Nick's Seafood

4.8 Average

Food  3      Ambience  7      Service  7      Value  2     

Lives on the glories of the past! Too expensive and this is typical of this group which has a number of seafood establishments in Sydney. Am prepared to pay the published price as you can see this before entering but expect value for those big price tags, not just the view! How come we have to sit on top of each other and listen to the other people's conversations at nearby tables? Need to improve food quality at these prices and scale down the rip off wine list.

May 25, 2012 

7 Recommended

Food  7      Ambience  7      Service  7      Value  7     

Went to Nick's restaurant with some apprehension, given some recent reviews here. Took note of the general theme, and avoided the seafood platter (although the platters we saw looked reasonably plentiful).

Two of us had entrees, mains and 2 drinks each for $140, which given the location seemed reasonable value. My partner had the seafood chowder for entree - his advice "make sure you are hungry if you order that for entree", he wasn't able to finish his main. Service was prompt and efficient.

May 05, 2012 

1.8 Not Recommended

Food  1      Ambience  3      Service  2      Value  1     

Had the seafood platter and it was the most disappointing platter we have ever eaten. I have never tasted lobster that was so tasteless. 2 oysters each, no mornay/kilpatrick, half an avocado for 2 people to share, 2 or 3 mussels each doused in a type of sweet chilli sauce, 1 and 1 mean 1 fresh prawn each(!) a small blue swimmer and the rest was all fried. This was accompanied by a couple of wedges of lemon and oh sorry! I forgot the two wedges of rockmelon, was that a garnish or was that a mistake?

Everything looked like it had been just dumped together. What a waste of money and the 40 minute trip each way. Maybe they are just getting too big and don't really care anymore about the quality? There was a time when you could be guaranteed of a good meal at Nicks. Nót any more. We certainly won't be going back there again or recommending the place to anyone.

Apr 16, 2012 

2.5 Not Recommended

Food  1      Ambience  4      Service  4      Value  1     

The only reason we ate here was to use a gift voucher we had received due to a previous complaint made when dining at Nicks Bar and Grill in October 2011. We ordered the sea food platter for two at $160. The cooked seafood was luke warm and if we had been paying for this meal we would have sent it back. The lobster was large but slightly rubbery and tasteless. There was not enough chips for two people. The only tasty part of the platter was the marinated mussels.

We will never again eat at any of your restaurants and will advise any of our friends to do the same. I would rather enjoy a meal at other hatted, well recommended restaurant such as Café Sydney, Altitude, Assiette or even Catalina as their main meals are around the same price you expect people to pay for the seafood platter!

At least at these restaurants you are guarantee to get an outstanding meal, service and atmosphere which we can attest to as we have previously dined at all restaurants. I believe you rely solely on one off tourist customers who don’t know any better and are likely not to return. You will need to lift your game if you hope to keep local customers coming back as we never will return.

Apr 10, 2012 

3.8 Below Average

Food  5      Ambience  6      Service  3      Value  1     

I visited this restaurant recently based on its apparent 'reputation' but was thoroughly disappointed. We ordered a crab ravioli as entree and it came with only 4 raviolis which was quite ridiculous given that we paid $21.50 for it. We also had chargrilled king prawns for mains.

The serving was slightly more generous than the ravioli, it had about 8 king prawns for a hefty $39.50. The worst part was the service. We did not feel particularly welcomed. The worst part was asking for the bill. They did not return our credit card until we asked them to check on our bill. When they finally returned the card, it had been at least 15 minutes since we paid. Despite the waterfront views, I think this was the first and last time I'd dine at this restaurant.

Apr 06, 2012 

1.5 Not Recommended

Food  2      Ambience  1      Service  2      Value  1     

Unfortunately, the food no longer aligns with the reputation built over the years at Nick’s Seafood Restaurant at Cockle Bay.

Read more on my blog

Feb 16, 2012 

4.3 Below Average

Food  5      Ambience  5      Service  5      Value  2     

We dined there last night (Saturday the 11th), the food was "just average" and for what you paid $48 for a very small piece of steak and 2 prawns is a joke. The soft shell crab salad with cherry tomatoes at $19 was Ok but there was only half a cherry tomato! Service was reasonable. Probably wouldn't eat here again though.

