Ivy Cafe Restaurant, The

3.8 Below Average

Food  8      Ambience  5      Service  1      Value  1     

21/1/12 Saturday afternoon, 6pm fairly quiet. From the moment we walked in, unfriendly and abrupt staff. Ordered iced coffees and (expensive) pizza. Extremely disappointed. 'Iced' coffees arrived Warm! No I don't mean just only cool, I mean Really warm. The waitress who brought them and handled them had to know. The ice and ice cream melted very quickly and they were still Warm! (We never send anything back).

My wife and niece were astonished but decided to just never go there again. I reluctantly but politely asked for a new one. Waitress felt the obvious warmth of the glass and without saying anything walked into kitchen and spoke to another staff member. I stood there for a minute wondering what was happening.

I finally said quietly that I would have another if possible. I was told to go back to my table and they would bring me another one. I then realized that the two waitresses that we had dealt with: Did not know how to say sorry. Did not want to be there. Did not have any people skills.

Apparently they had just made a new batch of coffee and it was still warm! Very sorry excuse. They reluctantly made me a new iced coffee but made it real obvious that they were not happy to do so. They couldn't even act like they cared. The two waitresses that served us were extremely arrogant and when we asked nicely for our table to be wiped as there was spillage from previous customer, she unwillingy wiped only the spot that had spillage.

Rudest customer service I have experienced yet. Spoke to the senior staff when leaving and he didn't seem too surprised. I am not convinced that he even cared. Maybe complaints are frequent. It was then that I realized why the place had very few customers even though it was Saturday night. Very unpleasant experience. We won't Ever be going to the Ivy restaurant in Olinda Vic. again.

Jan 21, 2012 

2 Not Recommended

Food  2      Ambience  4      Service  1      Value  1     

The Ivy is located at a great place where there are easy parking and good enviroment. Unfortunately, staff and presuming the senior staff can not cope with a large number of customers. Service is extremely slow (took 40 minutes to make 3 coffes), Staff and the senior staff are extremely unfriendly. I saw one couple being kicked out because they asked for their coffee after waiting 30 minutes. Customer service does not exist at this place. If you are willing to go there, strongly suggest to go there when there are small number of customers present at the site.

Jan 01, 2011 

4.8 Average

Food  7      Ambience  7      Service  1      Value  4     

We have been to the Ivy before and had a reasonable dinner to consider going again. Last night, the food was good, however steak over done and not impressed when they charge $39.50 for an eye fillet. Drink requests were long and sometimes forgotten. Out of 8 beers on the menu, 4 were not available. The service staff weren't attentive and we repeatedly ordered drinks.

When the bill arrived at the end of the evening they had added $30 for corkage on 3 bottles of wine - this was never advertised on their menu or advised to us when they opened the bottles. They said it was a condition of entry that we had to pay corkage which we were happy to do but thought it was a little excessive. Management staff refused to come to talk to us at our table about this issue and were extremely unprofessional yelling at us across the room. Felt sorry for the service staff who weren't supported by their managers. Really disappointed as food and atmosphere generally pleasant.

Dec 12, 2010 

9.3 Highly Recommended

Food  9      Ambience  10      Service  9      Value  9     

I have had pizzas all over the world and the pizzas at the Ivy are the best I've ever had thin crust and really nice toppings and really tasty mozzarella I watch the chef make the pizza, he made it look so easy. My friend order this slow roasted lamb and he said it melted in his mouth, great wine list, great music and the staff are real friendly, drinks and food come super quick considering they were flat best place.

Aug 02, 2010 

6 Average

Food  8      Ambience  7      Service  3      Value  6     

Positive points: Food was quite tasty, the table had 2 pizzas and a chicken pot. All foods were good. They do gluten free pizza, which is great for those who suffer an allergy. Most staff seemed to be aware of what it was, so impressive. Wood fire places make the place feel very comfortable and warm, especially on a wintery, rainy day. Girls were nice that served us, 1 was friendly the rest were pleasant but not outstanding re: service.

