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Reviews

Dedes Bar & Grill, Abbotsford

Restaurants, Modern Australian, Seafood, Fine Dining, Citibank Dining Program

Overall 7.5 78

2 of 2 people found the following review helpful

4.8 Average

Food 7 Ambience 6 Service 2 Value 4

Our party of ten had an early booking so the restaurant was still empty. After being seated and with no one taking drinks orders, I decided to walk up to their well stocked bar but was told that it was table service only and we had to be seated to place an order. Mind you, the restaurant was still empty.

No one came to take our orders and because we had young children with us, we wanted to get their orders in first. I approached a waitress who was folding napkins and she said that she could not take my order. We had to wait for our allocated waiter. Nevertheless, the kids' meals came out quickly and looked to be quite well cooked too.

The restaurant was starting to fill up now and we were glad we arrived early as we managed to grab one of the very few available parking spots. The car park services two restaurants and the sailing club bar/bistro so get in early or you will be walking up the hill back to your car after dinner.

The restaurant has good ambience with large tables and sufficient room between the tables so as not to encroach on their conversations. There is a view of Parramatta River, however, if you dine there during summer, you will need to wear your sunglasses as the setting sun comes straight through the floor to ceiling windows and there are no curtains (even thin ones) to block the glare. This made it difficult for our dining companions to have a conversation with us without squinting most of the evening.

Overall, the service was pretty poor. Perhaps, we happened to be there when they were short staffed? Once the restaurant filled up, it took the waiters ages to take our orders for the mains (despite telling them several times that we were ready to order), ages to get water for the table (requested several times) and even longer waiting for the bill.

Compounding the lengthy waiting time for the bill was the fact that they managed to add three glasses of wine to the bill ($30) that we had not ordered and it took them some time to reverse the charge.

They also managed to bring out only one dessert for the children even though there were two kids. Desserts for kids are included in their meal price of $15, which seems pretty steep.

The lobster entree I had was a little over-cooked and dry. I ordered a medium eye fillet steak and it came out more done than medium. This seems to be a problem with most non-steak specialty restaurants as the standard medium now seems to be just a hint of pink. Having said that, the steak was very tender and quite nice. The potatoes and spinach that came with the main were more garnishes than sides. Hearty eaters will need to order sides.

We had the tasting platter for desserts and this was most definitely the highlight of the evening. Without the desserts, I would have given the food less than five stars.

All up the food was on the pricey side but I guess someone has to pay for the riverside location. The service definitely needs a kick up the backside and was not worthy of a tip (and we did not leave one).