Kickin'Inn Whitford — Restaurant in Hillarys

This review is scathing and for good reason. I can honestly say I have never been so bitterly and jaw droppingly disappointed in not only seafood but an overall eating out experience as what our group here tonight were put through for my step daughters birthday.

Staff repeatedly told us that we only had to wait 10 minutes more each time the children asked how much longer but it was over an hour we were made to wait in total for our order. Tables that were served after us received their meals before us.

Not only was it an unreasonable wait time but our orders were served incorrectly, not once but twice. The meals came out disjointed. The first one a children’s meal box slung on the table on its own, but it was not what we had ordered. It had to be sent back and questioned, 2 children’s meals came out a short time later, and secondly an entire meal (half crayfish dinner) missed not even cooked and provided. We waited so long and had missed meals.

The seafood boil was an utter disgrace. The seafood boil bag cost $179 - the half a cray in it had been boiled to death and was so tough and likened to a rubber ball. In order to extract any meat from the shell 2 people and 4 hands had to try to rip it out and apart to eat it - it was completely inedible. When we discovered this we cancelled the missing half a cray meal that had been forgotten by the cook and we were told would be out in 20mins. The wait staff then offered to replace the inedible cray in the boil but what we received was also disgusting and overcooked - it was NO better and still so tough like rubber. These were not our only complaints. The bay bugs in the boil were full of eggs (not sustainably fished) and tasted like dirt. The snow crab legs were extremely salty and obviously are being preserved/soaked in brine that they were foul and inedible also.

I love seafood and I can honestly say I have never had such bad seafood from anywhere else, ever! On the return of the replacement half cray fish staff insisted it had been cooked properly for 14mins and the cook came out with an angry look on his face. Staff wouod not accept that the quality of the food was unreasonable and disputed that the cray had been cooked correctly.

It gets better though - when moving up to pay for the bill, the waitstaff states I haven’t charged you for the crayfish. One of our other diners questioned that they certainly shouldn’t have because the crayfish meal had not been provided but staff insisted they had not charged for the replaced crayfish. So you provide food that’s inedible and then offer to replace inedible food that is also very much inedible and then say you haven’t charged for the replacement?? Wow. Just wow! No you shouldn’t be charging the customer for food that is over cooked to a point one could throw it at a wall and it would rebound 10 times across each wall. Crayfish that was tougher than the most well done steak I’ve ever seen - just wowww! Then the audacity to say you haven’t charged for its replacement?

No offer to refund the crayfish charged for was given by staff who by now were extremely unfriendly and unwilling to accommodate feedbacks given, until I stepped in and said I think what she is trying to say is that you should be discounting the cost of the seafood boil because the crayfish in it was inedible, $179 is not reasonable due to what we had experienced.

After an almost standoff at the register with staff member shrugging his shoulders and insisting there wasn’t anything he could do a dismal $10 was discounted for the boil for the cray half.

There is no way in hell I will return here to Whitfords, or any Kickin Inn for that matter as I expect they are all the same. I have never felt so embarrassed for the staff by the quality of food served here and the quality of the seafood is extremely poor.

Sadly our first visit and our last visit as it was atrocious. Don’t waste...

Not only did I call and speak to the manager Owen personally, I sent 2 emails (1- 20/10 as below and 2nd 22/10 to ask if he had received my 1st email?) Owen the manager has completely ghosted me with no response at all. THE SEAFOOD IS NOT FRESH AND THE MANGER WILL TAKE NO RESPONSIBILITY!!! DO NOT WASTE YOUR MONEY

Good afternoon Owen

As per our conversation 20/10/24 at 1440pm, I am emailing you with my complaint as requested.

We thought we would try Kickin inn as we have had many of these meals in America, so was very excited to try in Australia. We booked a table for 6 (2 had to drop out due to personal reasons) and requested a table with pram access, the booking was for 5pm 19/10/24. Unfortunately it was the worst meal we have ever paid for!

As per our conversation, you knew that your seafood was not fresh. With being frozen and then cooked, the crab was over cooked and non-existent. There was no meat in many legs and when you finally broke the shell, many legs where hollow.

Don’t get me wrong, as I told you in the phone call, the staff were lovely. Not trained for a seafood restaurant of that image, as we had to ask for the necessity cutlery to cut/dig the seafood, use our entree bowls for shells, and when we where asked how things where, our daughter-in-law said clearly “ my chicken winglets are over cooked and the rice is not nice” to which the gentleman apologised and left it at that. The Kajun eggs where just plain eggs with some spice poured on them, very dry and not edible. We did not even bother to order dessert.

When my husband went up to pay (unbeknown to myself, I was not paying for that food) your eftpos was not working, yet the man made him try 3 cards, with my husband saying it was your machine. It took my husband to say try the next gentleman to see if his card will be taken, for the on duty manager to admit that there was a problem with his machine. We all had to find an atm to withdraw cash and pay the fees.

I am happy to pay for the beverages only but I am requesting a full refund for the rest of the meal, as seafood not fresh and the rest not edible.

I have attached to this email our receipt of $431.25 paid cash. No one should EVER pay this price for seafood, that is not perfect!

21/11/24 - MY GOD, NOT ONLY HAS NO ONE EVER CONTACTED ME, 4WKS NOW (see response from customer service) THEY ARE NOW SENDING ME MESSAGES TO ENTER THEIR BLOODY COMPETITIONS FOR FOOD 😡😡😡😡😡😡😡😡😡😡😡😡😡😡😡😡 THIS PLACE IS A COMPLETE JOKE, STAY CLEAR OF KICKIN INN. LETS...

Recently visited Kikin Inn Whitfords, and while the food was great, there were some significant issues that need to be addressed, especially considering the premium price point.

First, the food: the crab was tender, the fish perfectly cooked, and the fries were crispy and golden. However, the red crawfish (if I’m identifying them correctly) were slightly undercooked, which was a bit disappointing considering the overall high quality of the meal.

The presentation was a highlight. Seafood is served in a bag and dumped directly onto a paper-covered table, creating a fun, casual atmosphere. Bibs and gloves are provided, which was a nice touch to help keep things clean.

Now, onto the service. We waited nearly an hour for our food, despite the restaurant being only about a sixth full. This felt excessive for a place of this caliber. While the staff did offer some complimentary lemon-lime bitters to make up for the wait, it didn’t quite balance out the frustration of such a long delay.

The biggest issue, however, was the situation with their liquor license. Despite alcohol being listed on the menu, we were informed upon ordering that they couldn't serve any due to a recent opening and issues with the license. This was especially frustrating because it was not properly communicated during the booking process or even clearly emphasized on the website. Given that alcohol is often a key part of the dining experience for many patrons, this should have been made crystal clear beforehand.

Overall, the food and concept are solid, but for a restaurant charging premium prices, these kinds of service issues need to...