Negatives: Food took a while to come out, and dishes came out at different times with a quite noticeable gap. After waiting a long time for the meals to come, we were told we would have to take a coffee take-away as our table needed to be made available for new customers. Had the phone come out earlier, and had we been gas bagging totally understand. But it came across like we were being rushed out the door, and, unfortunately, it spoiled an otherwise nice lunch.

When it was mentioned while paying, the manager said "try to see it from our point of view." Where have the good old days gone when customers opinions mattered most.

Good food, nice atmosphere, don't expect to have a leisurely lunch as you will have a nagging feeling of being expected to leave once the last crumb on your plate has entered your mouth. Maybe they need to expand the outside area to accommodate more people, or start refusing people when they are busy. Or, set up a bar area where people can wait without rushing existing customers.

Jul 18, 2010 

4 Below Average

Food  2      Ambience  5      Service  8      Value  1     

Wanted a simple lunch, but it was a Monday, so many places closed. Paid $13 (As a "Special" compared with their usual prices of $26 - $28 for pizzas) and had the worst, meanest calzone I have had, ever, in six countries, consisted 50% of dough, with a little mozzarella and the rest rice. I will not be going back.

Jul 05, 2010 

1.8 Not Recommended

Food  1      Ambience  4      Service  1      Value  1     

Wobbly table, half-spilt coffee, lacklusture service, below average drinks. Waited an hour for our pizza, after being told it wouldn't be long, only to find out they had lost the order completely! No apologies and they still charged an exorbitant price for our drinks. Shut the place down, utter rubbish!

Mar 28, 2010 

4.5 Below Average

Food  6      Ambience  8      Service  1      Value  3     

Lovely outdoor sitting area.
Can't comment on the food as we didn't actually eat here, but several of us turned up mid afternoon for a coffee. We had already made quite clear from the start that our intentions were coffee, not food. After ordering our coffees we were repeatedly asked in a most aggressive and intimidating manner by two different male waiters to order food. Most strange.

Feb 25, 2010 

2.8 Not Recommended

Food  1      Ambience  6      Service  2      Value  2     

Do not even bother with this place. Firstly we were seated at a make shift table for two by the front door even when we had a booking. We were then courteously moved to a better table 15 minutes later (no orders placed yet), however, it had not been cleared and there were used glasses on the chairs which I had to ask to have removed. This is just the beginning of the disaster.

The focaccia arrived for entree which professed to include truffle oil, which for $18 I thought was reasonable considering what a delicacy it is, I could not taste it whatsoever and doubt it was even there! Our two mains arrived, my girlfriend had the 'spring lamb' clay pot and I had the 'otway pork' clay pot. These two dishes would have to have been the worst dishes I've ever had the displeasure of eating.

'Spring Lamb' was more likely a thawed out chunk of mutton which was so overcooked and dry it was inedible. 'Otway pork' was also horribly overcooked and consisted mainly of haired pork skin, fat and sinew. Moreover, the manner in which it was assembled would baffle anyone with any degree of culinary knowledge.

Instead of the listed accompaniments to the pork and mutton being slowly cooked together, they have simply thrown them in all separately at the end. Of course we complained and had the bill reduced, we left the place with a bad taste in the mouth figuratively and literally! Also there was some kind of a sooty burnt material in the bottom of my wine.

It also was heartening to listen to both tables near us with similar complaints, the staff's excuse 'we're a bit under the pump tonight' - I have been to numerous establishments where they have been under stress and never have I had food so terrible, it is no excuse. If you're in Olinda, try others.

Oct 11, 2009 

1.5 Not Recommended

Food  3      Ambience  1      Service  1      Value  1     

Can't complete the scored rating, as we ended up walking out because they would not allow us to sit by the open fire for lunch. We insisted on sitting near the fire, and was refused twice. This was explained as "marketing purposes". Everyone needed to be sitting by the window, to make it look busy. Another group of diners also walked out for the exact same reason. Never again! Very very disappointing.

Jul 13, 2009