Basil & Vine — Restaurant in Greater Brisbane

The food is really good but I won’t be back. Our evening went a little like this… We’re off to a good start, we arrive in time for our 5pm booking. It takes a while for our waitress to get our food order but she’s very busy and we don’t mind - we haven’t seen each other since November and we’re catching up over drinks. While waiting for the food we do gentle jaw stretches and warm up our fingers. The restaurant warned us days ago that we only have our table for strictly 2 hours. Food starts to arrive 50 minutes into the allotted 2 hours. Those who ordered full meals (and also saw the delicious displayed desserts) are starting to panic. We can do it! we encourage each other. Luckily our waitress is distracted by another table, else she might be concerned at the pace we set. Everyone comments on how delicious the food is. One friend is still eating when our waitress appears to tell us we have 8 minutes to place our dessert order. Renewed panic! No menus, no waitress - she’s very busy elsewhere again. Someone finds a menu, 4 minutes to go! Grandma decides to forgo dessert, she’s afraid she won’t finish it in time. We convince her to at least get a coffee. The rest pick their dessert in record time but the waitress is attending to other tables. Time’s up! We have missed the deadline… Quiet tears are shed while we watch the waitress plating up delicious desserts for another table. Wait! A miracle! Our waitress allows us to put in a “late” dessert order. Nervously watching the clock, we do more jaw stretches. Tick tock… Some desserts arrive, 12 minutes to go! “How’s your dessert?” one friend asks “Dunno, eating too fast to taste it” Someone suggests taking the tiramisu home and enjoying it there. We applaud the genius! One dessert is still missing, timidly we ask about it. 9 minutes to go! It’s on its way, we’re told. We glance at the ticking clock. The clock glares back. You ordered a very big dessert (apple calzone), don’t think you’ll be able to finish it in time, the waitress warns. The calzone finally arrives, the friend pleads for more time. She gets 5 minutes extra, she takes a few bites. We start chanting “You can do it! You can do it!” Alas, it’s not meant to be. The ice cream on the serving board is melting all over the table and dripping onto her clothes. She wastes precious time cleaning up. With a glance at the clock, she gives up… Finish it at home someone quietly suggests. She nods sadly, but admits she doesn’t have any ice cream at home. The clock strikes 7pm, the whole restaurant gets up to join the long line to pay. While waiting in line I think about life, the universe and everything and how grateful I am that this, the last meal I will ever have at Basil and Vine, was at least a good one. So, if you like eating good food in a big rush, depriving your grandma of dessert and spending a long time catching up with strangers in the line to pay, then this is the place for you. You can have my seat. Be grateful, they’re...

My experience in the night was beautiful however this was brought down by the service I received when trying to book a table. I asked for a particular time being 6.30pm and was told it wasn't available but they could put me in at 5pm which was too early for me. So I finished the call when nothing else was offered.

I went online to discover that they have 2 sittings. One for 5pm to 7.00pm the serving time being 7pm to 9pm. This was never mentioned in the call I made.

So I call again. This time they look and say yes they can book it in. I didn't mention that I'd called previously. 🤔 Call is finished and is booked in the name of my group attending. Next thing after the call is finished I receive a text message wanting me to confirm my booking by supplying credit card details. Unfortunately I wasn't prepared to do this as I had just had my card replaced for the second time this year due to fraud.

I called them again for the third time and was told that this was due to bookings made and then becoming a no show. I explained my situation due to the fraud activities on my card and that this was a social event for my group of ladies and that this was my 3rd call in less than 30 minutes. Eventually they reluctantly agreed to the booking without credit card details.

Theses calls were all made 24 hours prior to the booking. At the time of my third call I asked why nothing was mentioned at my first call about the 2 sitting times and they advised that the second sitting they were fully booked and a cancellation must have come in between my two calls🤔

I called the following afternoon to change the booking from 9 to 5 as people died out due to our time change. When we arrived a table then needed to be put together for our booking. During the course of the evening I'm looking around the restaurant and it was only half full. 🤔 What happened did they get many cancellation in 24 hours as my third call I'm told that they had just had a cancellation to take my booking.

To the owners..... Your staff need training... if my group of ladies hadn't been expecting us to go here I would've gone elsewhere. They evening was great however there were 3 birthdays happening here all around us. Would've been nice to be in a quiet spot away from the birthday groups as the manager knew that our group were a group of older...

When we arrived although we got stuck in traffic and arrive approx 15min after booking we still had to search for a waiter to take drinks order, then the rushing began we where being forced to decide quickly on entrees and mains. Once our entrees arrived no sooner we finished them we had our mains placed down. No time to savour and enjoy the entrees which I must say was actually very nice. Then I had the bolognaise which was literally tomatoes on pasta it had bugger all meat content and to say it was bland and tastless would be an under statement. Then whilst eating the waitress was constantly hovering and made us feel un easy and pushed as she was clearing around us. My daughter had Then told me she was told we had to vacate by 7pm. When we finished dinner plates cleared we then where told we can only have dessert from cabinet as we missed the 6.30 cut off for kitchen desserts at this time I looked and it was 6.33 I then asked the waitress why didn't she come tell us this and take order sooner her reply was uou where still eating when this was not the case at all due to being rushed. Now we where approached by I assume the manager who said we needed to look at booking text and follow the booking time frame I explained that yes we where a little late but they had also needed to cook my sons pizza for another 15min due to being under cooked so how is that fair. He replied I don't understand and that we just need to stick to the time. This was one of the most rushed, tastless, horrible experiences I've had and this was meant to be my sons bday dinner and it was ruined. We where forced to attend a second venue so we could actually have a chat and a drink Which is why people have gatherings at restaurants so they can get together talk, have drink and something to eat NOT walk in sit down shovel food down throat and leave which...