MasterChef

Reviews

Restaurants, European, German, Modern Australian, BYO

Overall 6.5 132

2.3 Not Recommended

Food 4 Ambience 3 Service 1 Value 1

Couldn't believe when we asked for water (after consuming a couple of beers, all of us each had entrées, mains and three out of four of us had desserts I might add) we were told we could walk over to a table at the back and get our own water. This is an unusual practice considering we were paying customers in a restaurant. The way were were told was quite contemptuous. We went over and they were tiny little plastic kiddies cup. I thought this was some kind of joke so I asked the waiter and he told us it wasn't.

I then politely said I wasn't going to drink out of a tiny little kids cup and I asked for a proper glass. I was shocked by what happened next. He yelled loudly "you are very being rude" which was was very embarrassing because he yelled so loud and tables close by heard it. My friends who overheard urged us to leave on the spot which we did. I'm never going to go back to a place that treats customers so poorly. The food wasn't bad and I might have gone back but after being told to get my own water then yelled at they are never going to get us as customers again and it ruined what was an otherwise pleasant evening.

Jul 28, 2011

Lugarno Seafood, Lugarno

Restaurants, International, Modern Australian, Seafood, Fine Dining

Overall 6.8 119

4.3 Below Average

Food 5 Ambience 7 Service 4 Value 1

This is probably the best of the worst restaurants I have ever been to! Service is very slow you quite often feel neglected. We went there for lunch and despite there being 5 times more staff than people it still took ages for us to be given a menu then for someone else to take our order and someone else to deliver our food.

We felt let down that after seeing 'lunchtime specials' with a significantly reduced price on the internet that they weren't given to us. Instead the full price menus (which was quite a lot more expensive) were given to us which made us feel a little cheated. We had to ask for the lunchtime special menus and then told that half the things on it weren't available. We ended up choosing items off both the lunchtime specials menu and the normal menu.

The type and food design is old, old skool! We felt like we'd gone back in time. While the portions aren't small and you won't walk out hungry it is not fine dining, or it certainly isn't from this era. Fish was slightly overcooked and not a memorable experience. It is very expensive for what it is. Being on the river is pleasant, although some of the boats moored directly beneath the window need a bit of a clean.

Not worth a long drive from anywhere but if you're hungry, in the area and don't fancy a burger from the local takeaway shop this place may be worth it if you don't mind spending the extra cash. Otherwise stay well clear! The Lugarno Seafood restaurant is essentially average 1970's dining with 2011 prices.

Jan 14, 2011

Bavarian Bier Cafe, Sydney

Restaurants, German - Bavarian, Has Bar, Licensed, Serves Breakfast

Overall 6.6 82

2.8 Not Recommended

Food 2 Ambience 3 Service 3 Value 3

After trying the Bavarian Beer Cafe on Bondi and falling in love with the pumpkin soup I couldn't wait to give this a go. What a disappointment! The pumpkin soup at Bondi was very smooth and hard a sharp, rich flavour. The soup here in the city was thick, it hadn't been blended but worse still it was bland and almost could have been just a plain vegetable flavour.

The schnitzel was a tiny size and instead of coming with a creamy rich sauce (as Jager schnitzel should) it was soaked in a basic red wine reduction! The veal wasn't crumbed either. After pointing this out to management we were told that the menu stated it wasn't crumbed and that other schnitzels were. We knew this wasn't true so picked up the menu, asked him to show us and he walked off! That's a very poor response from management. The staff were all backpackers, you could hear every accent from Europe except Australia.

The food at Bondi is great and there is no excuse why this venue should not be as good. $28 for a tiny piece of veal and a minute portion of spuds is a complete rip-off. Especially when it doesn't resemble what it should!

Oct 13, 2010

Onda Restaurant, Terrigal

Restaurants, Italian, Citibank Dining Program, Serves Dinner, Serves Lunch

Overall 8.5 48

6.8 Recommended

Food 6 Ambience 7 Service 8 Value 6

Good, but not great. This place charges top dollar but doesn't deliver value for money. Plates should have been hot were stone cold and the soft drink was so flat it could have been water.

Service was slow and food took a long time to arrive. Two out of our three mains were good but one of our group sent back the steak when it was served with 'cold' onions. They did cook it again with an apology, the second time was perfect but for the prices this venue charges they should get it right the first time. Sorry guys but for the prices they charge we can't afford to eat at a restaurant that's hit and miss.

