My mother and I drove up from the Sydney and spent a couple of days in Nelson Bay ...we decided to visit the Inner Light Tea Rooms for lunch when we arrived. Upon arrival the cafe was super busy - understandably- as it is in...the most amazing location overlooking the beautiful ocean of Port Stephens !! ...the staff were so lovely and accommodating... we had a booking and were ushered to our table which had fantastic views!!!... the food was simply beautiful ( the menu item I chose was not available and the waitress went out of her way to find out if she could make me something different to what was on the menu which they did) our whole experience there was amazing ... after lunch we visited the gift shop attached where I purchased a couple of lovely pottery vases such a beautiful relaxing spot I would thoroughly recommend a visit to the Inner Light Tea Rooms whilst in Nelson Bay -started our little getaway with a delightful experience!More

We visited the Tea Rooms for breakfast. We didn’t make a reservation, and after visiting it appears that making a reservation is a smart thing to do. Once we had checked in to be Covid safe, we were taken inside and seated. A few minutes...later we were moved outside to take in the view which was a lovely gesture. I looked at the breakfast menu and summarised it as ‘scrambled eggs’ or ‘waffles’. There weren’t a lot of options. I instead ordered a beef burger. For $18 I would have expected it be served with chips but it arrived just on a plate by itself. I decided to cut the burger in half, and when I went to take a bite it all fell apart on my plate. So I ate my $18 burger using a knife and fork. When we were sat outside we were told we needed to leave by 11am as another booking needed our table. This left us with no time to order the scones that everyone raves about. And to be fair this is probably the only thing I’d come back for. I’d like to thank the staff who were very hard working, ensuring everyone had their food and coffees. For anyone visiting in the future I’d suggest checking the menu online first. That way you won’t be disappointed like I was when I left.More

Lovely birdseye view of the bay and islands. Great location. Had a perfect brunch. Lovely, pleasant waitresses. Yummy food. A wonderful experience. Also visited the Gift Shop; appreciate the friendly ladies working there - thank you!

What a fabulous spot for breakfast with stunning views. Great friendly service, covid safe. Clean and inviting. Great menu, superb coffee with a view to die for. Will be back in 3 weeks for sure!

As a resident and regular i would like to inform Inner light Tearooms manager to take more notice of the staff. I had the unfortunate experience re a blonde older staff member who treated us and some other people who came after us with attitude...for coming about an hour before closing. She made it quite obvious with her huffing and puffing and informing us of her busy day while folding the table umbrellas down and making it quite obvious she wanted to go home and we were a nuisance. if you go towards the end of the day you dont want to be made to feel you are not welcome. Apart from that its a wonderfrul place with a wonderful view.More

I have been going to the Inner LIght Tearooms for over a decade, usually for afternoon tea which always involved coffee and cake of some description. The view is spectacular and the ambience is lovely - trees, birds, the sound of the ocean and no...terrible jarring loud music as one seems to encounter in almost every cafe these days, However, having had breakfast there for the first time these holidays, I am going to say that we were not impressed with the food at all. This consisted of dry raisin toast, rather stingily buttered, luke-warm eggs, a very thin and flattened cheese toastie, a limp and rather pathetic avocado smash, plus two very dry, hard scones served with very small blobs of jam and cream that would barely do for even ONE scone. I had called and booked ahead, as required since Covid, but was not informed until arrival, that we were limited to a one and a half hour sitting. This was highly inconvenient as some of our party were late arriving, expecting that we could eat at our leisure. Obviously this was an oversight, and the wait staff, in general, are very nice, but the food is not up to scratch and the menu is a bit uninspiring, For the price that customers pay here, view or no view, there is no excuse not to do better.More

This is the 2nd time we have visited the tea rooms and thoroughly enjoyed coffee, scones, milkshake and GF DF Brownies. We did not book and realized that we would be lucky to score a table but the staff went out of there way to...find a spot for us to enjoy morning tea. The service was quick and efficient (which was required as the birds were certainly not afraid to get on the tables for a leftover crumb). We left and purchased a lotto ticket as in the time that we ate I was pooped on by the afore mentioned birds twice! Highly recommend but bring hats, sunglasses and sunscreen (shade is limited); remember to book if wanting a meal or are not prepared to run the risk of not having a table; and ask to not sit under a tree!More