looked at each other, and said "whoa" at the same time when we saw the prices. I understand Glenelg is a busy stretch of road in Adelaide, and rent might be a bit high, but one of the salads which interested my wife was $25.90 (The Strand Caesar). We were actually quite interested to see how glamorous a $26 salad could be, so we thought we'd give it a go.

As I've previously stated, the Margherita is my benchmark for pizzas, so this was the obvious choice. As for my daughters they were also not very hungry so we ordered a kid's pasta (bolognese).

Strand Caesar - $25.90

The first to arrive - the grand prize, the $25.90 salad which consisted of, wait for it.....chopped up pieces of lettuce! Along with 3 pieces of crouton type bread, 3 strips of anchovies, and 4 strips of bacon topped off with a poached egg and cheese and a tiny bit of dressing drizzled on top.  Seriously?

I don't have much to say, was just a bit shocked, and still am writing this at night.

With the lack of dressing it just tasted like....... lettuce, bite after bite.

Margherita Pizza - $23.00

The pizza arrived a few seconds later and it was yet another disappointment. It looked nice, however the base was very thick and the crust on the edge was even thicker. Ingredients wise the sauce was very bitter tasting, not the usual sweetness I'm accustomed to. The toppings were fresh and not overloading the pizza however the bitterness of the sauce and the thickness of the base could not be ignored.

The kid's pasta ($9.90) also arrived at the same time (no pictures). A very meaty Bolognese which tasted 'not bad' for a kid's meal.

I'm a bit shocked to say, but the kid's meal was the highlight?!

Service - 3.5/5 - usual friendly cafe style staff
Ambience - 3.5/5 - usual cafe style ambience
Food - 3/10 - Overpriced, definitely better pizzas elsewhere

Hayes gives the Strand Cafe 10/20 chops on the Chopping Board.