Feb 12, 2012 

3.8 Below Average

Food  4      Ambience  6      Service  4      Value  1     

Nick's is a typical "Sydney by the water" restaurant. Often crowded which gives it a good buzzy atmosphere and a lovely view of Darling Harbour and surrounds. But the food was disappointing and rather average but not average in price, quite expensive.

Two of us had the Seafood Platter with the lobster for $160, without lobster it is $145 with additional prawns, calamari etc. On the platter was a small lobster (lacking in taste, maybe farmed variety), a smallish crab with very little meat, 4 oysters natural, 4 mussels with a dressing, only one 1/2 of an advocado with 2 small calamari rings with the same dressing as the mussels, some small pieces of fried fish & chips and a couple of fried prawns all served with one small dish with cocktail sauce and tartare sauce dolloped together and 3 wedges of pippy lemons.

It all seemed to be thrown together on the platter. No bowls to dip your fingers after peeling prawns and cracking crab shells. One of our group had blue eyed cod fillet which came with chips which were served in a bowl which had 2 chunks chipped out of the rim of the bowl. Salad to accompany any of these seafood dishes was an extra.

Wine is also not cheap. The cheapest wine is the house wine, the next cheapest was $51 a bottle. The service is passable. The waiter takes your order, delivers your drinks to you table and pours your first glass of wine, delivers your food to your table and then you don't see him again until he takes away your plates and asks if you want dessert.

I feel this is one of these restaurants that rests on it's laurels. A bit of extra effort in all respects could have made this a meal to remember. The food and presentation and the service could be improved but they obviously feel they don't need to bother because people will always turn up because of it's position. We all just won't bother to return there.

I compare this experience to Cafe Le Monde in Noosa. Whenever holidaying in Noosa I always go there and their $90 Seafood Platter and the restaurant experience is always very memorable, but because I have not been there for about 2 years I am not able to give an up to date review but I know whenever I return to Noosa for holidays I will always go to this restaurant.

Feb 03, 2012 

7.5 Recommended

Food  7      Ambience  8      Service  8      Value  7     

We regularly go to Nicks mainly for consistency. We know we will get a nice meal - not amazing, but we haven't been disappointed either. The location of course is a big drawcard. Ambience can be quite different depending on where you are seated. On the times that we have been seated near the water, the atmosphere is fantastic. When seated 4 or 5 tables back, there is a lot more people passing by you and it is not as relaxed, probably due to the size of this place.

The pie is always nice but I can help but think its a lesser effort than Glebe's Boathouse Restaurant's legendary snapper pie.

Jan 22, 2012 

4 Below Average

Food  3      Ambience  7      Service  4      Value  2     

Summary: Below Average value, bad bad service. Nick's Seafood is an example of first impression matters. And they failed spectacularly.

Arriving on a Saturday afternoon for lunch, I was joining a party of 10 for lunch. I was greeted by someone with a face longer than Phar Lap. Smiles please, the last time I checked, I don't smell and was dressed impeccably.

I was then pointed to the table in a manner that would have made the Soup Nazi (apologies Seinfeld) proud. Next comes the waiter, hey, when I ask to look for the specials of the day (and I can see there are boards around, please move once across to my line of sight, rather than make me strain my next 180 degrees to read it).

Entree: Garlic and herb bread, more butter than herb or garlic. Oysters - mornay and kilpatrick. Ordering the seafood platter ($80) for mains which is supposed to be for 2 there was: 1 small sized WA lobster, A bowlful of chips, 1 crab, 6 oysters, a few mussels, 1 avocado with squid, 6 Prawns fried, 6 Fish piece fried. This dish just does not justify the price tag.

For dessert I ordered tea (which came in a bag and is not loose leafed with no brown sugar) and sticky date pudding, which failed to pass muster. I suspect for dessert, Nick's Seafood may be trying to get customers to go to Lindt nearby, or the casino which has been recently refurbished.

All in all - Fail.

Jan 08, 2012