The Maylands Hotel — Restaurant in Adelaide

Our family are regulars at the Maylands Hotel, tonight was a huge disappointment. We ordered two steaks, both medium-rare with the usual choice of sauce and a Spiced French Chicken Breast. This review is only getting a1 star rating because you can't give a zero.

Firstly, we weren't allowed to sit in the dining room, we had to eat in the open area with all of the X-Mas drinks crowd, so noisy we couldn't talk to each other. This was at 4.30pm and the dining room was empty???

The spiced chicken is normally a very nice meal, but not tonight. The asparagus was disgusting, the cornbread is supposed to be charred, not hard as a rock! The sweet corn puree had separated and tasted like... well it didn't taste like sweet corn, that's for sure. Go back to serving it with potato and get rid of the asparagus!

I don't know what your chef(s) were thinking but both steaks were almost blue raw, just seared and that's it! Not medium-rare. We spoke to the wait staff who took the meat back to the kitchen to "speak with them about it" She came back and said basically "that's the way it is, and the kitchen isn't interested". And offered us a couple of extra drinks, we said weren't interested in more drinks, so we were then offered a couple of desserts instead.

So, two steaks over $30 each that were inedible plus a very poor spiced French chicken breast, and you offered two $12 deserts to make up for it?

Total spend was almost $140.00 and to be honest a $30 meal at KFC would have...

Not a great experience sadly! There were four of us. Partner ordered the blackened cauliflower pasta dish which came out looking ok, albeit quite a big dish. She was unable to eat much of it due to it being very peppery( no, we didn't add pepper) notwithstanding that the menu did not mention pepper for this dish. We did gently comment that it was far too peppery but there was no follow up as to what they might be able to do etc. We did not want to make a fuss either so let it go. Prices for the food were reasonable for this day and age and the other 3 dishes were acceptable.

More importantly we were shocked at the wine prices to the extent it felt like it was a rip-off. $78 for Shaw & Smith sav blanc and $60 for the Lane sav blanc seemed way over the top, notwithstanding current inflation. Other hotels on a reasonable par range from $50 to $63 for the Shaw & Smith so do not see any reason why The Maylands can't do the same. I must add here that their website does not have their wine list as I wanted to make doubly sure I was being accurate. I know the Lane was $60 and 99% sure the S & S was $78. It was definitely in the 70s!

For the reason of the wine list alone we would not return. We weren't particularly impressed with the service re the pasta dish but would be prepared to forgive (maybe not forget) and try again but we will vote with our feet based on the wine list and not return. Pity, as by appearance and ambience it feels like a nice...

Sitting outside accompanied by a lovely breeze, I was looking forward to a pleasant, albeit last minute meal. Service was welcoming and friendly, the menu a half-half mix of classics and more modern options.

Personally, I wasn't particularly hungry, so opted for a craft brew and kingfish crudo starter. This was as fresh and enjoyable as you could hope for. Simple, yet balanced.

My partner and her father chose the swordfish special and staple barramundi, respectively. Swordfish is hard to cook. I know, as I run a food business and it's not something I'd put on my menu, despite having mastered it. The slightest bit too long and you've robbed the fishermen of a prized catch. However, on this occasion, it was so overcooked even yesterday's reheated chicken breast is more moist. It almost appeared deep-fried, too, with a uniform crust around the entire fillet, though not deliciously caramelised as you'd get with a drier pan. The barramundi was also overcooked, though not the the same extreme.

I would expect this was a once off. Perhaps a side-cook finishing up the last few tables and spending a little bit too much time watching TikToks instead of attending to the stove, but after reading the reviews, it seems there is a pattern of overcooking fish, steak, chicken, etc.

I've given it three stars due to the service and atmosphere, and will give it one more chance to impress me. Failing that, you can expect something closer to a one star...