The Sydney Cove Oyster Bar
December 4th 2007 00:40
Address:
1 East Circular Quay
is situated right on Sydney Cove, just metres from the Sydney Opera House, The Royal Botanic Gardens and the Sydney CBD.
is situated right on Sydney Cove, just metres from the Sydney Opera House, The Royal Botanic Gardens and the Sydney CBD.
City:
Sydney
State:
NSW
Postcode:
2000
Telephone:
61 2 9247 2937
Email:
info@sydneycoveoysterbar.com
Website:
http://www.sydneycoveoysterbar.com/
Even when we had not booked and being a rather busy Friday evening in Circular Quay, it was not very difficult to get a table at the Sydney Cove Oyster Bar located at East Circular Quay. We soon realised why. What can we expect from a practically empty place? That is usually the ultimate sign that there is something not right about a restaurant. Unfair judgement you might say? Well, this is right on the ball. The service was just shocking. The food was okay, however, it doesnt justify the high prices they charge.
My hubby and I decided to try this place before watching a symphony at the Sydney Opera House. It is situated in a prime location on the waters edge in close proximity of the Opera House. The tables are set outdoors under large cafe style umbrellas. Some of which contained heaters. Directly in front of you there is a wonderful view of the Sydney Harbour Bridge and the harbour itself. However, the stench of water vividly reminded me of the smelly canals in Venice.
We stood at the entrance for a little while, waiting to be served. All the waiters/waitresses were gathered together in front of us chatting away to each other. It took another customer to yell out to the waiter "Look behind you!" for them to notice us. Once we got escorted to our tables and decided our orders from the menu, we closed the menu folders as you do to show you are ready to order. The waiter approached asking if we were ready to order. We said "yes" and started with drinks and then entrees, and then, to our disbelief, the waiter left without taking the orders for our mains. And then he came back and took our menus away not even giving us the opportunity to tell him we havent finished our order. How rude! We had to then call upon another waitress to take the rest of our order.
It took a long time before we saw any food in front of us. We then started seeing other people who arrived after receiving their food before us. While you could see other customers getting frustrated because of the long wait for their orders too. After we did receive and finish our entrees, we then started the wait for our mains to arrive. I had the difficult task of trying to calm down my impatient husband who kept looking at his watch. About 20 minutes later, we became absolutely dumbfounded when the first waiter asked if we were ready to order dessert. "What do you mean dessert, we had havent received our mains yet" is what my hubby retorted. Soon after, we did receive the rest of our meal and then quickly paid and left very unsatisfied.
Isnt it amazing how bad service can ruin your whole dining experience, regardless how good the food may be. Have you ever had a shocking experience with restaurant service? Please dont hesitate to vent out and comment.
My hubby and I decided to try this place before watching a symphony at the Sydney Opera House. It is situated in a prime location on the waters edge in close proximity of the Opera House. The tables are set outdoors under large cafe style umbrellas. Some of which contained heaters. Directly in front of you there is a wonderful view of the Sydney Harbour Bridge and the harbour itself. However, the stench of water vividly reminded me of the smelly canals in Venice.
We stood at the entrance for a little while, waiting to be served. All the waiters/waitresses were gathered together in front of us chatting away to each other. It took another customer to yell out to the waiter "Look behind you!" for them to notice us. Once we got escorted to our tables and decided our orders from the menu, we closed the menu folders as you do to show you are ready to order. The waiter approached asking if we were ready to order. We said "yes" and started with drinks and then entrees, and then, to our disbelief, the waiter left without taking the orders for our mains. And then he came back and took our menus away not even giving us the opportunity to tell him we havent finished our order. How rude! We had to then call upon another waitress to take the rest of our order.
It took a long time before we saw any food in front of us. We then started seeing other people who arrived after receiving their food before us. While you could see other customers getting frustrated because of the long wait for their orders too. After we did receive and finish our entrees, we then started the wait for our mains to arrive. I had the difficult task of trying to calm down my impatient husband who kept looking at his watch. About 20 minutes later, we became absolutely dumbfounded when the first waiter asked if we were ready to order dessert. "What do you mean dessert, we had havent received our mains yet" is what my hubby retorted. Soon after, we did receive the rest of our meal and then quickly paid and left very unsatisfied.
Isnt it amazing how bad service can ruin your whole dining experience, regardless how good the food may be. Have you ever had a shocking experience with restaurant service? Please dont hesitate to vent out and comment.
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Comment by Aimzster
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Comment by Cibbuano
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I had the opposite experience... my girlfriend took me here for my birthday. We went on a Wednesday, so the harbour was empty, we sat near the water and enjoyed the nighttime harbour views.
We had oyster shots, which were delicious, then shared the monstrous seafood platter. It was $140, which is reasonable considering we had lobster, crab, balmain bugs, prawns and oysters. It was a fantastic night, and the waiters left us alone, except to take our discarded shells.
Comment by Maribeth
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Wow.. you payed only $140? for all that? I think we ended up paying around $170 and that's two entree's and two ordinary mains..oh yeah..and two glasses of wine so maybe that's why. Still, the lobste/seafood platter sounds a lot better. Maybe I should have gone for that instead.
Comment by AmyHuang
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Some of the best restaurant service I've had have never been with a silver restaurant. They've mostly been little family ones in the street corner.
Comment by Maribeth
Sydney Restaurants