Aug 07, 2010

Churras The Brazillian Barbecue, Darlinghurst

Restaurants, Brazilian, Serves Dinner, Serves Takeaway

Overall 7 43

4 Below Average

Food 5 Ambience 5 Service 1 Value 5

Service woeful! This restaurant is capable of so much more but is let down by shoddy service. The waitresses seem more interested in talking to each other than serving customers. We ordered drinks on a stinking hot summers day and they arrived without ice. After waiting for a long time we managed to get the waitresses attention, asked for the ice, then watch her serve two other packed tables, bring them their drinks, talk again to her friend, walk outside and only then after 15 minutes brought us the ice!

Having ordered our food with our drinks we were getting really hungry and wondering (while skewers are continually cooking) it was taking 35 minutes but what happened next was unbelievable. A cook, not a waiter, came over and asked to take our order again from scratch!

10 minutes later we saw our food placed under the serving lights on the counter while the same waitress chatted again to her friend and slowly got other tables their food. By this point one of our group had had enough and insisted that the waitress bring our food over immediately. While the beef, lamb and sausage was great, the chicken was over salted and was a bit too hard to swallow.

On the way out we saw a customer from a table outside argueing with the waitress. We couldn't tell what was being said but the customer did not look happy.
I am a fan of the Brazilian BBQ and have been to all of them in Sydney. This one is probably the worst.

The first time I came here the service wasn't great but this time it was dreadful. We will not give them another chance which is a shame because apart from the chicken the food here really isn't bad at all.

Nov 30, 2009

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Displaying: 1 - 10 of 14 reviews

Una's, Darlinghurst

Restaurants, European, German, Modern Australian, BYO

Overall 6.5 132

2.3 Not Recommended

Food 4 Ambience 3 Service 1 Value 1

Jul 28, 2011

Lugarno Seafood, Lugarno

Restaurants, International, Modern Australian, Seafood, Fine Dining

Overall 6.8 119

4.3 Below Average

Food 5 Ambience 7 Service 4 Value 1

Jan 14, 2011

Bavarian Bier Cafe, Sydney

Restaurants, German - Bavarian, Has Bar, Licensed, Serves Breakfast

Overall 6.6 82

2.8 Not Recommended

Food 2 Ambience 3 Service 3 Value 3

Oct 13, 2010

Onda Restaurant, Terrigal

Restaurants, Italian, Citibank Dining Program, Serves Dinner, Serves Lunch

Overall 8.5 48

6.8 Recommended

Food 6 Ambience 7 Service 8 Value 6

Aug 07, 2010

Churras The Brazillian Barbecue, Darlinghurst

Restaurants, Brazilian, Serves Dinner, Serves Takeaway

Overall 7 43

4 Below Average

Food 5 Ambience 5 Service 1 Value 5

Nov 30, 2009

Pure Bronte Pistachio, Bronte

Cafes, Mediterranean, Modern Australian, Good For Groups, Hip and Trendy

Overall 3.8 6

0 of 1 people found the following review helpful

1.5 Not Recommended

Food 1 Ambience 3 Service 1 Value 1

Avoid this cafe at all costs! After eating at this café every summer for 10 years it’s a real shame it’s fallen such a long way down. The original café formerly called ‘La Plage’ – French for ‘the Beach’ served fantastic food with fantastic staff. Those days are well and truly over.

Given that burgers are pretty much the only thing on the menu besides a couple of breakfast items and a couple of salads our party of 4 ordered two burgers, a salad and scrambled eggs. After waiting for over 45 minutes (without any explanation) the scrambled eggs were full of egg shell, the salad had lettuce and tomato that was off and one of the burgers was served on single sliced white bread (just like what you buy from the supermarket).

Evidently this was then a ‘sandwich’ and not a ‘burger’. When this was pointed out to the waitress the senior staff came over and started to argue with us. Just a smile and a simple and an explanation would have done! The plate was then returned and came back sometime later with a now cold filling shoved between a cold white bun (obviously pulled out of the fridge on short notice). The other burger was grossly undercooked. Both came with ‘shoestring’ fries that were soggy and stodgy.

The two burgers left 3/4 uneaten, were very, very ordinary. Priced at $15 and $19 are outrageous prices considering you'd get a much better burger at your local Milk Bar. Gourmet burgers they most definitely were not and certainly no competition for the various burger bars that are now appearing all over Sydney.

After politely pointing our experience out to the senior staff, instead of taking it on board and being helpful she became aggressive, walking away, coming back yelling that the meal was “perfect” and that “every second person complains just to get a discount”. Attention to Management, if every second person is complaining about your food. Do something about it!

