Solitary

7 Recommended

Food  8      Ambience  6      Service  7      Value  7     

I went here with my wife on 31/03/2012 for dinner and I'm glad I didn't read these reviews before we went.

We had no problems with the service and the food was excellent. The website needs to be updated as the menu has changed slightly. They could improve the ambience inside with some music and better lighting (maybe some candles) but overall an enjoyable night.

Apr 01, 2012 

4.8 Average

Food  8      Ambience  5      Service  3      Value  3     

The food and initial ambience was lovely and promised to be a nice night out.
The service at the beginning of the meal was friendly and relaxed so was in keeping with its surroundings.

The issue of service, however, deteriorated significantly after the order was taken while a litany of small issues arose but were not enough to dampen our enjoyment of the experience but then came 9:30 and only two tables of four were left in the restaurant. We were in the process of winding down and deciding whether to have dessert or not when the background music was turn up to rock concert levels and the all un to subtle clearing of table.

The waitress (someone who had not been in the restaurant most of the night) who with all the finesse of Basil Fawlty processed to bang the cutlery and make as much noise as possible.

Needless to say these actions spoiled the whole night and left shortly thereafter. I feel sorry for the kitchen staff that did a great job but there is better value and dining experiences to be had so you really should give this place a big miss.

Jan 08, 2012 

4.8 Average

Food  8      Ambience  4      Service  1      Value  6     

Went to restaurant last night for a 7pm dinner with 3 friends and left at 11.30pm. The table did not receive menus for about 15mins, after ordering we waited an hr for our entree which only came out after a number of complaints to staff. We then waited a further & still no sign of our mains. Never did the staff come to explain why there was delays in the kitchen or see if we required drinks, water etc. After being in the restaurant for 2.5 hrs the restaurant manager came to apologise that the 2 pork fillets that had been ordered had fallen on the floor in the kitchen and what would we like instead.

We ordered steaks instead but felt ok at least our mains would soon be on the table soon. No another 45min wait until our mains arrived. One of the steaks was still blue even though it was ordered medium rare, my friend complained and she did get her main for free. At this point the restaurant was empty so we were getting a little bit more service and we were offered complimentary desserts at 10.30pm. Overall a very disappointing experience, the service was so bad from both the kitchen & waiting staff. The food when we did receive it was was mostly delicious but what the place is really missing is some good management to sort out the service problems.

Oct 23, 2011 

6.5 Recommended

Food  7      Ambience  7      Service  6      Value  6     

This is our favorite restaurant every time we drive up to Leura. The chocolate brownie and scones are yummy. Although the service standard can be lower when the restaurant is crowded, this is compensated by the spectucular view.

Sep 05, 2011 

3 Below Average

Food  4      Ambience  4      Service  2      Value  2     

I wish I had read all of these reviews before going to Solitary for Father's Day. The food was mediocre but very expensive, but the biggest problem was the service. After an hour and 45 minutes we had only had salads! Repeated requests to the waitress to follow up on our mains didn't get us anywhere. Our son had eaten his kid's meal and ice cream and still there was no sign of our mains. They finally came with no apology. I won't go here again.

Sep 05, 2011 

1.7 Not Recommended

Food  2      Ambience  1      Value  2     

Had a family birthday lunch on a Sunday. Was Disgusted! After arriving and waiting 20 minutes, we got the menus for the 5 of us we only received 3 food menus and 2 drinks. Then we got drinks, I got a soy cap (which, when it came out, I double checked it was soy and they said they didn't know.) and my other guests got water in slimy bottles (we could see the slime on the inside of the bottles (yes, Both)).

Then the waitress didn't write down our orders, opting instead to show how efficient she was by remembering our orders in her head. Then after waiting well over an over for our meals, of course one of our guest's meals was completely wrong (given the fish instead of the pork (I mean seriously!)). So she had to wait 15 minutes to cook another meal, by which time we'd almost finished our meals.

The steak was stone cold. My meal of cannelloni with sauce was nice. Except the sauce was gritty and too salty. Another guest choose the steak sandwich and chips. Except there was no chips. Coffee's to finish came out 15 minutes after ordering.

The staff looked lost and uninterested. And to top it off unbelievably overpriced for portion sizes. A shame, because the location was sublime.

Aug 29, 2011 

4 Below Average

Food  4      Ambience  4      Service  3      Value  5     

Sunday lunch. Unfortunately no view due to a pea soup fog! I had the light lunch of grilled sourdough, mushroooms, goats curd, rocket and fried egg. The egg was overcooked however so not enough runny yolk and there were two stone cold grilled tomatoes on the side which detracted. The 45 minute wait was just not good enough however and the place wasn't full. Maybe the tomoatoes sat on the plate for 45 mins? Problem in the kitchen maybe and not the fault of waitresses and waiter who were very efficient and pleasant. My sweet potato soup had arrived earlier when my wife had her steak sandwich which she says was nice and the soup was O.K. but after that I fidgetted for ages and eventually had to ask where the rest of my lunch was. The mushrooms were good however and full of flavour.

