Ellenika — Restaurant in Adelaide

Well what a beautiful place located on the harbor at Glenelg. Well set up facing the water, but then again beauty is only skin deep.

We arrived and were seated at our table and as soon as we arrived we were immediately hassled by the waitress for drinks. We promptly ordered our drinks and didn't have the opportunity to finish them, and were then asked if we wanted more drinks. One of our group asked if we could run separate drink tabs, but were advised that we could sort it out at the end of the night.

When we were ready to order, we all placed our orders and anticipated some traditional cooked food. The person seated opposite, and the person to the right of me, both ordered the same meal I did, we opted for the 700g lamb shoulder with potatoes and jus.

Well if we didn't get asked 8 or 9 times if we wanted to order a drink, I would be surprised. Seeing how long the meals ended up taking sort of explained why they wanted us to drink to forget our misery and not have our sensibilities around us when the food arrived.

After a wait for our food that felt like it exceeded the time we were locked down in Victoria, it arrived.

We actually assumed that because one of our group ordered the 16 hour slow cooked lamb, they were trying to serve all the meals at the same time because it felt like we waited 16 hours. There was no apology for the wait in a half full restaurant.

A pile of meat (that wasn't 700g) sitting on 4 small potatoes and a line of jus around the plate. Well as I mentioned earlier, beauty is only skin deep so the we may be surprised by the flavour. There was no bread, lemon, or sufficient jus as you would expect.

The delivery of the meals was followed up by yes, another request for a drink order, and the manager/owner lurking around the table boasting that these were his signature dishes.

I was really surprised when I tasted the first piece of meat, it was succulent and almost melted in my mouth, from that point I should have used the search and rescue team from the harbor to help locate another such piece. The rest of it was dry, poorly seasoned, and overcooked. Being versed in the practice of slow cooking myself, I'm used to having a bit of bark on my meat, however the bottom layer of my meat had been so overcooked and had no resemblance of being edible and tasted like charcoal.

If this was their signature dish, then the only signature it had obtained was the sign off from the crematorium. It was the most uninspiring dish I had ever had the displeasure of being served at a restaurant of any sort.

Meals eaten, not one person from our group had a complimentary word to say about their meal.

We approached the counter to pay, now remember the waitress had said we could sort out the drinks split after the meal, well maybe someone didn't get the memo, because the cashier threw a tantrum when we took the option the waitress told us was available.

Needless to say, I would not go there again, especially after the manager responses to the reviews.

Response to Owner: Damian you are passing yourself off as a professional business that provides quality and service and then when you get accurate feedback you sulk and place the blame on the customer. Have a good read of your responses to not only our group, but any customer that provided feedback.

The dishes presented were not of a standard for the prices you charged. To be honest I've had better lamb at a kebab shop. The lamb I had was dry, unseasoned, and burnt. Don't the chefs taste the food before it leaves. There was no way the lamb dish was the 700g advertised on the menu. How can this happen, didn't you have enough lamb. If so then explain this to your customers and we can make another choice, or you intended on taking the money for the 700g serving with the intention of serving the smaller portion. You mentioned in other reviews that the restaurant was full, I'm sorry but it was not. Making customers wait is unacceptable. Not apologizing is even worse. $14 for a beer is a joke

You may think this is harsh, but what we...

So disappointed. Booked online for valentines day and chose this restaurant as it was recommended. Was glad they weren't asking for deposit upon booking as we've had credit card fraud happen to us recently so we minimise putting our details online as much as possible. I get a phone call today at work (can't answer ph at wk but can text ) voice mail saying thanks for your booking and confirming it for 14th Feb. I text back thank you yes we'll be there. Then they text me back asking for a deposit of $20 per person. I text back explaining I don't give my credit card details over the phone or online etc. (We use PayPal if we have to). I said we'll have to find another restaurant but it would be courteous to have that upfront as part of the booking process like other restaurant do. They tried calling again and I had to quickly text and explain I'm at work and can't talk and I've found somewhere else to go with my husband. Not cool guys. Be upfront and build it into the booking app so people don't get disappointed on such a special occasion as valentines day 💔:( Response: Indeed communication goes a long way. It was made clear that I can only text as I'm at work. So Manager should have text me. Or left a voice mail that deposit would be waved for the deposit! So cheeky. You either do it properly through your booking app like loads of other restaurants or don't. Customers don't have time to back and forth with negotiating this kind of thing. Thank you for exposing further how disappointing this interaction has been. Please note, I have just spoken to the manager and I have the entire thread of our communication via text today...INCLUDING text that were accidentally sent to me where he is justifying what happened. Unfortunately the truth was embellished. If you wish to see a copy of the conversation please contact me as it was made clear he could have text me or left a voice mail to wave the requested deposit. I will not be made out to sound dishonest as per what he was writing to the owner. (As explained he accidentally sent me several messages meant for owner!) I won't "add photos" of texts as he apologiesed to me. As mentioned I can be contacted for further clarification. Thank you for an unpleasant interaction. At least your manager, although caught lying in black and white apologised for the inconvenience he's...

I booked a lunch for 19 people on a Saturday afternoon. At the time of booking I spoke to a lady about having tables outside to make the most of the warm weather and marina views. I was assured they “only do functions outside”. When we came the table was set up inside. The gentleman who served us, Frank, said they only do functions inside. He apologised and said would pass on the feedback. We ordered the $68 banquet with 2 people being pescatarian and asking for seafood instead of the meat dishes. One person eats dairy free. The first course of pita and dips was delicious. We could have done with a lot more pita for the amount of dips. The second course was saganaki and dolmades for the dairy free both of which were nice. The next course was calamari which was delicious but again not enough. We got to have 1 piece each. The main courses were chicken yiros and baked lamb served with roast potatoes and a greek salad. All delicious and so much meat that leftovers were taken home. Those not eating meat were given grilled prawns on a bed of greek salad. Prawns were also delicious but we only got 5 little prawns which is not enough as a main meal. There was only one seafood dish to replace the 2 meat dishes. When it came to desserts they were the typical greek ones and were again delicious. The person eating dairy free got 2 small cups of fruit salad which appeared to have been salted and didn’t taste very pleasant. The staff, especially Frank, were brilliant making sure we had everything we needed. My 7 month old baby made a real mess of their floor and tablecloth and they were unfazed. The atmosphere was great and we almost felt like we were in our own dining room.

If ordering straight off the menu, the food is delicious even if some courses are a little small. It was disappointing for those with dietary requirements that they got nowhere near as much food. The fact there is no dairy free dessert on the menu is also strange especially with different diets very popular these days. The fruit salad reminded me of 20 years ago when a friend who was vegan always got given fruit salad as a dairy free dessert. Overall a great Saturday afternoon and for people with no dietary requirements a great lunch. Those with dietary requirements wanted a bit more for $68 so they would not...