At Fernandos

9.5 Highly Recommended

Food  9      Ambience  10      Service  10      Value  9     

I went here on saturday night with my wife and a few friends. The food and service was amazing. You have to try the frutti di mare. Thank you guys for a wonderful night, we will be back soon.

Apr 16, 2012 

2.8 Not Recommended

Food  2      Ambience  4      Service  3      Value  2     

I talked my friends into going there as I had two positive experiences in the past. Unfortunately, this time around, everything from the service to the food was pretty bad. The chicken schnitzel didn't come with any side dish, not even salad, so my friend had to order chips to go with it. When it came out it was tiny, and the chips were stale and skinny (I think they were frozen chips from the shops.) - for more than $20, that's not cool.

My veal pasta was runny, and the meat was tough. My other friend's risotto had been made with Long Grain rice! It's a shame that a supposed Italian restaurant on Norton Street serves risotto made with long grain rice. May pop in again in a long while, but will stay away for now.

Apr 10, 2012 

1.8 Not Recommended

Food  2      Ambience  2      Service  1      Value  2     

I can't believe this restaurant could be so bad. We dropped in for a quick lunch before going to the movies. I had a chicken toasted sandwich, the cook must have stood back a long way to throw on the chicken. My friend ordered the trio of dips that tasted as if they had come from Coles served with toast. Her rocket salad was...well, there's not much you can do to a rocket salad.

I ordered a glass of pinot gris but as there wasn't any, the waiter brought me a little bottle of sparkling pinot gris/ chardonnay! No, not the same. My friend asked for a bottle of still mineral water but received sparkling. When she complained, the waiter said, "What've I done wrong now?" and then, "You said Sparkling!"

When the bill arrived, I had been charged $19.90 for the sandwich instead of $11.90 as stated in the menu. By the time this was sorted, we were almost late for the movies. Did I mention the noise from the kitchen and the loud rock/rap music? Now we've got Fernandos out of the way, we'll never have to wonder "I wonder what it's like?" because we won't be going back.

Mar 27, 2012 

9.3 Highly Recommended

Food  10      Ambience  9      Service  9      Value  9     

I definitely would recommend At Fernando's to everyone. Amazing food, friendly staff and a warm welcoming atmosphere. We dined on a Saturday night, the restaurant had a full house and the service ran smoothly and we didn't even have to wait long for food.

At Fernando's is my new favourite place to dine out and I look forward to trying something else on their menu next time! Definitely both thumbs up from us!

Feb 07, 2012 

6 Average

Food  8      Ambience  7      Service  2      Value  7     

This wasn’t so much an evening out as an endurance test.

It was a busy Saturday night, granted and the place is big, but given the number of staff running around I would have thought that things would have gone a bit better than they did. I’ve eaten at other restaurants that have been equally busy with half the staff complement and still not waited that long for service.

It reminded me of that classic “Fawlty Towers” episode, “Gourmet Night” when guests are left waiting hours for a meal that never arrives while the evening drags on with deadly monotony and boredom.

I knew that we were in trouble soon after we arrived. The place was humming and very noisy and lots of waiters and waitresses running around (some just standing around) but not much seemed to be happening in the way of food delivery or service.

So we sat down and waited. And waited. And waited.

Eventually after about 15 minutes a rather flustered waiter took our drinks order. Another long wait followed, until the food orders were taken. The starters and salads came out relatively quickly, then the chips that were supposed to accompany the mains and then… nothing for at least 50 minutes. I noticed that other diners who had arrived after us already had finished their meals while we were still waiting for ours.

I’m not in the habit of complaining but this time I did. That seemed to have the desired result and the meals eventually arrived, which I guess puts this place just one notch above Fawlty Towers.

And no sooner had we finished our food than plates were whisked away in double quick time. And that’s something else I hate. You wait for hours to get served but you’ve hardly finished the last morsel when your plate’s gone.

Despite the fact that we booked well in advance they still managed to get us a lousy table near the door that kept opening and closing and putting one of our guests in a constant draft.

Even though the food was excellent and the prices with our $35 Ent Bk voucher were reasonable (we paid a touch over $200 for six people, but brought our own wine) sorry guys but you won’t be seeing us again in a hurry.

Because of the long wait we ended up paying $15 for parking in the nearby Norton Plaza, had we stayed the planned two hours we would have paid nothing.

Dec 04, 2011 

6 Average

Food  8      Ambience  7      Service  4      Value  5     

I have been to this place a few times in the last year and always had a good experience. Last Saturday night, however, was not so good. We waited over an 1.25 hrs for something to eat. Plenty of wait staff around but the kitchen seemed to be overwhelmed. When the food started coming out it was sporadic, so we all weren't able to eat at the same time. Not good enough (the restaurant wasn't even full).

The staff could see we were agitated (and we asked twice where our food was) yet they weren't proactive about it (i.e. assure people it won't be long, offer some extra bread or free olives). It was very difficult to get their attention and they didn't apologise once.

The food was lovely when it eventually came out, but we were over hungry and a bit annoyed at this point, so probably a case of too little too late. Won't be rushing back I'm afraid.

Nov 30, 2011 

8.8 Highly Recommended

Food  8      Ambience  9      Service  9      Value  9     

This place for us has always been consistent. The new location is also a great improvement on the previous place. The staff are friendly and overall we think it's great value for money, give it a go guys...

Oct 13, 2011 

9.5 Highly Recommended

Food  10      Ambience  10      Service  9      Value  9     

I visited At Fernandos for the first time and have to agree that this place is magic! My partner had the penne gamberi and almost creamed herself. I had the eye fillet with dijon sauce. Let me say, I am a steak critic and it was up there with the best. Recommended and sure to revisit.

Oct 07, 2011 

9.5 Highly Recommended

Food  10      Ambience  9      Service  9      Value  10     

Wow, I completely agree with the majority of reviews I see here on this restaurant. The food is amazing and the portions are very healthy. I enjoyed the Frutti Di Mare, which translates to a massive bowl filled with fresh seafood in an Italian red sauce. I was stunned a complete Crab, amongst mussels, prawns, scallops, pipis and other fresh seafood. My partner had the Penne with crab meat and prawns and we shared garlic bread, which comes with a bowl of freshly diced tomatoes (so you can create your own bruschetta). Nice touch.

The decor is light colours with sandstone features and a fireplace, very Italian experience. I will definitely be going revisiting this restaurant again and bringing friends. Thanks Fernandos!

Oct 04, 2011 

1.5 Not Recommended

Food  1      Ambience  1      Service  3      Value  1     

Absolutely disgusting and well overpriced. We had the antipasto. It was a few slices of tasteless salami, olives and otherwise a plate a cheap cheese. We ordered crusty bread at $5 to go with the meal. We were served stale, plain bread. The olive oil was cooking, not dipping quality. The vinegar and oil came in bottles with nothing supplied to pour it into and dip the bread in.

The steak was actually Ok, but at $30 a meal, we revived a small piece of meat served with 3 raw slices of tomato and nothing else on the plate. There was a plate of boiled carrot, broccoli and potato, again tasteless with no salt on the table to try and bring some taste to the dish. The table was sticky and the menu had food stains all over it.

I was initially sat next to a large pot of dirt with a dying palm try in it and asked to move. The balsamic oil bottle was filthy with debris crusted on the outside. Such a let down. When you can eat at a hatted restaurant just around the corner for only $10 extra a main. Be warned.

Oct 03, 2011