The Chambers — Restaurant in Cairns City

Whilst I thoroughly support any restaurant that aims to bring greater culinary refinement to Cairns and isn't afraid to try new things, I would say Chambers has a long way to go still. Certain items on the menu such as the fish cooked two ways and the scallop shots are an over ambitious miss. The pan seared fish with the yam mash is wonderfully cooked, however the ramen version that it is accompanied with is simply too different to compliment the dish as a whole, it feels as though one is eating half of two totally different dishes, and yet only one of them works. The scallop shots are an interesting idea, however the broth is too strong and overpowers the delicate flavour of the scallop. The rolled prawns look good on the plate but are ultimately unexciting and lacking flavour and technique. The biggest culinary mistake is to serve a collection of "shredded" omelettes on sourdough with nil else but a serving of butter on the side. It entirely defeats the enjoyment of the classical omelette texture that is delicious due to its fluffy texture and gooey filling, the finished product is a desecrated portion of dried out fried egg and ham, not very omelette like and not enjoyable at all. I suppose certain experimental approaches do not pay off and the classical versions are better for a reason. The top restaurants get it right by staying true to the traditional approaches whilst adding a novel spin or deconstruction to a staple dish, rather than reinventing the dish as a whole or putting two totally different dishes together unsuccessfully. On the plus side, the wine bar offers a lovely selection of wines and cocktails and a nice atmosphere. Unfortunately, the food has far to go and the service is still very hit and miss. I look forward to a revised menu and more consistent service in the future, once it is more established - has good...

My friend took me for lunch at The Chambers with the expectation that it would be outstanding.

We ordered the Jasper Grilled Beef Burger ($29) and 16hr Braised Beef Tacos ($27) expecting that we'd struggle to finish a "main meal" each. I considered sharing one dish with my friend. My friend insisted that I had a "full dish" knowing I hadn't eaten the night prior after arriving late.

Fortunately we're both small eaters Despite arriving with ravenous appetites, what was served would be considered entrees for most people.

While the food was delicious, it was devastatingly overpriced. Deviating. I was embarrassed by the bill and felt awful for my friend who wanted to treat me with a glamorous experience.

We also ordered a juice each. Summer Glow, watermelon, pineapple and mint. At $11.50 you would expect a delicious juice. It was. However there was more ice than juice and the overly pink color did not resonate with it being pure. Again, super disappointing.

The service was quick, though the attitude of the staff member serving us felt like we were asking for her first born child to sacrifice. We weren't demanding, We knew what we wanted to order, we didn't dilly dally. We were polite and patient. We've both experienced the service industry so go the extra mile to appreciate staff.

All we asked for was some water and ice. Not her first born for sacrifice. I was told that it was an 'up market's venue. Thank goodness I didn't have time to change. I would have been over dressed.

Great place if you want to be a pretender. There were loads of 'pick me's' that made for entertainment.

Not so much if you're after a nice meal with someone special. Would I go...

Staff was friendly to welcome us. We were so excited to have coffee here.

But after asking join their membership, the staff just left without any further information. I asked again then she say you could sign in when you pay your bill. My friend signed up online but didn't receive anything from them. Finally the staff grabbed iPad for my friend to sign in again and left "without me"...???

I asked her so can I sign in? She didn't understand me at all. It really made me feel like they don't care people keen to apply for their membership.

Coffee was horrible..bitter. we ordered Latte and came with no Latte art and the milk form was terrible too. You can see the photo below. Me and friend are coffee lovers, we drink coffee everyday, such as the Chambers room, Black bird, Billy's, Coast Roast, Candy, Envy, Strada, industry 1, Silk and many more we have tried are much better than the coffee we got today from YOU.

The taste of Chargrilled calamari was weird. It was like rubber..except fries was great. we didn't enjoy meal and coffee this morning at all. Staff told us "Chargrilled calamari" was one of popular meals so we tried...but very disappointed. Not good quality calamari.

Staff didn't ask anything about "How's your meal?" when we were asking for bill to leave. At least you should care why customers left 2 unfinished coffee and calamari.

It was us to let them know how horrible coffee was. The staff then responsed they have never received bad comments about their coffee. They said coffee was probably made by mistake.... The way staff explained to us was worse.

It is definitely not a place I...