DinnerGuest07

2 of 2 people found the following review helpful

2 Not Recommended

Food  5      Ambience  1      Service  1      Value  1     

Well I can't comment on the food because we walked out without ordering due to the shockingly rude and inefficient service we received on arrival. 3 hats is a laughable rating, it just goes to show that the old fashioned and certainly out of date "you're lucky to eat at my restaurant" attitude is alive and thriving at this establishment. We secured our booking many times and confirmed and re-confirmed that we would have a baby in a stroller sleeping while we dined, yet on arrival we were given a blank stare and told that they had no 'stroller policy' upstairs.

No apology, no offer of any solution to this seemingly one sided mess up! On booking at no point did we ever request a table upstairs, and found it very odd that with all the confirming and re-confirming how this was now our problem at 9 pm on a Saturday night! We practically had to force the female with a toff accent to find a solution which ended up consisting of us being seated under bright lights right near the toilets where the waitstaff stomped past rattling the stroller every ten seconds.

Aside from that, we had an extremely rude waiter turn up and shove menus in our faces, perhaps, he copped the slack from the botched booking? So in summary, we booked a table, did all we could to clarify the seating conditions so if it were not appropriate to dine with a stroller then we would make alternative arrangements, we then called to inform as we were running a little late, we parked, transported a sleeping baby inside only to be told that you can't dine upstairs with a stroller at all, but you also can't dine downstairs with a stroller at a table of 4, only tables of 2 are allowed to dine with a stroller.

Hmmmm, and that was somehow now our problem! We stayed as long as we could as it was late and we didn't fancy trying to find alternative arrangements at that hour but it just became intolerable. We left and went to lovely spot in Paddington but what a farewell for my sister visiting from overseas, looking forward to a quiet quality meal on the water. SO SO SO arrogant to assume that anyone with any respect would remain in their seats and tolerate such behaviour. I'll never return, nor will my sister or anyone that we know, there multiple options in this town and around the world.

Feb 02, 2009

0 of 1 people found the following review helpful

8.3 Highly Recommended

Food  9      Ambience  8      Service  8      Value  8     

Expecting the Chinese to be interested in you is like expecting the French to be nice to you. This is a Chinese restaurant in Australia, they are Chinese and they do things their way, we go there because the food is fantastic. If there is a fresher tasting Yum Cha establishment in Sydney please let me know and I'll go there instead, but Kam Fook has kept me coming back EVERY Sunday for years. There have been numerous staff changes and now there seems to be a lack of an effective supervisor. But you need to understand how they work and get on board, that way you can enjoy the experience regardless of how the staff behave.

Honestly, if you worked every day from the morning to night, through lunch service, serving often very hungry and rude patrons, then nap on a chair after cleaning up after them, then got back up to do dinner service, you might also not have much patience or care too much. These people are not there to care for you, they are efficient and most of the time get it right. I'd like to see all the complainers out there try to serve hundreds of arrogant Sydney diners with a smile.

Jul 06, 2008

8.3 Highly Recommended

Food  8      Ambience  8      Service  10      Value  7     

We ended up at Darcy's after being treated like dirt elsewhere so the service was refreshing! A delightful experience and nice to know there is still somewhere you can go and be treated well.

The food was lovely but it was the whole experience that made the evening so pleasant. A lovely wine match was recommended with our food & we were able to enjoy chatting with each other instead of having to yell to be heard. A lovely evening with superb service, it's not really fine dining so don't expect or rate it as though it is, it's simple Italian.

My only criticism... the steak lacks flavour if I eat meat, I want to taste the meat, I don't want tasteless meat with a flavourful sauce. There's an amazing supplier of Australian meat that I found in Bali of all places, I bought a crivac steak & cut in into cubes, thread it onto wooden sticks & seared it, that's all it needed! The flavour was amazing...I think it was SA produce. Restaurants of Sydney...please check it out, that's what we want!

Apr 14, 2008

0 of 2 people found the following review helpful

2 Not Recommended

Food  5      Ambience  1      Service  1      Value  1     

My God! I'm not able to rate the food because we only stayed for approximately 15 minutes & weren't given the opportunity to order anything, not even a glass of water. It's a long story, I'm going to tell it! First of all, my partner left his wallet at home so we had to turn back & get it (we live 5 minutes away). I called the restaurant to let them know we were running late (on my phone it read 7.17pm, we had booked for 7pm). But to my horror I was told that we had not turned up so our table was given away!

The rude man was bold enough to say that he had people waiting for tables...I expressed the fact that I had a table Booked & I thought that would mean something. I suggested that perhaps they should take numbers when people book in order to call & check if they are on their way, I don't make a habit of not turning up to dinner. So, here we are on a Friday night a few streets away, Hungrye, with no booking.

