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Awards
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2007 |
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Gourmet Traveller - Australian Best Regional Restaurant |
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2007 |
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Restaurant & Catering of Queensland - Best Fine Dining |
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User Reviews on Absynthe
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Displaying 1 - 10 of 17 comments
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| Overall |
  
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Highly Recommended |
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Food 9 |
Ambience 8 |
Service 9 |
Value 9 |
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After reading the comments here I was a little concerned by the range of experiences. I need not have been worried. Having eaten degustations in France and Belgium, I was interested to compare. In all ways Absynthe met or exceeded expectations.
The waitress was enthusiastic and warm, the atmosphere was a little stark and the choice of music wasn't mine (but then again, mine also would not have satisfied all others), the food quality and size was excellent - no it's not an American style whopper meal and presentation first class. I was however, grateful for some of the more negative comments as we were forewarned. Ask for table (tap) water, and it comes constantly and free. The overall cost was only slightly more that the fuel bill to and from Bathurst! Great night out for my wife and myself.
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colclu -
See my reviews 1 , 10 October 2008
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| Overall |
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Below Average |
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Food 5 |
Ambience 3 |
Service 2 |
Value 1 |
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Based on the the menu and wine list, I had hope for far greater. The decor disappointing, the music/ambience disappointing, food service slow, wine service delivered and little more, no sommelier advice, no reasons for food matching, nothing (not to mention lack of anything let alone personality from some staff!).
Whilst the food was nice and interesting, it was far from spectacular and even further from deserving of prices charged. Worse - yet another of the joys of Qld dining, restrooms are outside of the venue, so jaunting outside amongst the class that surfers has to offer really topped the experience.
Overall not recommended. Extremely overpriced for an average meal on food court style tables. Good wine list though if you fancy a bottle and little else.
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mwrowrr -
See my reviews 1, 26 September 2008
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| Overall |
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Highly Recommended |
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Food 9 |
Ambience 10 |
Service 9 |
Value 8 |
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Absolutely the place to take a date that you want to impress!
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thebarrys -
See my reviews 3, 11 September 2008
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1 of 1 people found the following review helpful
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| Overall |
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Below Average |
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Food 8 |
Ambience 2 |
Service 2 |
Value 1 |
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Dined with a party of four on a cold Friday evening. First impressions were of a less than enthused waitress who sat us at the worst table (right at the door) with views of the rable walking past the Q1 toilets.
The ambience is just wrong - acoustics are dreadful with crashing and banging sounds from the wait staff and audible conversations from 10 feet away. Once again you can't trust lazy web site operators as the the degustation menu was not the one I was salivating over and was simply not right for a winter's evening with two seafood dishes (if you could call them that) although exquisitely prepared were less than the size of a hors dourves. Wine was poured at all different levels and was of average quality - not what you would expect to compliment the food.
The timing of the meal was too slow and because of the size, the evening became tedious with every ones mind dreaming of pizza. Service was well below standard and overly apologetic. A request for another bread roll was refused.
The biggest disappointment though was the bill - $700.00 for four plus two shots of Absynthe liquor ($18.00 per shot). This is almost criminal, I have been to famous restaurants all over the world and have never paid so much for so little and such a below average experience.
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dinerstev -
See my reviews 2, 12 July 2008
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1 of 1 people found the following review helpful
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| Overall |
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Recommended |
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Food 8 |
Ambience 6 |
Service 5 |
Value 6 |
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Probably due to all the talk about this restaurant we went there with quite high expectations. To start with ambience is simple shopfront restaurant, it definitely lacks the wow factor and feels sterile.
Food was very creative and inspiring with one of the best foie gras I had in Australia. Service was the low point of the whole experience, unnecessarily pushing ( fill mineral water after every sip to sell the second bottle, ran out of cheaper bottle of wine and suggest double the price tag) and patronising, I have been told that venison carpaccio that comes with foie gras was not cooked - Oh really!
I think it was our bad luck we sat on the wrong section by the wrong waitress since the other tables seemed to enjoy the service by their waiter and he had a smile on his face. All in all it would be a worthwhile experience if the service was close to the level the food was.
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trufflenomore -
See my reviews 34, 15 June 2008
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1 of 1 people found the following review helpful
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| Overall |
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Below Average |
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Food 5 |
Ambience 2 |
Service 5 |
Value 5 |
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What a disappointment. As fairly regular degustation diners this one really was a let down. The food was mediocre at best and the wine selection unimaginative and 'cheap'. As Foodie Fi experienced with the unrequested and charged for extras, the bill was a hefty $300 over what we expected to pay. We wouldn't have minded if it had been an 'experience'.
The service while friendly was hit and miss. Wine and food were certainly not well timed. We had to ask several times for our wine to go with the dishes we had just eaten.
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jaef -
See my reviews 1, 01 June 2008
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| Overall |
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Highly Recommended |
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Food 10 |
Ambience 9 |
Service 9 |
Value 9 |
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Definitely has the wow factor, great ambience, excellent dishes, I loved the tomato confit and the eggplant ice cream, it made our night certainly very special while visiting Gold Coast.
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travelfast -
See my reviews 5, 09 April 2008
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1 of 1 people found the following review helpful
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| Overall |
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Highly Recommended |
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Food 9 |
Ambience 8 |
Service 9 |
Value 9 |
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For this family of Sydneysiders Absynthe is a must visit on our trips north. For value and enjoyment. Bear in mind I don't give 10's as I have yet to find the World's perfect restaurant but Absynthe probably rates 9.5 for food and value.
Meanwhile we look forward to our December visit when I will update this review.
We did return just before Christmas 2007 and had our views re-inforced by the second visit. Pity it's a place we can only get to once or twice a year.
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Fred R -
See my reviews 34, 13 March 2008
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| Overall |
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Average |
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Food 6 |
Ambience 4 |
Service 8 |
Value 3 |
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You pay a lot for the privilege of dining at a 'fancy french' restaurant here. The food was interesting, but certainly not top quality and the wines similarly of 'above average' but not spectacular quality. The service was quite good with polite and attentive staff who demonstrated good technical knowledge of the food.
Ambience, well I found it quite sterile and not a very comfortable layout, kind of felt like a 'diner'. I knew the prices before I came, so I wasn't shocked, and yes, you can expect little things like water (of any type) and bread rolls in these places. But it definitely didn't live up to it's price tag. I'm not against fancy restaurants, I like to go to them every now and then to get something truly exceptional, but I'd say only 50% of the fancy restaurants I've been to, took my fancy. This one certainly didn't.
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dane82 -
See my reviews 1, 27 February 2008
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| Overall |
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Recommended |
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Food 10 |
Ambience 8 |
Service 4 |
Value 9 |
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This is a must visit restaurant whenever I go to the Gold Coast. In fact it is the only hatted restaurant (I think) in the latest Gourmet Traveller rankings in the Gold Coast. The degustation menu is a must and has some very unique tastes at a fantastic price. The wine list is excellent and equals anything in Sydney. Considering it is at the base of the Q1, one would expect a bit more ambience, but alas, you can't have everything.
Update - service somewhat fell apart on my last visit and the service manager wasn't very helpful in solving the problem in the restaurant that was distracting the majority of the patrons from having a decent night.
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crake -
See my reviews 14, 22 February 2008
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