Harbour View Restaurant

9 Highly Recommended

Food  9      Ambience  9      Service  9      Value  9     

Visited the HVH restaurant for the office Christmas Party for a group of 24 yesterday for lunch (I was the organiser). From the outside, HVH looks like any other pub in the Rocks, but as you walk up the stairs to the 2nd floor where the restaurant is located, you start noticing that actually it's quite classy for a pub.

The area for our group (3 tables of 8) was nicely set up in a corner of the restaurant so it felt like you had your own area/private dining room. All the team were pleasantly surprised by how nice the pub/restuarant was and how it all had been laid out. The service by Rob (I think he's the restaurant manager) was superb and he talked me through the plan for the event prior to the other guests arriving.

Everyone was impressed by the quality of the food, we had a 3 course set menu with choice for $63pp. They also had plenty of gluten free options. For entree I had the vegetables with goats curd (tasty) and for main I had the chicken.

The dessert was absolutely divine! I had the chocolate tort which was wonderful, chocolately and rich (and amazingly gluten free). The food was all nicely presented and we had side salads to accompany the mains and nice bread to start.

The food came out very quickly, which can be a concern with large groups. The wine list is also extensive, we went for some middle of the road choices which were great. The Vinecious shiraz was particularly enjoyed by many. We left the restaurant at 4pm and headed over to the bar next door for drinks until late. Great service, great food, great location. I recommend this to everyone who hasn't already booked in their Christmas Party!

Nov 26, 2011 

7.3 Recommended

Food  7      Ambience  8      Service  7      Value  7     

Unremarkable food in a lovely setting.

Aug 10, 2010 

4.3 Below Average

Food  4      Ambience  5      Service  5      Value  3     

One time we went to the restaurant and everything was great: the food superb, the service friendly and casual but attentive, and meals arrived in good time. It was priced as a fine dining restaurant but ok as it lived up to this standard. The second visit, some dishes were unavailable, and while some meals were served quickly, not all of our table received their meals until much later. Unacceptable to serve part of a table for dinner in such circumstances.

The second visit, which came about as we had recommended the restaurant to a large group of friends, might be our last for some time, which is sad as this is our local. The steaks were very good, but most other dishes disappointed us and our guests. (Note: different and lower quality steak is served downstairs).

Jun 11, 2010 

1.3 Not Recommended

Food  1      Ambience  2      Service  1      Value  1     

Conversation with barman cleaning up table "Yes we have had lots of complaints about this chef..."

Sunday is Bloody Mary day at the Harbour View. Converstation continues "yeh we have this problem all the time the bar staff upstairs cannot make them." Then he walked off ignoring any request to come back.

We ordered the fish and chips which were not cooked properly (seriously). The first bloody mary was great the next two were made by someone who thinks a blood mary is the result of a fight not a drink. We wanted pizzas but they had "run out of ingredients".

You would have thought that the management of this pub would have got their only noticeable promotion correct - train your staff. Who did you have running your pub - the same people that were cooking and serving drinks? It is not surprising that this pub was almost empty. Follow the crowds.

Sep 28, 2009 

4 Below Average

Food  3      Ambience  5      Service  5      Value  3     

It was a nice sunny Friday day so my friend and I thought what a great idea to wander up to this old pub for lunch and a few beers. How wrong we were. When we walked in at 12.30 pm the place was relatively empty which already wasn’t a good sign. The barman was expressionless so really sold the place well.

The steak sandwiches were no bigger than the size of my wrist and looked like something made at a primary school fete. The tap beers were also overpriced at $6.50 for a Coopers Ale, which wasn’t even a schooner. The ambience, mmmm. Watching the bridge climbers or should I say chain gang stroll across the bridge was a marvel.

If you’re walking by and need the time then by all means enter. For anything else, avoid.

Aug 21, 2009 

7.3 Recommended

Food  7      Ambience  7      Service  7      Value  8     

I enjoyed my meal here. The little Beef Consomme to start is a nice (and unexpected) appetizer. My Deep Fried Zuchinni Flowers were a bit of a disappointment and lacked any real flavor but I tasted my partners Oysters and they were excellent. Main course steak was cooked as I asked and was a very good piece of meat. Generally would recommend this place.

Jan 16, 2009 

3.3 Below Average

Food  6      Ambience  3      Service  2      Value  2     

Definitely not what is used to be. Staff are rude and unhelpful and the 'pub' style atmosphere has gone to the more welcoming pubs down the road. I used to love coming here on a Sunday for a Bloody Mary and a breakfast but the value has just decreased each year. Wouldn't recommend.

Oct 24, 2008 

8.5 Highly Recommended

Food  9      Ambience  8      Service  9      Value  8     

A nice little find that wasn't as touristy as the rest of the area. The service was genuine, the food was surprisingly nice and the beef consumme in the little china cups was a lovely touch. We'll be back.

Mar 17, 2008 

8.3 Highly Recommended

Food  8      Ambience  8      Service  9      Value  8     

This was our second visit and we will definitely go back again. Even though we had booked our table wasn't ready when we first arrived. They were solidly booked this night. They couldn't apologise enough and we were offered a free drink each on the balcony whilst we waited. Once seated we enjoyed a very tasty meal brought to us by a very friendly waitress who couldn't do enough for us.

Oct 08, 2007 

8 Recommended

Food  8      Ambience  8      Service  8      Value  8     

Ate here Sat evening 7th July 2007 - Overall: quite good.

The hotel layout and various rooms have a lot of charm, and have mostly been done up well, offering a range of modern and rustic decor features - it was interesting wandering around prior to actually eating etc.

In the restaurant the little cups & saucers, different at each table setting, for some kind of complimentary savoury drink (I forget what it was called) was really a nice surprise, a great idea, and tasted good. The furniture, table cutlery etc. seemed good, as was the decor in the restaurant including at least 1 fireplace (I do not know if it actually works, but it looked good), and the table for 2 by a window with a great view of the harbour bridge was very nice.

The service was good, the staff were happy to assist us with anything we needed, especially considering we had our 16-months old boy, his stroller and other various baby things with us. Even the bouncers outside as soon as we approached the place were very friendly and offered assistance.

The food seemed quite tasty and well-proportioned - not a huge amount of food (which I always like), but enough. I recall enjoying everything that I tried, foodwise. The drinks seemed a tad expensive, but OK. The upstairs bar with balcony with those outdoor heat lamp things was great. I would recommend this, and plan to eat here again in future.

Sep 02, 2007