Cocina — Restaurant in Jindabyne

This place had a great atmosphere. We came in for dinner with four adults and four kids and we were advised that we had to be done by 7pm as they had a reservation. Not a problem for us. We ordered kids meals, an entree, mains and drinks and everything seemed prompt with a good vibe for a busy Easter Sunday night. My mojito was tasty but tiny for the price. The calamari was fresh but relied too heavily on the sauce for flavour. These things began to show signs of bull$#it. The kids meals were great for babies and little kids who don’t have a fully developed taste palette. We noticed two tables that came in after us, had their mains before we did. We waited over an hour for our mains to arrive. Again, a hint of BS. So at 6:45pm and knowing full well they made a big point of us getting done by 7pm we asked how far our mains are because the time scheduling wasn’t working out and they said it’s fine and not to worry. Ok, not a problem. Major BS. Our mains came soon after and looked appetising. The waitress passed me my main but failed to mention the plate had come out of the oven. This resulted in me burning my thumb and finger. Unforgiving BS. We quickly ate dinner as the vibe had dropped dramatically since we first arrived. It’s not easy eating a burrito while a thumb and finger are in a glass of ice water. The side salads were good, the mains were shallow in flavour and we would have saved a bunch of money if we stayed home and made Old El Paso meals from a packet which would have been very similar in flavour. One of the dads left this restaurant to go and buy a kebab straight after he finished his small, bland main. The Mexican place upstairs was where we were headed to because of everyone RAVING about how good it is but unfortunately it’s closed until the busy winter snow season. We voiced our issues with I assume a manager and all we got was “no, they didn’t do that” or a reason that followed an excuse that didn’t ever acknowledge the wrong that was done. This place had a lot of potential but the mentioned few things faulted it so much so that it inspired me to write my first ever review and also will not go back there. Winter is coming, I hope you pick up your game and cut the bull$hit. We, the consumers, work hard for our money and you can’t give that service and that quality without the vocally inclined be vocal to and about you. Be better than your competition, and...

Emailed bookings email with reservation request 2hours prior to opening & had no response, don’t bother emailing, rocked up as had not heard back and they advised no availability with evident empty tables, uncompromising even with four empty wooden bench seating table options outside (damp from rain earlier that day but could have offered). Abrupt and unforgiving service or lack there of. Couldn’t get past that disappointing hurdle to find out what food was like! We took our $700 meal to Angie’s Italian instead! Fantastic accommodating service amidst busy service, and authentic Sicilian handmade pasta, cheesecake, Tiramisu, sticky date, and limoncello x absolutely divine and glad the night turned the way it did! 🙌👏👌

**Update: received a call from the owner 2 days later threatening, if the one star review was not taken down he would trash my business name and tarnish my business reputation seeing as how he had my business name signed in to google for the review. Owner saying he replied to our email to say they were full, Again I searched “All Mailboxes” including junk, the 3 emails sent from us came up, no replies to any of them. Next year’s snow trip we will not be supporting a business who calls people up and threatens their business and livelihood if an honest review is not taken down. It is unbelievably wrong to threaten our family business. Particularly when I have been 100% honest and transparent with my experience, and that is exactly what reviews are meant for.

*update: reply to your response, Colin Saeger was the person who called my husband this morning with threats. The only threat to your restaurant is the honest review of our experience with you, and us notifying the public of your actions, your actions have...

been going to cocina now every year for the last 5 years anytime i have a snow trip. myself and all of my loved ones have absolutely adored cocina and it has become a staple in our snow trips. sadly since the new ownership it seems like the restaurant has lost its soul. in an attempt to make the restaurant more ‘contemporary’ it has stripped the love, soul and atmosphere from the venue. the service staff all except one lady seemed very new, tired and or unenergetic. the food was average at best, but with a heavier price tag.

they removed all of the amazing dishes from the old menu (steak w/ chimichurri, fish tacos, beef tacos, all of the tacos in general, potato’s etc) and have replaced them with bland new versions to try and upscale the menu.

however, the pork tomahawk was delicious.

it is rather disappointing to see such an amazing restaurant, known for its amazing food and lively, soulful ambience change everything about itself and try to fit into the ‘contemporary’ trend.

a mexican restaurant doesn’t need to be fancy.

the music was also mainly house music which definitely doesn’t fit a contemporary vibe.

the cocktails were very nice so at least they got a few...