Jul 18, 2011 

3.3 Below Average

Food  3      Ambience  6      Service  2      Value  2     

Extremely disappointed with the overall experience. Last Sunday was my first time to the restaurant and upon arriving I had high hopes that the food would stack up to the superb location and views. Unfortunately, the view was the only impressive thing about this restaurant. I attended with family for a birthday gathering and, unfortunately, we were not able to raise a toast to the birthday girl since it took the staff half an hour and 3 friendly reminders to bring out all of our drink order.

The bottle of red that came out was a different vintage to what was on the menu. The menu was very limited with only 4 mains to choose from and nothing was really jumping out at me. I ended up having the steak which was a great let down. The meat was overcooked and extremely tough to the point where I struggled to cut through it. Upon glancing around at the other meals, they all seemed pretty unimpressive and there was nobody at the table complementing the food.

Given the price of the meals I certainly expected much better quality food and service. Unfortunately, every review I have read expresses similar concerns to mine. As the owner of the restaurant I wouldn't have thought it would be all that hard to run a successful business given the location and charm of this restaurant, however, I am clearly mistaken and am probably best to stick to my day job.

Jun 28, 2011 

3 Below Average

Food  1      Ambience  5      Service  5      Value  1     

My partner and I dined at Solitary last weekend and it is unfortunate to say that the overall experience was an absolute let down. The main issue here is the food. We both ordered entree and main course, however, after major disappointment we decided not to proceed with dessert. Where to start..?

The entree of Bangalow pork 'tonnato' was disappointing. It honestly looked and tasted like supermarket shaved sandwich meat sprinkled with packet parmesan. The overall seasoning was ok in this dish, but I would have thought the dish would feature an actual piece of slowly cooked bungalow pork. My partner had the soup special which was absolutely flavourless, there was no seasoning to this dish and the 'smoked cod' didn't compliment the soup. Another table of girls who had ordered the soup also passed negative comment about the soup.

For main I had the jewfish. The fish itself was nicely cooked though the skin was soggy. The pickled eggplant was ok, the babaganoush delicious, but the chickpea crisps were stale and horrible. The biggest let down dish, however, was the Potato and saffron Gnocchi with rabbit ragu. It honestly was almost unpalatable. The greyish pieces of rabbit meat tasted like it had been boiled or poached, sitting in what looked like a watery (and flavourless) consomme.

There was nothing 'ragu' about it.. the gnochhi was gluggy and unedible. The only thing we enjoyed over this expensive lunch was the wine which my partner poured for us throughout the lunch after the staff completely forgot about our table in a not even half full dining room. Such a shame because the location is lovely, but they need to improve greatly on above all the food, followed by the service.

I also noticed that it doesn't look like they've updated some areas of their website since 2007. What a disappointment, the food lacks quality, seasoning and well composed flavours. The manager (owner) did apologise to us and advised that our disappointment came down to "personal taste", however, after reading many of the other reviews below, how can you argue this when 90% of the reviewers are making the same comment.

After expressing our disappointment with how they dealt with our complaint they offered a discount on the bill. I won't be back, but for their sake I hope they realise where they need major change and primarily in the kitchen!

Jun 22, 2011 

4 Below Average

Food  5      Ambience  3      Service  5      Value  3     

This is the fourth time I have dined at Solitary, and I was so disappointed. I have been here previously for afternoon tea twice and once for lunch, these visits were great. I raved about the amazing food to my family so 8 of us drove down from Sydney for mother’s day. The view was the only amazing thing about our lunch.

The asparagus soup was in dire need of seasoning and was a tiny portion for nearly $20. The Bangalow pork was really dry and again in need of seasoning. And my sirloin which was meant to be cooked 'medium' was so well done it tasted like a stewed piece of meat and I sent it back, my replacement (which was served after everyone had finished) was only marginally better so I gave it to my brother to finish.

My guests did enjoy the fish with eggplant relish and the rabbit. While all of the staff are friendly and happy, they seem disorganised and a little green (we had 3 different waiters). They also stack all of the dirty glasses on the counter by the back door, which looks really shabby.

Overall it wasn’t a great experience for a 4 hour round trip, which was so disappointing, as Solitary has been great in the past. If they can put some more care and love (and seasoning) back into their dishes then I will return again to give it another go.

May 09, 2011