Dining Room, The

3.3 Below Average

Food  4      Ambience  5      Service  1      Value  3     

Our "regular" pre-theatre diner was booked out and we were tempted by The Dining Room offer of valet car parking and the welcome glass of bubbly. The website advertised "The Chef's guarantee to meet the start of the performance" if orders are taken by 6.15 pm, but there's the rub:

We arrived in time, got our car sorted out very efficiently, went into the dining room at six and waited: At last a waiter arrived "I'll be with you in a moment" and proceeded to torture the touch screen PC. We told him we were going to the opera, he nodded, showed us to our table, gave us a beverage menu (for cocktails and beer), commented "someone is just using the dinner menu" and disappeared.

Hellooo? One dinner menu in a restaurant seating at least 50 people? At last the waiter re-appeared at our table with a menu, but did not pause to explain anything. We could sometimes see him and his colleagues in the background, because there were only 14 (I counted) other diners in the restaurant. When he came back to our table to take our order, he was surprised that we also wanted to see the wine list: we wanted wine in a bottle? Unheard of! Needless to say, the 6:15 deadline had expired with all that delay. Nevertheless, we again mentioned that we had a performance to attend.

We were waiting (the operative word for that dinner) for our dinner and were feeling peckish so we requested bread. Was sour-dough ok? we were asked. What arrived 10 minutes later was not sour-dough bread, but a large sliced supermarket damper roll, still slightly frozen in the centre. To their credit I must say that when we complained, the roll was deleted from the bill.

At that stage we were still waiting for our dinner, which finally arrived at 20 to seven. Very unimpressive. The duck salad looked like a traffic accident, but my husband said it tasted "ok", my spatchcock was overly salty. I had ordered a side dish of potatoes, because the waiter had not advised us that potatoes were served with the meal. Had I known, I would have asked for green vegetables, which were not on the plate.

We had to ask for the bill because time was running out and the waiter suggested we have coffee in The Bar after the performance. Fine, we said, we'll do that. It would have been fine if The Dining Room would have advised The Bar accordingly. It was highly annoying, especially as the waitress, who knew nothing, treated us as if we were trying to score a freebie.

The dining ratio was 16 diners (including us) to 3 wait staff. Things should have run like clockwork, but the whole experience was highly stressful due do the time pressure. The Sir Stamford is a 5-star hotel, but its so called fine dining restaurant leaves Faulty Towers for dead. Even the very efficient concierge and valet service at the end of the evening did not make up for it.

Aug 05, 2010 

9.5 Highly Recommended

Food  9      Ambience  10      Service  10      Value  9     

We booked for 60 people for a christmas in july celebration, we had a wonderful time, the athmosphere is excellent perfect we are allowed to decorate christmas decoration, the food was perfect, the service was excellent we are having this celebration yearly in july at stamford everything is perfect! perfect! we are still talking about the event for weeks.

Jul 23, 2010 

4.3 Below Average

Food  5      Ambience  6      Service  3      Value  3     

Went here yesterday for a buffet luncheon after a nearby function. There were more than 40 diners in our party (which was prebooked). I found the range of food to be very poor.

The seafood consisted of salmon (smoked and cooked) and prawns. The two meat dishes were pork and turkey. The vegetables has been either boiled or steamed to within a mm of their life. There was a dish of potato and a few plates of cold salads. I leisurely ate some cold food (6 prawns and smoked salmon) and then when I attempted to get hot food (ie baked salmon) I found that it was all gone. When I approached the (?) maitre d', I was told that the bain marie had been refilled already and it was now all gone.

After basically pleading, the fellow (somewhat reluctantly) told me he would see if he could find some more in the kitchen. It eventually was prepared and I happened across it when I saw someone else with a slice on their plate. Seeing as I was about 2 metres away from the buffet table, I thought it would have been polite to be told it was ready.

I had my back to the buffet and could not otherwise see it. Not all staff were unpleasant, there was a young fair haired female waitress who was very courteous, my request for sour cream to accompany the smoked salmon was handled very efficiently.

The dessert consisted of Christmas pudding and a rather dry mudcake, and an assortment of fresh fruit slices, the honey dew was almost tooth breaking! I almost forgot to mention the bread rolls, mine was so hard, I felt it was in danger of breaking the nearby marble floor had it been dropped.

Having been here for a similar luncheon on many other occasions in previous years I was very disappointed. Personally, I think they are still clearly feeling the effects of the GFC and penny pinching. Save your money and go elsewhere.

Dec 12, 2009 

7 Recommended

Food  5      Ambience  9      Service  8      Value  6     

Nice old world charm, a little small and run down and the covered basketfast table doesn't help. Service are good, up to hotel standard but not excellent. Food - Up to standard materials but sub standard cooking skill, poor wine list, and don't even supply proper wine glass. Value - Its all relative, for the price it offer better value than some so call high end cafe in the western suburbs, but there are better choices in the city.

