postcard they give ya...Dino's Restaurant Guide
Now I aint no gourmet ,(altho Im built for it!) but I know what I like when I go to a restaurant. I like good service. Attentive but not intrusive. I like to be asked what I want to drink as soon as I'm seated, and I like to get the first drink quickly, so I'm not there twiddling my thumbs for 10 minutes. I like value for money. I don't mind paying for good food and service, and I hate paying for crap....
After a weekend away (in the car) and going to 3 different restaurants , 2 in Forster( 3hrs north of Sydney) and 1 in Gosford,(1 hr North) I'm convinced some restaurateurs need a swift kick in the gluteus maximus. Not that I wasn't sure before this, but this weekend convinced me to put pen to paper so to speak...and to give a frank description of eateries so others can enjoy or avoid as is appropriate.
Andy's Waterfront Restaurant Tuncurry
Our first port of call was a restaurant I fondly remembered from some years ago, while on holiday with the wife and kids in Forster/Tuncurry. I remembered a seafood restaurant on the north side of the bridge with expanses of glass and water views. We drove over the bridge and found it quickly, though my memory must've been playing tricks on me , cos It wasn't as nice a setting as I remembered. We walked in and were greeted by a waitress about my age, who didn't look as if shed smiled since last giving birth, in about 1979....
We were seated straight away 1 row back from the water view, and asked what we wanted to drink. I ordered a Heineken and a water and sat back to wait...and wait. While waiting we were treated to the conversation of the couple next to the window. The place is all hard surfaces.. wooden floors and ceilings, and glass, so its noisy...too noisy with just 1 noisy couple near us, christ knows what its like when its full. Perused the menu while waiting for the drinks. Fairly limited selection, and with entree's at $19.95 , too bloody dear!
Main courses were from around $26..steak was $32!. with a seafood platter for 2 at $160 for Christ's sake! This with the fishing boats 50m away....
After about 10 minutes still waiting for a drink , (steam was starting to come out my ears) Smiley comes back and says shes forgotten what I wanted.....
I repeated the order and she bought it back, but that was enough for us...I gulped it down and we paid($4.50, not too bad) and left.
Verdict: Guilty of bad service, no atmosphere and rip off prices. Having seafood on the menu is no excuse for an unreasonably excessive profit margin. Avoid like the plague.
Casa Del Mundo
8 Little St Forster
postcard they give ya...
We left Andy's Abysmal Effort and headed back over the bridge. Did a u'ey at the first roundabout and then a left into a one way street littered with cafes and restaurants. Couldnt find a park near the good looking ones overlooking the river, but saw Tapas Bar advertised in Little St. Parked up the road a bit and walked down. I've got a hankering for Spanish food and was looking forward to this...We were lucky to get a table, Saturday night and no booking, altho it was at the back behind the 3 piece combo,total age about 60, that did a good job of everything from Cat Stevens to Jack Johnson. A friendly owner seated us and gave us the menus, then disappeared back to the bar...and we were forgotten again! 2 Waitresses walked past, just out of earshot of course, a few times, but didn't come to take any drink orders! Eventually, after a few deep breaths, I got up and went to the bar and got them myself....Glass of wine $5, Spanish beer $5.50 I think...The waitress arrived soon after, and was quite apologetic so I chose to forgive them.... The menu wasn't hugely extensive, but everything sounded tasty. Mains around $25, with a seafood platter for 2 for $50. We opted for a Tapas plate for 2 for $40 as an entree come main, depending on how big it was...
Tapas for those that don't know is a selection of several small amounts of different foods. This one had olives, refried beans with a tortilla type bread, other bread, fried prawns and scallops( 2 each), deep fried calamari strips (we think!) , fetta cheese,tzasiki dip, wedges, chicken on a skewer, chorizo( spiced sausage/salami) fried and skewered. And it was bloody nice! So nice and filling we didnt really feel like eating a main, so settled for desserts. I had a flan, same as a creme caramel, and Lynny had canela for $10 each. Asked for the bill not long after and theyd forgotten to charge for the desserts! Didn't want to rip em off seeing I liked the place, so I let em know....
Verdict: With tip it was only $80 for the two of us , so pretty good value. It would pay to book and get a seat with a view, or at least out the front. The service was friendly and efficient once it started. The mains I saw on other tables looked great, and if they were as good as the Tapas this place is worth visiting.
La Porchetta
Pacific Highway Gosford
Drove past this place 50 times when I lived up the Central Coast but hadn't got round to trying it...looks ok from outside... We drove past at just on lunchtime and as Id had no breakfast and was starving decided to go in. I guess its a family restaurant, and accordingly we were almost surrounded by teenagers having birthday parties. Consequently its a bit of a noisy barn of a place, with not much in the way of decor, so they make up for it with aging racing cars being displayed within its voluminous expanse....Not that I object to looking at a formula Brabham while Im eating. quite neat to see one up close....Service started well, we were seated straight away , and our orders for a Stella($5.95 I think) and a water taken. The water in a carafe came back immediately, but without any glasses......When the garlic bread was brought out I enquired after the drinks, but we still waited until I grabbed 2 glasses from an empty table. I ordered a New York steak for $21.95 and Lynny a chicken parmesana for about $19 . Bloody waitress didn't ask me how I wanted the steak done, and it slipped my mind until I got it.... on the well done side of medium...which to me is slightly overcooked. I wasnt impressed when the food arrived . Id chosen chips as the accompaniment , and the steak, complete with gristle at one end and a thick layer of fat still attached, was lying on a bed of shitty looking chips, all drowned in the pepper sauce. Lynnys wasnt much better with the ends of the 2 parmesana schnitzels dryed out, and inedible looking, accompanied by steamed veges, that also looked dry and unappetizing. It was an eat and leave quickly effort with the sound levels increasing from the party of 30 boys that came in....The waitress made the mistake of asking how everything was as we paid, so I told her it was crap, that 1/3 of the steak was inedible and about the other meals dryness....she apologised (not her fault I told her) and offered to get the manager, but I declined....hopefully she'll just pass it on...
Verdict: $47.50 all up.....get better at the average pub for half that or less, and no teenage invasion to worry you...That annoys me...restaurant prices with pub chefs and lousy service.