I was told he could re-book a table for 8pm, I took him up on the offer as we weren't sure where else to go. We did drop in to Claudes on the way just in case (optimistically) they would have a table for 2 on a Friday night....but no, of course! My partner dropped in to clarify with Cafe Nino that we wouldn't waste time waiting around if it was probable we may have to wait longer than 8pm. We were assured it would not be later than 8pm & offered a table to sit & wait, so sit & wait we did.

We parked the car, walked a block, sat down & I was greeted by a rude man who by his tone was unimpressed by how much I was unimpressed by his attitude. He grated on my nerves as he offered to open our wine with more attitude than I'd expect given that I was the customer being inconvenienced....grrrrr. So that was about it.

We were given menus to look at & never spoken to again. We sat with empty stomachs, sipping on wine, trying to get someone's attention for the next 15+ minutes. We just wanted some sparkling water & perhaps some bread to line our stomachs (I would expect bread as an apology for the loss of a table anyway, but no, he was too busy, whatever!)

By the way, the food looked ok, read ok, but seemed to be priced at a level where you'd expect a little service with your food...So, when it was obvious that eye contact, attention grabbing body laguage & a desperate hungry/thirsty look on your face was getting nowhere my partner decided to step it up. He politely asked the older waiter "excuse me, could we please have some sparkling water and......" he kept speaking but was given the hand to speak to as the guy kept walking....he was way too busy to give a damn! It was at that point we got up & asked for a stopper for our wine, as hungry as we were, we're not willing to pay to be treated like scum. At the very least I expect to be treated with a general respect & I'm shocked by what we experienced at Cafe Nino.

I can't remember the last time that I walked out of an establishment, it was that bad. We can cook quality food ourselves so when we dine out it's simply to enjoy time together while enjoying the atmosphere & food creations of others, there's way too much choice in this town to bother with Cafe Nino.So in summary, if you're friends with the management or other staff, you'll probably enjoy yourself.

I noticed that one of the other reviewers stated that "if you don't like it, don't bother saying anything" but that defeats the purpose of reviews, this is how people like us get to let others know about the times that a business fails, and fails to deliver. It's not hard to acknowledge people & be courteous, it's down right stupid of a business to fail to deliver that at the very least in this day & age.

Yes they will continue to have a clientele but I perfer to give my money to a business that has manners. We ended up getting a table at an Italian Restaurant which was SO MUCH NICER! The smell as we walked in was enough, but to top it off we had such real homely Italian service, we felt like we were being treated like family.

Cafe Nino feels like a club that think they are exclusive but don't realise that they're not a club, just a group of people that nobody else really cares for.

Apr 14, 2008

2 of 2 people found the following review helpful

2 Not Recommended

Food  5      Ambience  1      Service  1      Value  1     

Well I can't comment on the food because we walked out without ordering due to the shockingly rude and inefficient service we received on arrival. 3 hats is a laughable rating, it just goes to show that the old fashioned and certainly out of date "you're lucky to eat at my restaurant" attitude is alive and thriving at this establishment. We secured our booking many times and confirmed and re-confirmed that we would have a baby in a stroller sleeping while we dined, yet on arrival we were given a blank stare and told that they had no 'stroller policy' upstairs.

No apology, no offer of any solution to this seemingly one sided mess up! On booking at no point did we ever request a table upstairs, and found it very odd that with all the confirming and re-confirming how this was now our problem at 9 pm on a Saturday night! We practically had to force the female with a toff accent to find a solution which ended up consisting of us being seated under bright lights right near the toilets where the waitstaff stomped past rattling the stroller every ten seconds.

Aside from that, we had an extremely rude waiter turn up and shove menus in our faces, perhaps, he copped the slack from the botched booking? So in summary, we booked a table, did all we could to clarify the seating conditions so if it were not appropriate to dine with a stroller then we would make alternative arrangements, we then called to inform as we were running a little late, we parked, transported a sleeping baby inside only to be told that you can't dine upstairs with a stroller at all, but you also can't dine downstairs with a stroller at a table of 4, only tables of 2 are allowed to dine with a stroller.

Hmmmm, and that was somehow now our problem! We stayed as long as we could as it was late and we didn't fancy trying to find alternative arrangements at that hour but it just became intolerable. We left and went to lovely spot in Paddington but what a farewell for my sister visiting from overseas, looking forward to a quiet quality meal on the water. SO SO SO arrogant to assume that anyone with any respect would remain in their seats and tolerate such behaviour. I'll never return, nor will my sister or anyone that we know, there multiple options in this town and around the world.

Feb 02, 2009

0 of 1 people found the following review helpful

8.3 Highly Recommended

Food  9      Ambience  8      Service  8      Value  8     

Expecting the Chinese to be interested in you is like expecting the French to be nice to you. This is a Chinese restaurant in Australia, they are Chinese and they do things their way, we go there because the food is fantastic. If there is a fresher tasting Yum Cha establishment in Sydney please let me know and I'll go there instead, but Kam Fook has kept me coming back EVERY Sunday for years. There have been numerous staff changes and now there seems to be a lack of an effective supervisor. But you need to understand how they work and get on board, that way you can enjoy the experience regardless of how the staff behave.

