Grays Bar and Restaurant — Restaurant in Ipswich City

Had seen a number of Facebook adverts and looked good. Was excited to try this place out and booked it for Valentine's day.

Building and garden was really beautiful. Gorgeus molding on the ceilings, chandiliers and stained glass windows. Gorgeous deck looking over the front garden with fairy lights.

Apon getting to the top of the stairs, the Host didn't even greet us and took us to our table and didnt happen to mention you had to order at the bar. We sat there for ages, along with a few other tables, none of which had been told you had to go up to order. I finally got someone's attention to be told to order at the bar. When I went into the bar to order, I mentioned not being told about how to order and the response from staff was a laugh, ‘we don't do table service’. I said, that is fine as long as the host tells you the process when you are seated. Response was, “she is usually good at telling people”. No apology, just made to feel like an idiot. Once the food was brought to our table, no-one came back in to check to see if everything was ok. There was multiple staff there, you could hear them in the corridor but certainly lacking in general customer service.

Food was ok. Meatballs tasted like they had been microwaved and very watery. Dip platter was ok. Buffalo wings were tasty. Potato and chorizo seemed in opposite proportions - huge chunks of sausage and small, minimal amount of potato. Chorizo is a strong flavour and not normally served in such large slices. Physical presentation of the food was good. Prices were reasonable.

We didnt even bother with dessert as no-one came back and we decided we didnt want to be there anymore.

Such a beautiful location and building, but definitely lacking ambiance and customer service. There was live music which was good, but when they went on break there was no music at all in the restaurant. So much potential to be an amazing restaurant and experience but unfortunately not...

So where do I start.. Atmosphere was pretty awesome with the singer and how the atmosphere was and that where it stops. I booked about 2 months ago, confirmation emails and texts and when we arrived no record of my booking. Showed my text from yesterday and all we got was that we have changed our system...??? Lucky for us there were free tables Staff were overwhelmed at the bar...always needed to confirm with the managers...sorry staff need to be trained and to deal with all situations, regardless of how quiet or busy the night is. Probably the worst ever meal we have ever had..... The Beef Medallions Lollipots at $28 for 2 and so overcooked and the size of a 50c piece... The Humpty Doo Barramundi...the barra was pretty good, the seared brocollini was good, but the polenta, please it isn't that hard...lumpy and watery just doesn't cut it for the price. Spoke to the Manager and voiced our displeasure...she wanted to give us a refund but not what we wanted. Sorry you guys meed to have a seriously look at your menu and the exhoborant prices you are asking. Get more experienced staff to handle the busy nights as you know when they are and train up your staff. Sorry won't...

We booked in here for dinner whilst we had a friend up from Melbourne and it was a wonderful time!

The place is beautifully lit up at night under the trees, was lovely.

Little slow moving when we got there to get seated and get orders placed but we weren’t in a rush and it was getting quite busy as it was a Friday night.

We ordered the carnivore platter, calamari and loaded fries.

The food was incredible, we can not fault anything we had it was delicious, and the carnivore platter was actually bigger than we thought it would be! If anything I’d say definitely add more pulled pork to the loaded fries and to the carnivore platter it was the best part and add an extra BBQ sauce to the platter, we were all fighting for it!

So far this would have to now be our current favourite we have tried in the area! Can’t wait to be back here to try a few more things, maybe look up some new different cocktails for the menu to stand out from...