Spirit House Restaurant

8.5 Highly Recommended

Food  8      Ambience  10      Service  8      Value  8     

This is the second time I have dined here but a first for my husband. I was excited to return as my first experience is still fresh in my memory and was great. We were not disappointed, as we were taken to our table my husband was overwhelmed by the setting.

The overall vista is spectacular and beautifully enhances the dining experience. We loved the menu and especially the instructions to diners about children and water dragons, totally agree, the venue is not for uncontrolled children but having taken children there previously, mine still also talk about the wonderful experience they had.

Now to the food - we shared our choices to allow is to enjoy more of the tastes on offer. We chose the pork belly and the watermelon salad, both were great examples of flavour fusion with the key elements of Thai/SE Asian cuisine and only increased the expectation for the next course.

Here we chose the soft shell crab and the chilli jam chicken. The soft shell crab was an interesting presentation with the crab in a rich creamy sauce that needed to be accompanied by rice. To finish this dish it was supported by deep fried whitebait fritters and lime. The whitebait texture was great with the creamy crab but just overwhelmed it a bit, it would have been better to have less (of course we could have left what we didn't need on the plate).

The chicken was smoky, succulent and generous, the accompanying condiments enhanced the tastes. The only addition I could suggest for this was to add some greens, a personal think only, I love greens with such tastes to help balance the richness.

Whilst we would have loved to try dessert we could not do this course justice, the choices were tempting but we both had had sufficient so whilst they looked tempting we will need to visit again to try them. Next time we may choose 4 entree size dishes and leave room for dessert.

From the time we were greeted and taken to our table the front of house staff were attentive and helpful. They support the kitchen and food and provide helpful information when required i.e. the need for rice to accompany certain dishes. I purchased two cook books as they make excellent gifts and I am a keen cook so will try to find the time to come to a cooking class next time we are in Qld.

Directions from the Bruce Highway would assist visitors find you in the dark of Yandina. Thank you for another memorable evening.

Feb 02, 2012 

9 Highly Recommended

Food  9      Ambience  9      Service  9      Value  9     

We visited here in a few weeks ago and found the restaurant, the service and the food to be an absolute delight ! Not only was the service provided by Jackie and the team faultless, but the setting was tranquil and private. The food and the wine just topped it off. We loved the pork belly and smoky tofu entrees, the nam jim chicken salad and the dessert platter. We will definitely be back next time we are in the area.

Sep 30, 2011 

1.5 Not Recommended

Food  3      Ambience  1      Service  1      Value  1     

We had recommended this restaurant to our friends who made a special trip from Brisbane and we felt embarrassed to have done so. We were very disappointed and wish we had gone somewhere else. At no time were we even made to feel welcome, it was all about them and they have an extremely high opinion of themselves which does not match reality.

Don’t bother. Very expensive and the service is terrible. Don’t expect a response if you make a complaint about anything. We were ignored! They did not care at all that we had a poor experience. We got the impression that somehow it was our fault that their wait staff were rude.

They were good a few years ago but have very much let their early success go to their heads. They need to pick up their act in a big way. What a shame that the lovely setting and their reputation is so terribly let down by their arrogance. Throw your money in the street and keep walking you would have a better time.
Too many problems to list and why would we bother. They didn’t. $250-00 for a mediocre lunch, what a joke!

Jul 14, 2011 

1.5 Not Recommended

Food  3      Ambience  1      Service  1      Value  1     

We had recommended this restaurant to our friends who made a special trip from Brisbane and we felt embarrassed to have done so. We were very disappointed and wish we had gone somewhere else. At no time were we even made to feel welcome, it was all about them and they have an extremely high opinion of themselves which does not match reality.

Don’t bother. Very expensive and the service is terrible. Don’t expect a response if you make a complaint about anything. We were ignored! They did not care at all that we had a poor experience. We got the impression that somehow it was our fault that their wait staff were rude.

They were good a few years ago but have very much let their early success go to their heads. They need to pick up their act in a big way. What a shame that the lovely setting and their reputation is so terribly let down by their arrogance. Throw your money in the street and keep walking you would have a better time.
Too many problems to list and why would we bother. They didn’t. $250-00 for a mediocre lunch, what a joke!

Jul 12, 2011 

8 Recommended

Food  7      Ambience  10      Service  8      Value  7     

This is a beautiful place in which to have lunch and we enjoyed the experience greatly. The prawn entree was a lovely combination of flavours and the fish, chicken and pork belly mains were delicious although the portions were quite small and vegetables cost extra. The only complaint within our group was dabout the wagyu beef main which was a bit tough. The mains are quite expensive but in such a delightful setting you can wear this. A pot of tea arrived as boiling water only but this was rectified after it was drawn to the attention of the waiter.

Jun 09, 2011 

8 Recommended

Food  8      Ambience  9      Service  9      Value  6     

We enjoyed lunch at the Spirit House on a recent stay on the Sunshine Coast. I had received recommendations and read the reviews so decided to book the restaurant for my husband's birthday lunch. The restaurant is easy to find and such a surprise amongst the surrounding flat farm type land. The gardens and surrounds transport you to Asia and the setting of the restaurant is just lovely surrounding the giant pond.

The majority of the seating is outdoors with one main pavilion. I imagine in summer there could be an issue with mosquitoes, but on the day we were there it was quite cool and they had coils burning everywhere. We were shown to a lovely waterside corner table outside and our waitress was extremely friendly and went into great detail to explain the menu to us.

The food is very different to the usual Thai fare that you would find at 'normal' Thai restaurants. The food came out promptly as well. The highlight for us were a couple of the so called small hordouvres, which we could have made a whole meal of if we had ordered more. We skipped entrees and had 2 mains which weren't quite as flavourful as we had hoped, but then the dessert tasting plate made up for them with their very interesting combination of flavours.

