19binda

9 Highly Recommended

Food  9      Drinks  10      Ambience  9      Service  9      Value  8     

Having been to a number of HRC around the world including numerous visits to HRC Prague (my favourite) all of which I have been very happy with, then reading the swag of negative feedback about HRC Darling Harbour it was with some reservation that I took my wife and daughter (a chef as am I) to HRC Darling Harbour last night. It was a wonderful night out. We were seated promptly and had our drinks order taken which then arrived in a couple of minutes, we ordered a large tasting plate as an entree and three mains that were all very different, we found the food very good well cooked and flavoursome, the staff were friendly and efficient the venue great with it's water views and views over Darling Harbour.

The cost for the evening was very reasonable for the amount of food and drink being in line or slightly lower than what I expect from "city venues" All in all a very pleasant experience and one I Will happily repeat, Thanks for a great night out and a job well done.

Dec 13, 2011

1 of 1 people found the following review helpful

3 Below Average

Food  3      Ambience  6      Service  2      Value  1     

15 of us for a business dinner at $270 plus a head meals nice but not exceptional very small portions well below expectation although edible, bizzare wine list and very expensive poor service with a lot of atittude an experience I would not repeat and certainly would recommend against a shame given that it is nice venue which is just as well given the amount of time spent waiting with empty glasses, have no idea how it got any hats certainly does not perform like a hatted establishment.

Dec 05, 2011

1.5 Not Recommended

Food  2      Ambience  2      Service  1      Value  1     

If it's Bavarian/German style food and hospitality you are after with generous servings at a reasonable price this place is a Bitter disappointment

The food is not true Bavaria/German. Prawns, calamari and schnitzel in 7 varieties are simply not available on menu's in Europe, the serving sizes are way too small most being entree sizes and charged at between $22-30. Food is tasty but not exceptional, Beer at $10.50/500 ml is expensive even if it is imported as the same beer can be had in Europe for 1/3 the price for the same size. That said the Beers are always fresh and crisp so lines and serving equipment are kept meticulously maintained and clean.

Service? is haphazard and offhanded at best far too many of the staff seem to be blow ins from O/Seas who may or may not have a working visa. This is not a problem if they can do their job in many instances this is not the case. It is unfortunate that this venue can't make the grade it is right on top of Chatswood Railway Station which for those that can walk to their local railway or get a bus does away with the dreaded drink drive issue meaning you can throw back a few without fear great concept lousy execution. Increase meal sizes decrease the beer prices (a carton of Stiegl Beer Can be purchased for less than $60.00 that's @ $7.50 a litre and that with all the extra glass and packaging).

Get some Staff who are trained and seem like the actually want to be there as opposed to earning enough to continue the next leg of their travels. Overall a Great Concept in what I think is an excellent location but it falls short through poor service and excessive profiteering overall a disappointment that I will not repeat I went back with friends after trying to talk them out of it nothing has changed except we waited much longer for even more indifferent service this time. Will not go again for any reason.

Aug 30, 2011

0 of 1 people found the following review helpful

10 Highly Recommended

Food  10      Ambience  10      Service  10      Value  10     

The whole place has been refurbished since Sunil Ranasinghe recently took it over again and it is outstanding the food is true Sri Lankan and not the McDonalds Indian we are used to, the servings generous and the prices very reasonable, he has also an extensive array of premium beers from Australia Europe and Sri Lanka.

To complement the food he also offers a great wine list with the outstanding range of Ernest Shuetz Estate wines at prices below what you pay in the bottle shops these wines especially the reds go beautifully with the all his curries and the Butter Chicken which has to be the best I've eaten anywhere in the world. Welcome back Sunil many will be glad to see you.

Aug 13, 2010

9.8 Highly Recommended

Food  10      Ambience  9      Service  10      Value  10     

Quite simply outstanding one of the best Chinese in Sydney, fast service, good food, the place is clean and the price is very reasonable can't fault it and I'm hard to please, wife loves the place.

Apr 18, 2010

9 Highly Recommended

Food  9      Drinks  10      Ambience  9      Service  9      Value  8     

Having been to a number of HRC around the world including numerous visits to HRC Prague (my favourite) all of which I have been very happy with, then reading the swag of negative feedback about HRC Darling Harbour it was with some reservation that I took my wife and daughter (a chef as am I) to HRC Darling Harbour last night. It was a wonderful night out. We were seated promptly and had our drinks order taken which then arrived in a couple of minutes, we ordered a large tasting plate as an entree and three mains that were all very different, we found the food very good well cooked and flavoursome, the staff were friendly and efficient the venue great with it's water views and views over Darling Harbour.

The cost for the evening was very reasonable for the amount of food and drink being in line or slightly lower than what I expect from "city venues" All in all a very pleasant experience and one I Will happily repeat, Thanks for a great night out and a job well done.

Dec 13, 2011

1 of 1 people found the following review helpful

3 Below Average

Food  3      Ambience  6      Service  2      Value  1     

15 of us for a business dinner at $270 plus a head meals nice but not exceptional very small portions well below expectation although edible, bizzare wine list and very expensive poor service with a lot of atittude an experience I would not repeat and certainly would recommend against a shame given that it is nice venue which is just as well given the amount of time spent waiting with empty glasses, have no idea how it got any hats certainly does not perform like a hatted establishment.

Dec 05, 2011

1.5 Not Recommended

Food  2      Ambience  2      Service  1      Value  1     

If it's Bavarian/German style food and hospitality you are after with generous servings at a reasonable price this place is a Bitter disappointment

The food is not true Bavaria/German. Prawns, calamari and schnitzel in 7 varieties are simply not available on menu's in Europe, the serving sizes are way too small most being entree sizes and charged at between $22-30. Food is tasty but not exceptional, Beer at $10.50/500 ml is expensive even if it is imported as the same beer can be had in Europe for 1/3 the price for the same size. That said the Beers are always fresh and crisp so lines and serving equipment are kept meticulously maintained and clean.