Sep 02, 2009 

10 Highly Recommended

Food  10      Ambience  10      Service  10      Value  10     

I ate at this quaint restaurant last week with my partner and I must say it was one of the finest restaurants we have ever dined at. The service was seamless and the food was way above expectation. We especially enjoyed the squid ink ravioli and the cream brulee was nothing like it read. Breathtaking. A special mention to the Chef, we appreciated the complimentary amuse (what a fine touch). All in all we will be returning and spreading the news to all of our friends and family. Thank you

Mar 05, 2009 

2.3 Not Recommended

Food  4      Ambience  3      Service  1      Value  1     

What a disaster! We booked here last saturday for 7.30pm. We had a lovely drink in the bar first and then we went to our table, no atmosphere in the restaurant at all and it was very chilly compared to the bar. There were four of us in the group, two ordered entrees, after waiting for 45 mins we still didn't have our entrees, they were then delivered to the wrong table.

Easy mistake, yes, but the table that received our entrees ate them! When I asked the waiter what was happening, he lied to me and told me that our entrees would be with us straight away, after another 20 minutes our entrees were still not with us! Eventually we got them and they were very nice, however not worth the wait so then we waited for our meals, and waited and waited! Eventually they came and were they worth the wait? No they were cold! And on top of that I had prawns with pasta, my pasta was so cold it had turned to glue!

The chef was polite enough to come out to our table as he knew there was a problem, and I do appreciate the fact that he did come out even though we hadn't asked to see him, he then told me that they pre cook their pasta in the afternoon, very strange!

Another strange part of the evening, when we were placing our order I asked about the john dory that I had heard the waiter offer to a table behind us, to which the waiter told me, they had originally run out of trout and therefore had to offer the john dory, but had now run out of john dory, so they were now going to use the trout that they had received for next week?? Confused? we were too!

When we did place our order we asked which he would recommend between the trout or the duck, his answer - I'd have the sword fish. Great answer had there been sword fish on the menu!!! Very very strange night, I was expeccting Basil faulty to appear and that would of explained things!!!

Oct 26, 2008 

6.5 Recommended

Food  7      Ambience  6      Service  7      Value  6     

A friend of mine, who regularly stay at the stampford when on buisness trip in Sydney, invited me for dinner at the dining room (their signature restaurant).
We had a drink at the bar first, then slowly made our way to the restaurant.
I noticed the contrast between the menu and the wine list, the wine list is short and not interesting so we picked the most expensive bottle just to make sure!).

Food wise the lamb tongue is the winner of the night, the scallops with goat cheese meringue sounded better on the menu, than they tasted on my palate but wasn't that bad overall. For the mains, the spatchcock was juicy and perfectly cooked (I love spatchcock), and the pasta with king prawns was tasty and al dente.
for desserts, the classical tiramisu was twisted the right way, but unfortunatly no ice cream selection was on offer.

We finished the dinner with cognac at the bar again!, where we've been told of the recent changes at the restaurant. Yes I will not hesitate to try again, but will give some time till everything tunes up. This is a new contender in the city.
Well done and good luck.

Nov 11, 2007 

3.5 Below Average

Food  5      Ambience  7      Service  1      Value  1     

We booked at the Stamford for a pre-theatre dinner and were told that the last orders were at 6.30 pm so please be there in good time. We duly arrived at 6.15, were shown to a table and asked what we would like to drink. 20 minutes later, having asked three times for some attention, we still had no drinks and no-one had taken our order. At a nearby table a man had ordered a bottle of red wine but the incorrect bottle was delivered.

The staff seemed to lack even the most rudimentary skills and clearly lacked basic training in how to run a restaurant. When this hotel was part of the Ritz-Carlton group, we used to dine here frequently and the service was pretty good. We decided to get up and leave. The one bright spark was the young chap who looked after valet parking. He was very much on the ball and was both embarrassed and apologetic to see us leaving 25 minutes after we had arrived. Maybe he should be running the restaurant.

Sep 30, 2007 

2.5 Not Recommended

Food  1      Ambience  4      Service  4      Value  1     

I had been wanting to go to this restaurant for quite some time and was utterly disappointed. All the dishes were over cooked, cold and lacking flavour. The main ingredient for our entree was missing. Considering there were only 2 other people in the restaurant I don't know how it could have come out so bad. The end result was a huge bill and 2 very unhappy customers. I have contacted the Stamford regarding that evening and got no response. Poor.

Apr 27, 2007 

10 Highly Recommended

Food  10      Ambience  10      Service  10      Value  10     

Excellent restaurant with the most amazing location, only 5 mins from the Opera House. The menu selection is superb. All 3 courses are absolutely fabulous. The service is excellent, efficient, attentive and not intrusive. Great Pre Opera deal for the Opera lovers.

Nov 09, 2006