The whole experience was absolutely dreadful and made what was to be a fun day out at the beach a horrible, unedifying experience. It is painfully likely that the people who own, cook and run this café have absolutely no experience with food or customer service. If this was the last café in the world I would learn how to throw a spear!

Nov 09, 2009

La Buvette, Potts Point

Cafes, Bistro/Brasserie

Overall 7.4 32

2.8 Not Recommended

Food 2 Ambience 5 Service 3 Value 1

I've been coming here for ten years and while the prices have been going up, the quality of food has been going downhill. Sadly, this is a result of the lack of competition when the owners bought the next door cafe and run that out of the same kitchen! While one of the senior staffs is outgoing and friendly, the other senior staff is cold and angry.

For breakfasts, be careful if you're ordering juice. Any juice you choose will taste of ginger! Note to staff, clean your blender or use a different blender. Breakfast portions are small and expensive and taking the area into account, don't reflect value for money. Lunches feature some fairly average pasta and salad dishes. While they may be big on original ideas they're quite bland. A lamb risotto lacks any flavour whatsoever. It would be much better for this cafe to stick to well known favourites and do them well.

Crepes are tasty but arrive with a mountain of unwanted extras (probably to justify the price) and garnish. Covering a chocolate filled crepe with icing sugar so it can't be seen is completely unnecessary for both taste or visual effect (nevermind how many calories this adds to an already high kilojoule dessert), the French don't do it!

At the end of all this they'll slug you a couple of extra bucks if you dare pay with your credit card! Because La Buvette is small it doesn't take many people to make it look busy and, therefore, look like a good place to eat. Don't be fooled! There are much better places to eat in Potts Point.

Oct 16, 2009

The New Dong Dong Noodles, Kingsford

Restaurants, Asian, Chinese, Noodle Bar, BYO

Overall 6.8 43

0 of 1 people found the following review helpful

2 Not Recommended

Food 1 Ambience 1 Service 5 Value 1

This restaurant is terrible and the hygiene standards leave a lot to be desired. If the health inspectors had of been in when we dined they would have failed it on the spot!

The fried rice is very average, and is their best dish that we tried. The salt and pepper 'King' prawns are tiny and served, strangely, on a mountainous bed of warm lettuce! The hand pepper beef was dreadful, we tried it once and didn't finish it. One of our group tried the noodles and when she didn't finish them they charged her for the take-away container! I've eaten all around the world and never been charged for a take away container.

While this is place is considered 'cheap', the food is really below average. Much better to spend a bit more somewhere else and enjoy what you eat rather than eat something that isn't very nasty and pay much more than what's it worth.

Finally, don't misintrepret this restuarant being busy as being good. There are loads of impoverished international students living in the area who eat here every night. Unless you are one of them with no money to spend, avoid this place like the plague!

Jun 08, 2009

La Brasserie, Darlinghurst

Restaurants, French, Good For Groups, Romantic and Intimate, Bistro/Brasserie

Overall 8 125

8.8 Highly Recommended

Food 9 Ambience 9 Service 9 Value 8

At last a French restaurant in Sydney that's more authentic than some sleazy french guy with overwhelming garlic breath, like some places I've eaten at! After living and working in Paris for one year (in a kitchen) I can say that La Brasserie is the real deal. You actually feel like you're eating in Paris. The waitstaff all speak French and are very attentive but not too in your face.

The food is very good and reasonably priced, I think thirty dollars for a main and 15 for a entree is reasonable. I still haven't tried snails and never will! But my friend assured me they were delicious, I did have the chicken liver parfait and it was so smooth and absolutely gorgeous. The lamb was really succulent and my friend said her chicken was one of the most tender pieces of chicken she had ever eaten.

Another friend had the steak, he said was really nice but I was too full to try it. The desserts was very good (there is always room for dessert), I had the Creme Brulee and my friend had the fondant. Really nice and worth the calories! The problem with most French restaurants outside of France is they try too hard and just seem fake. I really believe this place has cracked the right balance. All of us agreed, we will definitely be going back soon.

Apr 30, 2009

Il Baretto, Surry Hills

Cafes, Italian, BYO, Child Friendly, Outdoor Dining

Overall 7.3 163

7.8 Recommended

Food 10 Ambience 6 Service 8 Value 7

The duck ragu is absolutely amazing! Priced at $25, I wish it was five dollars cheaper, but the flavour is so intense and the texture of the ragu is so alluring, I've been back a few times, each time with the intent of trying something different but ended up with the ragu. It's just too good. Try this dish, it really is one of the best pasta dishes in Sydney!

Apr 30, 2009