Ela Mediterranean — Restaurant in Cairns City

I recently returned to this restaurant with some family friends, having had a very positive experience on a previous visit. As a local, the decision on where to eat dinner was mine, and I confidently recommended this place based on how much I had enjoyed it before.

Unfortunately, this visit didn’t live up to expectations. While the food was again delicious, the service and overall handling of the experience fell short.

A major concern was the handling of my anaphylactic tree nut allergy which was noted on the reservation and brought up to the waitress on the night. When I asked the waitress whether the dish I was interested in was safe, she said it was “probably okay” — which immediately raised alarm bells. I had to ask her to check the allergens with the kitchen. She then asked me if I was ok with cashews, as they are tree nuts, the answer was of course, no. The follow-up response (from a different staff member) was still along the lines of “should probably be fine.” With an allergy that severe, “probably” is simply not acceptable. I am used to being told that the kitchen works with tree nuts and while it can’t be 100% guaranteed, there is no nuts in my dish or similar. It showed a lack of professionalism and an insufficient understanding of the seriousness of food allergies.

When our starters arrived, they were placed on the table with no explanation of what was what — despite the fact that I had previously been told one of the dips contained cashews, which I am severely allergic to. The dishes were simply set down and the staff member walked away. When we called the waitress back to ask about the oysters, she gave a quick explanation of just those and then left again, without clarifying the rest of the shared plates. It felt careless, especially given the known allergy.

Later, when we ordered a second round of drinks, one was completely forgotten. Considering the restaurant was very quiet at the time (only about five tables were occupied), these lapses in service were difficult to overlook.

In the end, although the food itself remained a strong point, the lack of attention to dietary needs, the disorganised service, and the overall experience left me disappointed. Sadly, I don’t see us returning...

PROS: good customer service; we were always seen to in a timely manner, we were asked for feedback on our meals, the service was fast and efficient restaurant is well maintained and has a lovely atmosphere, with great views of the water the seats are very comfortable; I've found that restaurant seats are uncomfortable more often than not they gave us a complimentary shot of liquor as it was our anniversary; I don't drink but this gesture was appreciated

CONS: the food left a bit to be desired; my lamb chops were chewy and tasteless, my husband's potatoes were bland and his mushroom sauce was overpowering, my husband mostly enjoyed the entree while I didn't at all, I enjoyed my dessert while my husband didn't enjoy his profiteroles at all, so hit and miss (this was the Alicante Feast at $89 per person of which I have just read numerous negative google reviews about specifically) service fees that were only made apparent when we went to pay the bill; the ACL requires that any additional or compulsory charges must be disclosed clearly and not hidden (fine print on a menu is not sufficient), also the surcharge must be included (or at least disclosed) in the total cost or price displays (ie. if the menu shows a price excluding a surcharge or card fee, it must also show the total price including that surcharge with no less prominence), Ela Mediterranean is not in compliance with the ACL in this regard, the additional service fees also put a damper on the complimentary shots because we essential paid for them with the cost of the...

We had a very disappointing experience at Ela Restaurant. We ordered 4 of the Alicante Feasts at $89 per person (total $356) but the portions we received were no larger than if we had ordered single serves of each dish. For example, we received just 2 lamb chops, a 250g steak, and a small portion of fish, small portion of saganaki etc to share between 4 people.

When I worked it out later, ordering the same dishes individually would have cost about $251 (not including dessert), so the “banquet” option ended up being far worse value. The menu states a 2 person minimum, which gave the impression portions would scale up for more people, but in reality we were sharing what felt like a 2-person serve between 4 of us.

We spent over $600 including drinks and still left hungry and disappointed. When we raised this with staff on the night, our concerns weren’t taken seriously. I also sent a follow up email to address with the restaurant however the email was ignored with no response received. Sadly, this did not live up to expectations, and we felt the banquet was misleading in both portion...