The Long Pavilion at qualia — Restaurant in Hamilton Island

Our large group recently dined at the exceptional Long Pavilion restaurant, located within the luxurious qualia resort on Hamilton Island, and once again, it exceeded all expectations.

The Long Pavilion is located at the northernmost tip of Hamilton Island, accessed through two large gates and found at the end of a long, winding driveway. Upon arrival, we were greeted by breathtaking views of the Coral Sea and the Whitsundays. This resort truly embodies award-winning luxury, and our group was eager to return to The Long Pavilion as previously we have had unparalleled dining experiences.

Our culinary journey began with a delightful reef fish terrine, served with a tapioca cracker, mango gel, nori emulsion, and a hint of fermented chili. Next, we savored the scallops, perfectly complemented by nori butter, furikake, and crispy Jerusalem artichokes. The Tajima 6+ eye fillet was a showstopper, accompanied by pearl onions, carrots, zucchini, and a smoky shallot caramel that left us wanting more.

For a vegetarian option, the pumpkin gnocchi was a cracker, served with saffron purée, crispy sage, and a rich cheese fondue. We concluded our meal with a spectacular dessert featuring native berries, raspberry marshmallow, lemon, metal strawberry, salted caramel popcorn, and ice cream, followed by the citrus reverie, which included honeycomb, orange curd, apple jelly, and pistachio cream. Each dish was a masterpiece, making our evening truly unforgettable, and I was fortunate to be able to experience multiple dishes as a simple negotiation with my wife enabled us to swap between one delight to the other.

This restaurant elevates presentation and flavor to a remarkable level—10/10 without a doubt, and we cannot more highly recommend this...

For the premium price and exclusive setting, kind of a let down.

We went for the seafood experience and the “snacks” served as mise en bouche were the highlight in terms of freshness and quality, the following courses having good accoutrements and seasonings, but unfortunately generally overcooked seafood and kinda lacking pop. A sauce with the scallops, a bit of acidity and a minute less on the fish and the bugs coulda gone a long way. The food lacked the elegance and refinement of the setting.

Wine list is ok, a bit expensive, but expected

In terms of service, the staff were very friendly professional and attentional until they weren’t, about an hour into dinner. Midway through our mains we had finished our wine, and no one suggested anything else. So we drank our water, and waited a good fifteen minutes with empty plates, empty wine and empty waters (enjoying our company). At that point, the somm had completely disappeared and the waiters must have walked by our table a dozen times and tended to other guests profusely, giving a bit of a second class citizen impression on us, even though we started off very friendly and went for the tasting menu.

Not the standard you expect from this level. Great...

Forgot to mention the $$$ yacht! Qualia restaurant reservations are ultra accommodating when they are aware of a party's wealth/status despite not staying at the resort. That was my experience when dining here a few years ago. I think it's vulgar to assert oneself in such a way. As a result, I had requested a booking solely on the terms of being on Hamilton Island for my honeymoon and contacted the reservations team in advance to request ANY booking slot for dinner at one of the two restaurants ANY day of the week were were staying. The front desk said they will pass my request to restaurant reservations and someone will contact us. No one did and when I followed up I was told the same. I do not for one second believe that BOTH restaurants had zero availability for the whole week to accommodate a table of two. My friends who have recently stayed there also mentioned that the restaurants are never at full capacity. In the end, we dined at Beach Club which was a 5* quality experience with great food and fantastic service! Save yourself the trouble of interacting with elitist, snobby and rude establishements only interested in seeing proof of your $$$$ before confirming a booking....