Coolangatta Estate — Attraction in Coolangatta

We went to Coolangatta Estate for my daughters 21st on a wine tour. The wine tasting was great, the girl serving us was lovely. Then we went to the restaurant for our meal and that is where the disappointment began. We were placed in a room outside the main restaurant which at first I thought was a nice idea. However, this meant that nobody seemed to even care or notice we were there. We had pre-ordered our meals and when it was time for our entrees to come out there no side plates and the table was not even set properly. Our beautiful bus driver organised for side plates, however you would have thought that the table would have been set up appropriately on arrival. A number of the girls ordered buckets of prawns, you would have thought that there would have been a plate or bowl to put the discarded shells and heads and a finger bowl to wash your hands after peeling like in most restaurants. We ordered an extra dish of 2 bowls of chips, which they seemed to forget about and after enquiring one bowl chips appeared sometime after the order. After our lunch it was time for the 21st Birthday Cake. The cake was a very special order that we brought with us. On it's arrival the cake had a number of holes in it from someone trying to put the candles into the cake, they had then removed the candles leaving the cake in a mess with lots of holes in it. This was disappointing enough. When we asked if we could take the remainder of the cake home with us and requested for the box that we had brought it in we were told that it had been crushed and put into the bin. I could not believe that this could be the case. I have never been to restaurant anywhere that this has ever happened to. We asked for another way of getting it home and after 20 minutes of waiting nobody came to us. I then had to ask another staff member to help us find a way of taking the cake home. The staff member then told me that she was still trying to work out the issue. All the while she was wiping up glasses in plain view of us. After asking again about taking the cake home we were given back the cake in a bad state with a plastic plate placed on the top and the bottom of the cake with glad wrap around it. Due to the time delays of the service at the restaurant and the lack of interest in our group we missed out on a visit to Silos winery, as we were so far behind time wise. When I went to pay for our food and mentioned that I was disappointed with the service and the fact that we had missed our opportunity to fulfill our visit to another winery on our tour I was told that the staff were too busy and it wasn't there fault. To be honest the staff were appalling and they didn't care at all. All they said was that there were other people booked in and that we were lucky as there were 110 people booked in at the time and they were run off their feet. This is not my problem, they should have better staff on hand. When I tried to speak with the staff on numerous occasions who were focussing their attention on the main restaurant area, I could see they that restaurant wasn't busy at all. The staff were overly defensive when I tried to speak with them and did not care one bit about their lack of attention and the issue with the cake. They tried to put the issue back onto me. They were extremely rude telling me that it was not their problem. I would not recommend this restaurant at all. The scenery is nice and I am sure that the people who work there rely on the location and not on their service. In all this put a dampener on the day and we missed out on fulfilling our tour to another winery because of the time things took to come to the table and the extremely bad service. Very bad customer service. I would not...

I’ve never felt the urge to write a review before but while checking Coolangatta Estate’s opening hours and days to plan a return visit, I came across a series of negative reviews that truly surprised me. I’m quite certain I was actually there at the same time as the group who wrote them, and I feel it’s only right to share my experience, because it couldn’t have been more different.

If those reviews were from the hens party that was there Saturday, I can confidently say they were disruptive from the start. They were loud, inconsiderate, and were clearly bothering other guests. A few seemed set on getting drunk quickly, which might be fine at a private function, but not in a shared tasting area. When the staff member named Bailey had given them what they wanted which was just to pour with limited information so they could have their own experience, they clearly took offense and now seem to be retaliating online. It’s such a shame, because this kind of behaviour can unfairly damage a genuinely wonderful business.

While the complaints about the food being cold I can’t speak on as I obviously wouldn’t know. I can however speak on our food. We had the Arancini balls to start, a Coolie burger for my hubby, and the famous beef and Chambourcin pie for me (which I didn’t want to share but he had to have a taste 😂) the pie was homemade using their own wine! I can say we were very satisfied at the least. The food was just amazing, very great menu that accompanied the wine and the area. After reading about the catering company “Killara” we found they also just opened their own cafe in berry that same day. So they must have had a lot on their plate. No pun intended 😂. Albert St in berry is now our next place to try. If it’s anything like the food we had on Saturday, I’ll be just as satisfied.

The wine tasting itself was flawless. Both Ben and Bailey guided us, they were not only warm and welcoming but also incredibly knowledgeable and passionate about the wines and the history which was very extensive. They gave us generous pours, happily revisited our favourites, and shared thoughtful details about each variety, especially the Semillon, which really stood out. We had lots of questions about ageing, pairings, and more, and they answered with genuine enthusiasm and expertise. It felt easygoing, unhurried, and tailored to us.

What stood out even more was how well they handled the whole cellar door, and the wine garden. Despite juggling several groups including the difficult hens party, they kept the vibe positive, calm, and engaging. That’s no small feat, and they managed it with real professionalism.

Coolangatta Estate is a special place. It’s steeped in history, beautifully maintained, and offers some of the best wines I’ve had in the area. The service is warm and sincere, and the team really go above and beyond to ensure everyone has a great time.

Please don’t let one group’s poor behaviour influence your decision to visit. And before you put negative energy out just remember that you get what you deserve. Good on the management for their replies, formal and professional. Well done. This is absolutely a five-star experience. We’ll definitely be back and next time, we’re bringing friends! 🍷 🎉...

Highly not recommended to book for large groups at the Alexander Grill. We had pre-booked seating for 17 people for Saturday Lunch. Upon arrival we reviewed the menu assisted the waitress and written down all our orders as they did not take the orders and was requested to place our orders at the register, fine - thats understandable. However the disappointment starts here our entree's were served, no side plates were provided until our entree's were finished. Our main meals was not only served late, other customers who were seated after us had their meals served first (within 30 minutes from when we were seated, 15 minutes when these customers were seated) We ordered identical meals (few burgers, steak and salmon mains). The waitress did not communicate any delays and we were unfortunately forced to leave our seats to check on the status of our meals on multiple occasions and have been responded with the meals will be ready in a few minutes which lead to an hour and 10 minutes. We queried as to why there was such a lengthy delay, and was advised due to 1 steak ordered to be cooked well done this had delayed the whole order for the rest of 16 dishes we had ordered. Not to mention, we ordered a few steaks requested to be cooked medium rare etc and unfortunately all our steaks was cooked well done. A request was made to speak to the manager to leave feedback regarding the poor service and experience we've had, it was advised the manager was not in however acting team manager Cathy/Catherine is on site. The waitress had then returned to advise unfortunately the acting manager is not available to assist with our queries and we should leave our feedback at the register/counter.

Feedback: Ask your customer/s if they would like to have individual dishes to be served first, if there is a delay with one of the orders Communicate any delays Check on your customer after the meals have been served and confirm if they are happy with their dishes Be available? All waitresses were no where to be seen and managers for that matter Management, please look into hiring more waiters/waitresses or conduct further training for the existing? and provide some support to your own team?

Last note, do not ignore your customers - or be prepared...