Hog's Breath Cafe

9 Highly Recommended

Food  9      Ambience  9      Service  9      Value  9     

I like this restaurant because of the lovely positive atmosphere, amazing steaks and the friendly staff.

May 17, 2012 

9 Highly Recommended

Food  9      Ambience  9      Service  9      Value  9     

Tried out the hogsbreath cafe on one of my friends recommendation. I really liked the food, especially the mains. The steaks are slow cooked for 18hrs which tasted very nice and was cooked as per my liking. I have no hesitation in recommending this place to my friends and family. Cheers

May 11, 2012 

6.5 Recommended

Food  8      Ambience  8      Service  3      Value  7     

Went with my brother, and we both ordered the Barramundi burger. It was made so well, and I couldn't fault it. Tasted so good, and the aioli sauce that went with it was delicious.

Only problem was the main ushering guy was a bit rude. A younger guy serving us afterwards was nice, but when we tried ordering something else, he'd keep forgetting so we just got up and left to buy extra food elsewhere.

Value is alright, but I agree, the service at this place is pretty damn bad and kills the mood.

May 07, 2012 

4.8 Average

Food  7      Ambience  6      Service  2      Value  4     

First time ever in my life that a waitress asked me to bring my plate to her, as she already had three plates on hand and too lazy to come back and collect the last one. She then asked us if we wanted her to send the bill over, we were still having our drinks so we said a bit later. She just dumped the bill on our table 2 minutes later.

Steak was good (considering how much to pay), cocktails wasn't and service was astonishing! I won't go back to this restaurant where they don't understand that customers pay and Receive services!

Feb 18, 2012 

5.3 Average

Food  5      Ambience  6      Service  6      Value  4     

Came here last year and this is the 2nd time I have been to this restaurant chain. Not sure why I decided to come here again, but this visit has reminded me of earlier impression of this chain and I will not be visiting this place again.

Now in all honesty the service is okay. For families I can definitely see how this place can appeal because it is very family oriented. For any others, I warn that the food is disappointing for a Steakhouse. The prices are not that cheap either.

Jan 03, 2012 

9 Highly Recommended

Food  9      Ambience  9      Service  9      Value  9     

Booked a table for 23, the staff were friendly and accommodating. All the meals came out on time, and were perfectly cooked. Service was great. Couldn't ask for a better place for a farewell.

Apr 08, 2011 

1.3 Not Recommended

Food  2      Ambience  1      Service  1      Value  1     

I started going to Hog's breath years ago, complete with my gold membership, because of recommendation by my friends. In the last couple of years, I am feeling like I got cheated out of my gold (lifetime) membership from this particular branch in civic.

The last time I visited the restaurant, the man who greeted me at the door was sour and really abrupt. While I waited for my friends, whom I didn't know when they were going to arrive, I was told I should just wait at the bar until they do. When they finally arrived, we were told there were no more spare tables (should have said something first), and had to wait another 30 minutes before we finally got our tables.

Now, a friend of mine was saying that there's no qualified chef in the kitchen any more. I was not that inclined to believe her since it is an established place. However, after that night, I decided that she was right.

I ordered a Medium rare prime rib with mash potatoes and caesar salad. What came out was a well done steak with uncooked potatoes that someone attempted to mash. When I called the waitress over, she said, "oh, I am not sure, let me ask the manager..." even if she can't tell that the steak was over cooked, sure she could "feel" the hard chunks of potatoes under the fork!

The senior staff was no better. He looked and smelt drunk, complete with some food stains. He claimed the chunky bits was to ensure customers realise that they use real potatoes (uhm...) but did admit the steak was over cooked.

By this time, most of my group were half way through their meal, but they sent my meal back to the "chef", who proceeded to give me something that looked more rare than medium rare. I decided to just pick at it instead of calling for more "help" - I wasn't about to get much better than this from someone who was clearly drunk on the job. Do yourselves a favour, give it a miss. There's no more quality, therefore no value, in going to Hog's Breath in civic any more.

Nov 17, 2010 

2 Not Recommended

Food  2      Ambience  2      Service  1      Value  3     

The food is supposed to be always the same regardless of which location you are in But the group of us all seem to agree that the food at the civic restaurant is worse than that served in the wooden restaurant. The meat was tougher and the chips were cold. The service at the wooden chain was also far better than that in civic. We had to ask 3 different waitresses for cutlery, napkins and even water. It seemed as if the staff in the civic outlet felt that they had better things to do in the city on a Saturday night than work in the restaurant.

Oct 18, 2010 

5.3 Average

Food  7      Ambience  8      Service  2      Value  4     

I went to Canberra with my GF on a vacation trip because she's never seen it. I thought we would try the Hog's Breath Cafe there but I should have read this guide first.

We went for lunch and the cafe was not even half full. What ruined the experience was that the man who greeted us was somewhat rude. He took us to a table and got a young girl to serve us. The girl was really nice and friendly. We went for the main course immediately and it was a good thing we did. The portions were huge. We were hungry but I doubt we would be able to tackle it if we had the appetizers.
We paid 50% more for our meal as we would in other less well known places.

I would have just dismissed the rude man at the start as just someone having a bad day.

Sep 14, 2010 

4 Below Average

Food  3      Ambience  4      Service  5      Value  4     

After having a terrible experience at the other local Hog's Breath location, my boyfriend and I thought we might give this location a chance. Bad idea. For the place being almost empty, it took forever to be seated because they didn't have any tables ready. (??) We were ushered into the bar area where the service was slow and we were the only ones trying to get a drink!

Once we had been seated, the waitress asked and we told about the last experience and she was very apologetic and hoped that we would have a better one. She was very friendly and attentive (which was a major improvement over the last experience).

I cannot recall what we ordered, but I had asked for the sauce to be on the side of my dish since I do not tolerate one of the main ingredients well. When our order came, my boyfriend's meal wasn't cooked to his specifications, the order wasn't complete, and the sauce was all over my food. I had to send it back. The waitress was very apologetic and took it back (after she checked her ticket to see if I had in fact ordered it that way).

She explained that they have at least 3 different people doing a quality check, but somehow this made it past all 3 of them! She returned with my plate, but the rest of the order never arrived. (epic FAIL!)

I don't think we will ever be trying Hog's Breath again at any location! Save your money and time, eat elsewhere.

May 10, 2010