Honestly, if you worked every day from the morning to night, through lunch service, serving often very hungry and rude patrons, then nap on a chair after cleaning up after them, then got back up to do dinner service, you might also not have much patience or care too much. These people are not there to care for you, they are efficient and most of the time get it right. I'd like to see all the complainers out there try to serve hundreds of arrogant Sydney diners with a smile.

Jul 06, 2008

8.3 Highly Recommended

Food  8      Ambience  8      Service  10      Value  7     

We ended up at Darcy's after being treated like dirt elsewhere so the service was refreshing! A delightful experience and nice to know there is still somewhere you can go and be treated well.

The food was lovely but it was the whole experience that made the evening so pleasant. A lovely wine match was recommended with our food & we were able to enjoy chatting with each other instead of having to yell to be heard. A lovely evening with superb service, it's not really fine dining so don't expect or rate it as though it is, it's simple Italian.

My only criticism... the steak lacks flavour if I eat meat, I want to taste the meat, I don't want tasteless meat with a flavourful sauce. There's an amazing supplier of Australian meat that I found in Bali of all places, I bought a crivac steak & cut in into cubes, thread it onto wooden sticks & seared it, that's all it needed! The flavour was amazing...I think it was SA produce. Restaurants of Sydney...please check it out, that's what we want!

Apr 14, 2008

0 of 2 people found the following review helpful

2 Not Recommended

Food  5      Ambience  1      Service  1      Value  1     

My God! I'm not able to rate the food because we only stayed for approximately 15 minutes & weren't given the opportunity to order anything, not even a glass of water. It's a long story, I'm going to tell it! First of all, my partner left his wallet at home so we had to turn back & get it (we live 5 minutes away). I called the restaurant to let them know we were running late (on my phone it read 7.17pm, we had booked for 7pm). But to my horror I was told that we had not turned up so our table was given away!

The rude man was bold enough to say that he had people waiting for tables...I expressed the fact that I had a table Booked & I thought that would mean something. I suggested that perhaps they should take numbers when people book in order to call & check if they are on their way, I don't make a habit of not turning up to dinner. So, here we are on a Friday night a few streets away, Hungrye, with no booking.

I was told he could re-book a table for 8pm, I took him up on the offer as we weren't sure where else to go. We did drop in to Claudes on the way just in case (optimistically) they would have a table for 2 on a Friday night....but no, of course! My partner dropped in to clarify with Cafe Nino that we wouldn't waste time waiting around if it was probable we may have to wait longer than 8pm. We were assured it would not be later than 8pm & offered a table to sit & wait, so sit & wait we did.

We parked the car, walked a block, sat down & I was greeted by a rude man who by his tone was unimpressed by how much I was unimpressed by his attitude. He grated on my nerves as he offered to open our wine with more attitude than I'd expect given that I was the customer being inconvenienced....grrrrr. So that was about it.

We were given menus to look at & never spoken to again. We sat with empty stomachs, sipping on wine, trying to get someone's attention for the next 15+ minutes. We just wanted some sparkling water & perhaps some bread to line our stomachs (I would expect bread as an apology for the loss of a table anyway, but no, he was too busy, whatever!)

By the way, the food looked ok, read ok, but seemed to be priced at a level where you'd expect a little service with your food...So, when it was obvious that eye contact, attention grabbing body laguage & a desperate hungry/thirsty look on your face was getting nowhere my partner decided to step it up. He politely asked the older waiter "excuse me, could we please have some sparkling water and......" he kept speaking but was given the hand to speak to as the guy kept walking....he was way too busy to give a damn! It was at that point we got up & asked for a stopper for our wine, as hungry as we were, we're not willing to pay to be treated like scum. At the very least I expect to be treated with a general respect & I'm shocked by what we experienced at Cafe Nino.

I can't remember the last time that I walked out of an establishment, it was that bad. We can cook quality food ourselves so when we dine out it's simply to enjoy time together while enjoying the atmosphere & food creations of others, there's way too much choice in this town to bother with Cafe Nino.So in summary, if you're friends with the management or other staff, you'll probably enjoy yourself.

I noticed that one of the other reviewers stated that "if you don't like it, don't bother saying anything" but that defeats the purpose of reviews, this is how people like us get to let others know about the times that a business fails, and fails to deliver. It's not hard to acknowledge people & be courteous, it's down right stupid of a business to fail to deliver that at the very least in this day & age.

Yes they will continue to have a clientele but I perfer to give my money to a business that has manners. We ended up getting a table at an Italian Restaurant which was SO MUCH NICER! The smell as we walked in was enough, but to top it off we had such real homely Italian service, we felt like we were being treated like family.

Cafe Nino feels like a club that think they are exclusive but don't realise that they're not a club, just a group of people that nobody else really cares for.

Apr 14, 2008