Service? is haphazard and offhanded at best far too many of the staff seem to be blow ins from O/Seas who may or may not have a working visa. This is not a problem if they can do their job in many instances this is not the case. It is unfortunate that this venue can't make the grade it is right on top of Chatswood Railway Station which for those that can walk to their local railway or get a bus does away with the dreaded drink drive issue meaning you can throw back a few without fear great concept lousy execution. Increase meal sizes decrease the beer prices (a carton of Stiegl Beer Can be purchased for less than $60.00 that's @ $7.50 a litre and that with all the extra glass and packaging).

Get some Staff who are trained and seem like the actually want to be there as opposed to earning enough to continue the next leg of their travels. Overall a Great Concept in what I think is an excellent location but it falls short through poor service and excessive profiteering overall a disappointment that I will not repeat I went back with friends after trying to talk them out of it nothing has changed except we waited much longer for even more indifferent service this time. Will not go again for any reason.

Aug 30, 2011

0 of 1 people found the following review helpful

10 Highly Recommended

Food  10      Ambience  10      Service  10      Value  10     

The whole place has been refurbished since Sunil Ranasinghe recently took it over again and it is outstanding the food is true Sri Lankan and not the McDonalds Indian we are used to, the servings generous and the prices very reasonable, he has also an extensive array of premium beers from Australia Europe and Sri Lanka.

To complement the food he also offers a great wine list with the outstanding range of Ernest Shuetz Estate wines at prices below what you pay in the bottle shops these wines especially the reds go beautifully with the all his curries and the Butter Chicken which has to be the best I've eaten anywhere in the world. Welcome back Sunil many will be glad to see you.

Aug 13, 2010

9.8 Highly Recommended

Food  10      Ambience  9      Service  10      Value  10     

Quite simply outstanding one of the best Chinese in Sydney, fast service, good food, the place is clean and the price is very reasonable can't fault it and I'm hard to please, wife loves the place.

Apr 18, 2010

1 of 1 people found the following review helpful

1.5 Not Recommended

Food  1      Ambience  3      Service  1      Value  1     

They have got to be kidding I have been to Austria frequently as I am married to an Austrian. It does not come close, you will never be served re heated food from a Baine Marie in Austria as seems the practice here the beer is sour, the service is poor and staff rude this is in no way representative of true Austrian Food Beer or service it does not even come close. We will not be back.

Apr 18, 2010

1.8 Not Recommended

Food  3      Ambience  1      Service  2      Value  1     

Food average to good not exceptional, price dear, portion sizes very small, decor good, very noisey, staff vary from not bad to upselling that hard they are offensive, wine list is, however, priced well, long waits are the order of the day both for orders and service after orders, booking is an affair that requires at least four days notice most of the time.

The food and service are simply not that good that I will book four days ahead, two other establishments may well be owned and running sucessfully, they are not at Terry Hills, patronage from the local and surrounding areas is essential to the long term future of the business, as the patronage from favourable reviews will fall away eventually and we all know that reviews are almost always good as the reviewers make themselves known to the owners and staff and receive different treatment from the masses, overall disappointing and I will not be back.

Tried it a second time and that was a mistake worse than the first and that after the hyped up reviews it has received pizza no better than most average pizza joints and worse than many I could name service still very poor staff rude portion sizes small and expensive and extremely noisey certainly won't waste my time coming back again.

Nov 14, 2009

0 of 1 people found the following review helpful

10 Highly Recommended

Food  10      Ambience  10      Service  10      Value  10     

Update: I have again visited the Kaiser Stubn 26/8/2011 and fail to understand the negative comment it was again outstanding and I stand by my earlier review. As for not catering for food allergies if you DO have them then Austrian German food is NOT a good choice a restaurant cannot be run to cater to all food allergies it is unfortunate but a fact it must cater to the main stream in order to be profitable or it goes out of Business no one asks McDonalds to cater especially for allergies so why expect it of a small business.

Old review: A traditional honest Austrian/German meal accompanied by beers wines and spirits of the regions represented as well as Aussie beers and wines, staff are efficient and helpful food is great serves are large and menu changes regularly we have eaten there for 14 years the last 5 or 6 every Sunday night and have never been disappointed and my wife is Austrian by birth.

I fail to understand the criticism of the staff for "upselling" as this is considered good service in Europe and frankly why should you have to enquire after everything that the place may offer, do not mistake efficiency for rudeness the Germanic races are generally fairly matter of fact and efficient I will continue to patronise and have taken many parties for both business and pleasure some as large as twenty persons and never heard a bad word in fact almost always the praise is plentiful.

Sep 27, 2009

9 Highly Recommended

Food  9      Ambience  9      Service  9      Value  9     

Franco, slightly mad but that's Italians Carparcio is the best out side Europe Pizza's are also excellent, wife and have eaten our way through the menu together and with friends. Eat there at least once a week, outstanding.

Sep 24, 2006

1 Not Recommended

Food  1      Ambience  1      Service  1      Value  1     

Without doubt the worst restaraunt experience I've ever had. The $38.00 fixed menu served a very limited number of nibbly dishes and then what I thought were entrees arrived and when the table was being cleared I asked when the mains were arriving to be told that we had had them. My mistake I thought they were entrees and small at that so at my insistance there was more food begrudgingly supplied food is very average and not all that palatable and this was the consensus of a number of us who all travel regularly overseas. Service was average and for the price there are at least 20 places on the North Shore of all types that can give you a far better dining experience.

Sep 03, 2006