* See update below - major deterioration since my first review ...

Excellent coffee, friendly staff, great music & ambience. We had their coffee and muffin deal for $5.50 - (delicious home made muffins). Lunch time risotto and drink for $10 looks good value too, will try next time.

*Update to first review - we've been back several more times and unfortunately the service and food has been very patchy since our earlier visits. On one occasion nobody came to take our order although it wasn't busy - we had to go and find a girl who wasn't friendly or helpful; another visit we asked for "hot" coffees, after we'd been told previously that you need to specify this when ordering but they came out barely luke warm anyway.

Altough it's a convenient location, we won't be back because service is poor and prices have gone way up and are too high for the standard. Sad because they started out so well.

Approximate cost: $15+++

Impressed with our waitress, she was great and tried hard to fix a lost order. The food was very disappointing. From our table of 20, the verdict overall was ordinary at best. My chicken parmigiana was too heavily crumbed (not home made I"d guess) and tasted of stale/rancid oil; the chips tasted the same and were cold and soggy. Side salad not too fresh and basic. Hard to attract people for return visits based on this standard of food.

UPDATE SEPT 13: We went back to the Royal in Sept 13 after hearing of new management. I'm delighted to say it was excellent. Although it was a quiet Monday, pouring rain outside there was still good atmosphere inside.

The back bar looked cosy with an open fire, but we decided to go through to the main dining area at the front. Both staff members who looked after us were friendly and professional and the food top quality (bonus of Classic meals $20 on Monday night).

Boring I know, but I had the chicken parmigiana again and it was perfect this time. The dressing on the salad was a bit too sweet but everything else including my husband's fish and chips was delicious. We're looking forward to going back.

Approximate cost: $25