Waters Edge Restaurant Batemans Bay — Restaurant in Batemans Bay

My partner and I came up from Melbourne to Batemans Bay and decided to celebrate my birthday by having dinner at Waters Edge Restaurant. We got the 5 course menu and the food experience was comically horrible.

It began with a complimentary cauliflower soup and bread with butter which was lovely and got us excited.

The Clyde river oysters were wonderful and made me very happy and it was made even better with wine.

Unfortunately, from here on out it was a nightmare. We were brought out a "lamb roulade" with a red wine jus and tomato, cucumber, onion salad. The lamb was blitzed up into the texture of canned tuna and cooked in a cylindrical tube shape. It had zero discernible flavour and was feral. The red wine jus was saccharinely sweet and the whole dish felt wildly unbalanced. The swing from having light oysters to heavy lamb was also quite a bit of whiplash but that's more nitpicky.

Then it was the pork jowl with apple sauce which I was looking forward to a lot. The pork was 98% fat to meat, it had the texture of inedible jelly fat and the skin was nowhere near crispy enough. The apple sauce made me nauseous as it was overly sour and bitter at the same time, it was thin and watery and was as if the chef had not tasted the sauce for balance whatsoever. The potential textural component of walnuts added nothing to the dish and the pickled ?nectarine slices were ok but not pickled enough to balance out the dish, it was a big disappointment.

The main emerged and was a confit duck leg with yet another cylindrical tube shape of pumpkin, peas, carrots and some sort of red wine jus again. The duck was ridiculously dry and flavourless. The sauce was overpoweringly sweet and cloying in taste, it was an attempt to mask the non flavour of the duck but it was so unbalanced it was just disgusting. The pumpkin cylinder was ok but just a weird choice.

The staff were very kind and brought out a half moon slice of red sponge cake and wrote happy birthday in chocolate sauce on my plate with a candle which was very sweet of them. Unfortunately the cake slice was stale, flavourless again and nasty.

The palette cleanser which was a secret course was lemon sorbet with crumbs of the red sponge cake on top which was the light at the end of a very dark tunnel because the sorbet itself tasted delicious, likely because it wasn't house made.

Finally we reached dessert after 1.5 hours and it was a strawberry sorbet with crumb, Panna Cotta and berry jus with some fresh berries surrounding the plate. The strawberry sorbet was delicious, once again because it didn't taste house made. The Panna Cotta had an off lack of flavour, was too gelatinous and had the texture of tofu. The berry jus was nice.

We finally survived the experience and went to pay, thankfully the staff noticed we didn't have the best of experiences and didn't charge us for our wine glasses.

Overall I want to emphasise that the service staff and waitress we had were absolutely amazing. Polite, efficient and tried to make the best of our experience. Unfortunately it feels like the chef is not tasting his food appropriately as everything tasted unbalanced and the technical skill of executing the cook of these dishes was lacking. Judging that all the positive reviews seem to be from the summer menu potentially we were unlucky and landed on a new Autumn menu that is decidedly lacking.

At least the...

Such a fan of Waters Edge Canberra we were hoping the same for Batemans Bay. Sadly, Batemans Bay is lacking in good restaurant choices and particularly choices in fine dining. We booked dinner expectedly to celebrate my better half's birthday. Well we weren't disappointed. On a cold south coast winter's night, we arrived to a very warm welcome by the owner. A beautiful gentleman who was clearly proud of his lovely restaurant. We were seated and attended to immediately by one of three waiting staff (attentive all night!) The table offered was next to a large window overlooking the promenade and Clyde River. The menu options were explained whereupon we decided on the three course dinner with wine pairing (and only $99 each!) We passed on the appetizers (oysters etc.) but these looked delicious. First course was a complimentary vegetable soup and bread roll before perfectly cooked quail and prawns for entree. The duck breast and beef cheeks for mains were perfectly cooked and delicious, and ample with plenty to eat. The sauces with entree and mains were aromatic and tasty, and suited the dishes perfectly. Presentation was gorgeous! We enjoyed a very special birthday cake (compliments of the restaurant) and then enjoyed a beautifully presented and tasting dessert (sticky date and mango cheesecake), The wine pairings were perfect for each course and particularly the french sauterne with dessert! We could not fault anything. The $220 total bill was cheap given the very high quality of the service and food, and the beautiful location. I cannot impress how warm and friendly the waiting staff and manager were. They wanted us to feel extra special and attended to. There was nothing to fault and I would say Waters edge Batemans Bay was as good as Waters Edge Canberra. This will become our regular 'go-to' for dining in Batemans Bay! If I had to make one suggestion it would be to include a small sorbet between the mains and dessert courses to cleanse the palate. A very fine-dining request and it doesn't take away from our new favourite Batemans Bay restaurant. Batemans Bay is really lucky to now have its own 'Waters Edge' right on our own...

The atmosphere and view of the restaurant, especially the outdoor space, are nice and pleasant, and the staff are very friendly and warm. However, I’m deducting 3 stars out of 5 because, first of all, the waiting time for the food to be served was longer than usual, the portion sizes were small compared to the price, and the taste of the food was, in my opinion, average.

Chapter2: Unfortunately, you seem to have mistaken me for another customer, as we did not request halal meat, and we had ordered four main courses. I strongly recommend that instead of responding angrily to your customers, you listen to their concerns respectfully and work on improving your weaknesses.

The delay in serving food also happened to the table across from us, and sadly, they canceled their order, expressed their dissatisfaction, and left.

Chapter3: First and foremost, I’ve decided to deduct another star because I found your response not only aggressive but also completely careless. It’s evident you rushed to respond without taking a moment to investigate further. Frankly, this isn’t surprising, as many of the negative reviews you’ve received point to the same issues: disproportionate pricing compared to portion size and quality, as well as delays in serving food. Yet, you haven’t apologized to a single customer; instead, you’ve dismissed every complaint with arrogance and excuses.

You seem to overlook the fact that when multiple customers highlight the same problems, it’s a clear indication that the issue lies on your end—perhaps your kitchen is too small, you’re understaffed, or you’re accepting more reservations than your team can handle. No amount of "welcome dishes," which you proudly emphasize, can fix these fundamental flaws.

Please stop addressing your customers as if no one has ever been to a fine, exclusive, or high-end restaurant except for you. Acknowledge your weaknesses and take criticism constructively, or you may end up like once-great companies like Nokia and BlackBerry, who refused to adapt and clung stubbornly to their own perspective.

I genuinely hope your business survives at least...