The main restaurant had emptied out by the time it came for our dessert and we asked if we could move inside as it was getting a little chilly outside once the sun had moved away. This was no trouble at all and much appreciated. Because we said we hadn't enjoyed the main meals as much as the appetisers we were offered free tea/coffee which was also appreciated. I am not saying there was anything wrong with the meals, they just weren't to our taste as much but we were the ones who chose them!

All in all a lovely experience and I would certainly recommend the Spirit House to anybody heading to the Sunshine Coast.

May 25, 2011 

9 Highly Recommended

Food  9      Ambience  9      Service  9      Value  9     

Lunch at Spirit House was a wonderful experience. I find the food here amazing. Spirit House is not your local Thai restaurant, with simple (and often delicious) sauces and ingredients. Instead, the recipes are clearly complex, with an amazing blend of flavors that appear on the tongue in wonderful succession. In other words, a foodie's delight.

When next on the Sunshine Coast, I'll be sure to take one of their cooking classes to gain some of the secrets of this sophisticated cuisine.

Jan 20, 2011 

2 Not Recommended

Food  3      Ambience  3      Service  1      Value  1     

This is one of the worst restaurants I've ever been to. The food was average, the smoked salmon and BBQ prawns were ok, but the Coconuct chicken was just like boiled chicken, plain and boring, and pickled mushrooms were terribly sweet, we couldn't eat them. But the worst thing was the service. The waitress practically threw my knife and fork at me, she missed my chest by about 2 inches, I think.

And all this was especially upsetting because the couple sitting next to us received a lot of attention, just because they were nicely dressed. It was unbelievable, the way they treated us so differently! I've never experienced anything of the kind, anywhere. And we had to pay 120 dollars for all the 'pleasure' they had given us!

Response from Management:
And what happened when you told the manager about this? The first we hear of this is your post on eatability. The 'boiled chicken' is "poached in coconut milk" and is supposed to be a bit plain because not everyone wants a spicy or intense dish. If we found a waitress had thrown a knife and fork on the table then we would fire them - I wonder what her side of the story is? Feel free to contact us so we can get to the bottom of this story.

May 02, 2009 

7.8 Recommended

Food  7      Ambience  10      Service  9      Value  5     

In a nutshell, Spirit House provides an eating experience that transcends most other venues on the Sunshine Coast. There are some caveats, however, and in particular the value makes this a one-off experience.

The setting is sublime, at night the Survivor-esque entranceway and garden is dramatic, the setting is tropical and tranquil, topped off by the serene pool. Though personally I was only captivated by my exquisite girlfriend, the ambience can't be flawed, full marks. Do take the Aerogard at night though.

The service was also exceptional, in booking for dinner I was given plenty of information about the seating, availability and so forth, which was impressive. Upon arrival, we thought our waitress for the evening was a bit haughty, but then we realised it was just her usual tone and when we went with it she proved to be courteous and professional, and met our various requests with aplomb. There was little delay between courses, and nothing was too much trouble for our waitress or the kitchen. Again, very impressive.

There are some real high points to the food - the scallops served on the pork belly are plump and fresh, the duck and pomegranate was tasty and well thought out, and the lime and basil pannacotta dessert rounded out the meal superbly. In each dish you can see that a great deal of effort has gone into its preparation, the ingredients are fresh and the food looks appetising when plated and served.

However, it seems that the chefs may be sponsored by a sugar cane company to fuse sweetness into everything - most dishes had at least one heavily sweet component; the pork belly was slightly tough and steeped in a thick sweet sauce, the yam and ginger balls also wallowed in a similar treacle, and the sugar popped up again in the smoked chicken (even without the addition of the chilli praline) and the duck mains (which was also a little dry). It is great to find a fine dining venue where an array of flavoursome and spicy foods are available, but fighting against a tide of sweetness in the savoury courses really took the edge off the experience.

To round out my criticism, the oysters were impossible to savour in the midst of the flavour sensations of grapefruit, mango and hot and sour sauce, which was a shame as everything looked so good and was probably very fresh.

The dishes are also pretty small and though the menu is divided into hors d'oeuvres, entrees, mains and to share dishes, it's not well demarcated and as first timers, we had no way of gauging how much we were ordering. The prices also contribute to this confusion but I think as a rule, you can't really over-order if you're even a bit hungry.

A lowish value rating does not suggest that we felt ripped off by our night out, rather that the food is expensive, and for that price it would be understandable if it really was flawless. The only thing we did feel ripped off by was what must be among the most expensive boiled rice in the world - $8 for about one takeaway container's worth of plain Jasmine rice. Wish I could have given Spirit House a higher overall rating, it looked oh so good...

Response from Management:
Such a long review and very helpful to us. When we design a menu we do it democratically, the oysters were never a favourite of mine yet the chef wanted to try them - they are now off the new menu. We love reviews like yours because it helps us give our staff valuable feedback and advice. Your waitress should have helped guide you through the dishes and helped you select a balance - something they're all aware of, but your review helps drive the point home.

The sweetness factor in the food is reflected in the dishes you ordered but not all our dishes are sweet. The rice is $4 a bowl which should be enough for two - this is something we can investigate more.

Thanks so much for taking the time to put together this well constructed review - it's reviews like yours that help us to continually improve the menu, service and exerience offered by the Spirit House.

Mar 12, 2009 

9 Highly Recommended

Food  9      Ambience  9      Service  9      Value  9     

Excellent, different food. Wonderful setting (take some mossie spray!), and professional service. We have eaten here on about 10-12 occasions. Very reliable. For a special treat, enrol in one of their cooking classes.

Feb 11, 2009