Silvestri's

2.5 Not Recommended

Food  4      Ambience  4      Service  1      Value  1     

Where is the waiter? Four people with a $800 bill and 4 times I had to get up to find a waiter for water, drinks, salt (Yes the food was that bad salt was required) and the bottle of wine that took 45 minutes to come. My wine was ordered first and the entrees arrived before the wine did. And the red wine was freezing. The bottle of wine was not decanter, it was full of sediment and cork. Just terrible and disappointing. There was no drinks menu at all to view, just a wine list poorly structured with spelling errors.

When I asked the waiter for a beer and he asked me "what beer is it you would like" I rattled of ten beers I wanted, all of which he was unsure of, then came back with a $10 corona full of lemon pips. My specific words to the waiter were please bring me anything but a Corona!. As it took him 15 minutes to get me my Corona I did not complain. When I asked for a cocktail list the waiter came back ten minutes later and gave me a 350 page encyclopaedia of cocktails and told me to pick.

After ten minutes of selecting and him coming back and advising they were void of the required ingredients, we asked the waiter to make whatever he could for the ladies of our table. The waiter came back with something unknown and the ladies nearly threw up it was that potent. When I enquired as to what it was the waiter replied "That is cointreau, midori and 4 shots of rum "Yep that is what a lady needs at a fine dining restaurant, should have bought a bucket with that. To make it even better the waiter decided, as there is no price list for drinks, that he was going to charge 2 x $50 for this terrible concoction. Did I mention we were one of only two tables in Silvestris on a Saturday night.

Then menu is outdated and below average. It has not been changed in a long time. Nothing oozed freshness, but oozed it was made months ago and reheated recently. All of our meat was cooked raw and not well done as requested. What made it even better was being one of two tables, 8 people in a restaurant and it took 90 minutes between entrée and main. Also what boiled me over was I was still half way through my main when the waiter came and cleared everyone else plate. The height of rudeness.

Is the atmosphere and décor beautiful? Yes it is. Are the glasses and cutlery clean? No chance. Is Silvestris able to claim the title fine dining? No, certainly the price would suggest it and the establishment at a glance would suggest it. However, the food and service are well below fine dining standards. What fine dining establishment has a waiter who is also the chef, when I say chef, I mean the guy operating the microwave in the kitchen.

When I approached the senior staff about the terrible experience, he advised me that I had got them at an off day and gave me a written notice offering me 50% discount on my next visit. However, he refused a 50% discount on this current visit. That made no sense.

Also bring your own mints. Majority of your meal is garlic. $800 and they don’t even supply mints or an after dinner peppermint, he would not even give me some fresh parsley to get rid of the foul taste Silvestri left in my mouth.

Jul 19, 2010 

9.5 Highly Recommended

Food  9      Ambience  10      Service  10      Value  9     

Had the most amazing experience here on Valentine's day. Never even knew this place existed but I hope we can go back every year and maybe even for my birthday. Food=perfect!

Mar 02, 2010 

4 Below Average

Food  5      Ambience  6      Service  4      Value  1     

Very expensive for very average food. Charged $6 for each bread roll and $15 for a medium size (500ml) bottle of water. Will not be going back again.

Mar 10, 2009