The Hollow Beach — Restaurant in Bunbury

I have never left a negative review in my life, until now. I took my hubby to lunch at The Hollow Beach Bar in Bunbury for his birthday yesterday and can definitely say that it was the worst meal I have ever been served. I ordered the Goldband Snapper with braised leek, fennel, citrus and rocket salad and hubby ordered the Scotch Fillet steak with added Garlic Prawns. My meal was delivered first and as the waitress placed it on the table our thoughts were that this is the worst smelling fish I have ever been served. We eat out quite regularly, with seafood often being my go to dish. Fresh seafood should not have a strong fishy smell. Smell aside I tasted the fish and it definitely didn’t taste any better than it smelt. It tasted off. I didn’t want to risk getting food poisoning from bad fish so I ate a little of the braised leek and fennel and citrus salad. The braised leek and fennel was very bland and salad was very mediocre consisting of a handful of rocket, 1 1/2 cherry tomatoes and a couple of small pieces of grapefruit. Hubby's steak although edible was not of great quality, the garlic prawn sauce was flavourless, he said it tasted like warm cream just poured over the steak, no garlic flavour at all. I should have taken my meal back and asked for a refund but not wanting to cause a fuss I left my meal on the table barely touched. I was very disappointed for my hubby as his birthday lunch was not what we would have expected especially for the price ($100 for two meals + drinks) I suggest you save your money and go to one of the many other great venues in Bunbury. We definitely will...

I really don't like giving bad reviews, however here is my honest opinion of The Hollow Beach, which was our experience on Sunday night.

We ventured to this bar as it was close to the Apartments we were staying at in Bunbury. We had passed it a few times driving in and out of our accommodation, and it looked great.

On arrival, the bar looked nice, there were a couple of very drunk people staggering around with their drinks when we walked in, but they were happy drunks and were not a problem for other customers.

We ordered at the bar, and the staff were lovely. Very friendly and welcoming.

Sadly, the food was unappetising, and the prices super high for what was served.

We ordered the pork ribs, and the Seafood plate - pictured.

The Seafood plate was advertised as line-caught, and at $48, we were expecting some nice, fresh Seafood. What was served seemed to have been taken from Packets from the freezer, deep-fried to within an inch of its life and plated up. Brown food that was inedible, served next to a tired salad. Definitely not worth $48 and we left most of it uneaten.

Pork ribs were equally underwhelming. Overcooked and topped with a thin gravy that seemed to have been made from a packet.

Although the staff were lovely, We were devo to have forked out $108 for two meals (and two drinks) that was impossible to eat.

Left the food without complaining, as a previous review said they were yelled at - and I was scared lol.

Sadly, we can't...

On a positive note, there was a fire 🔥 place that was welcoming and warm. The chairs were comfortable and the venue location is beautifully set on the foreshore. The waiters were super friendly and welcoming First time visiting as it was highly recommended and unfortunately we will not be returning anytime soon for a meal but will give it a go again at some point to try the cocktails. Group of 6 pre booked a table, we were seated inside but near the smoking area that was located outside. We could smell the cigarette smoke as if we were in the smoking zone the whole time we were there. The food fell short and was below average, saturated in oil, the fish was full of bones and the batter was oily, the rib eye was sinuey and not tender, the fries looked like and tasted like they came from mcdonalds, the mushroom sauce was watery and tasteless and the chicken schnitzel was paper thin and saturated in oil the batter was soggy and not crispy. The food was not of a standard one would expect for the price paid for a meal. Twice we tried to speak with a waitress however they appeared to be busy removing plates and glasses from the tables. No one checked on how our meal was even tho there was still a lot of food on our plates.

After travelling 8 hours from remote / rural and for our first meal at the Hollow Beach we did leave feeling...