The Lonsdale Hotel — Restaurant in Adelaide

I made the booking over the phone with a professional restaurant manager Very genuine, polite and informative regard the new venue extension.

We arrived were seated by him and advised to order meals inside which we did and the location of our table was given

We purchased drinks and were not ask if we would line tobordercour meals at that point

We then waited patiently, then eventually got served

1 x ice cream serve for a child, dismal for $ 10 that made its way to the table after the 3rd attempt at finding our seated table dine in experience on my birthday & fathers day, I might add a very special day as I was born on fathers day

O k the main meals we were hoping to have delivered for two adults . 1 x salmon special and battered fish with chops and salad

Well take 3

The salmon meal arrived, alas no fish meal arrived and was told only a minute away

We watched the staff member walk the whole area tov3xtabkes with it and askbpeople that had only arrived a little time earlier, another customer said he had ordered that meal and it was given to him, I went to the service counter and ask the girl where it was she said she would check. Meantime the salmon meal going cold. A young man who appeared very arragont came to the table and questioned whether I had already eaten my friends main meal the fish and chips when clearly he could see it was salmon no chips only mash and some greens which was very tasty. He then abruptly left and the meal arrived back with him almost 10 minutes later which was quite frustrating because he put it down on the table and offered to get a takeaway container if my friend wanted to take it home!!!!

Well what can we say we were DUMB founded.

At the end of our dining experience the restaurant manager a more senior very nice gentleman ask how the meals and service were ?

The reply was S :h & t

He then ask why , we advised the meals were very tasty but the service was of very low standard and discussed with him the reasons why

Rule number 1 ! Advise your customer of there table number. When going to order quote the number. The numbers on the tableaee o small. Not recognisable to spot on arrival or axstaff member delivering drinks or meals

Rile number 2 ! Give your staff some training and atleast ask them to possibly be courteous and smile , not be rude & make smart remarks or questions the customers that pays there wage$

Rule number 3 ! Sure offer your money back in full to try entice your customer to return but please be more genuine in saying so

Rant Over

P S. To anybody celebrating a special occasion in the near future you have the crown inn , gulfview, woodcroft and many more to select in our beautiful Fleurieu...

We have been regulars of the Lonsdale Hotel for about 10 yrs, but after our meal tonight it is the straw that broke the camels back. For the past 3yrs the service and meals at the Lonsdale have been on the decline, we just put it down to COVID and not being able to get the staff and gave them 4 more tries, all of which were disappointing, but tonight changed all that, we will NEVER be returning to the Lonsdale and we will NOT be recommending it to any of our friends or family.

We were a table of 4 and had a booking at 6:30pm, the bistro was full so we expected there would be a bit of a wait. We ordered our meals and were not advised that there would be an extended wait for them. Over an hour we waited and when the meals came there was no apology for the wait time at all.

My partner had ordered the main size serving of Garlic prawns and rice, which was $28 and when it came out there were only 8 prawns. When he asked if this was a main size he was advised that it was the size of their main serve.

When we were asked how our meal was we said it was disappointing and also complained about it taking over an hour but were simply told they were busy.

We were not seeking any refund but simply wanted the staff to acknowledge the wait time and apologise for it. None of which occurred.

We understand that they were busy but they took the bookings and knew exactly how many people they had to cater for, and if their kitchen could not cope, how is that the customers fault. Well done Lonsdale Hotel if I could give you zero stars I would. We will...

Great food & a good price, but quite a noisy place. Despite going at 6.30pm on a Wednesday night, it was really busy & we were lucky to get a table.

There was a mix up with our table number, which resulted in us not getting our garlic bread starter.

After waiting for almost an hour, we asked what was going on. The waitress went to check, then came back & explained what had happened & apologised sincerely to us. A few minutes later another girl came over & she also apologised.

Our meals were delivered soon after, including the garlic bread. The meals themselves were very nice. Large portions, with excellent well cooked veg. The mashed potato was lovely & the sauces were nice & thick. I generally don't like having to pay extra for sauce, but considering the very reasonable meal cost, I wasn't complaining about $1.50. The Italian lamb shank special was very tasty & thoroughly enjoyed by my partner. The single shank was huge & @ $21, well worth the price (although you can't use a shop-a-docket for any meals on the specials menu). Unfortunately the long awaited garlic bread was on the lower end of the scale & remained largely uneaten.

Things go awry in restaurants sometimes, but what REALLY counts is how it's handled by the staff. We weren't offered anything gratis, as we have been at other establishments when mistakes have been made, which is always nice, but we will definitely come again. Next time we'll definitely...