Cafe Marinara - Bracken Ridge Australia

Great service, amazing staff, great desserts. It's one of those places you keep going back to for the atmosphere, decor and staff.<br/ <br/ Food is good, tasty and sumptuous all, except tomato based dishes. <br/ I haven't tried pizza yet. <br/  <br/ I've been there a few times now and learned not to order anything tomato based. I tried dishes from my friends and mine [of course] and the verdict is solid. It tastes as it's just been heated up straight out of the can. It misses Nona's love. Dolmio out of the jar tastes better. <br/ <br/ Tomato sauce ingredients (if the owners read this review):<br/ Crushed tomatoes (out of the can), finely chopped celery, carrots, onions, garlic and basil, salt and pepper to taste, 1 cup of red wine, a touch of sugar (to get rid of the acidity). Saute finely chopped celery, carrots, onions, garlic and basil over medium heat with some olive oil. Add tomato paste, stir briefly making sure it doesn't burn. Add crushed tomatoes. Bring to boil and add red wine; then lower the temperature and simmer for 2 hours. Remove from the heat and stir in some sugar (a flat tablespoon per 1kg of tomatoes) and add fresh chopped parsley. tomato sauce is a labour of love.

Friendly service and delicious food, and always busy

Very authentic restaurant, it felt like I was back in Italy. The food was amazing, the whole experience had the vibe look of a family restaurant in Florence. Service was great meals were out very quickly. Perfect place for a date, the candle lit dinner was quite romantic.

I feel like I am in Italy when I am here. I love this place so much it is so traditional and the staff here are lovely. Candle lit dinners are a huge yes from me, the ambience here is top notch. After reading over the extensive menu, I had to get the seafood pasta. It was DELICIOUS there was so much seafood and it was all great quality. The pasta sauce was so yum and full of flavour. Out of all the Paddington Italian places this one is my fav.

Absolutely love this place! The staff are so friendly and accommodating, the ambience is very pleasant and homely, and the food is incredibly delicious! There are not that many vegetarian options on the menu, but the staff know the menu very well and are helpful with their suggestions on how to make the other dishes vegetarian. It is much appreciated! The drinks are made wonderfully, and the desserts are very well done as well! If I have only one improvement, it may be that the tables are a bit too small (though I understand the effort to make the setting more romantic . Overall I highly recommend! Best Italian food in Brisbane :