Merry St Restaurant — Restaurant in Kioloa

It's not often that you go to a restaurant and have such difficulty deciding what to order, as everything you've had on the menu is so incredible. Amazing family run restaurant and what a lovely family they are.

Allison, Audrey & Gracie are such friendly and attentive front-of-house staff and John, his son and team are truly incredible chefs and cooks.

I genuinely believe that out of the top 5 meals i've ever had, 4 of them would be from Merry Street Restaurant.

Things i'd recommend to order, menu permitting (in no particular order): Surfer Burger (nice bacon and BBQ sauce) Lamb Burger (has an awesome beetroot and feta or goats cheese thing going on) Prawn and Chorizo Linguini (has a perfect amount of flavour and spice) Zucchini Flowers (something different and comes with a tomato based type of sauce on the side - we get these every time they have them) Seafood Chowder (incredible dish with a range of seafood. I reckon it's on par with the famous chowder joints in New England. We hope to see this one back on the menu next winter) Salt & Pepper Squid (had it one night when it was all they had available, whilst it's not typically a dish I would order, it is really good and would recommend it if this is what you're into) Mixed Antipasto Board (good range of nibbles. Smoked olives were surprisingly warm when served and now I cannot imagine eating them any other way) Oysters Kilpatrick (I usually prefer oysters with a vinaigrette however these are very good if you like the worcetershire/bacon flavours) Chicken Burger (not your typical thick and juicy deep fried chicken burger, it's more of a thin cut and then grilled... but wow... this one is a go for sure).

It's likely the most expensive place for food in the Bawley/Kioloa area ($20-35 per adult) but it's 100% worth every cent... and everyone that we've either been with or brought to agrees.

Cannot recommend this place enough. Wish it was open 7...

My family and I recently visited the Merry Beach Restaurant to try their degustation menu. It was $95 per person which was quite steep.

Although it was a 6 course meal, the portion sizes were extremely small which meant each of us went home and ate more to fill ourselves.

Each of the courses (not including dessert) were seafood which was not advised prior to sitting down which makes it difficult for those who don't eat or are allergic to seafood.

One of the courses was a small piece of flathead served on a rock from the beach. Although the rock sounds like a great idea, it was very impractical and wobbly which meant our fish ended up on the table. Another course was a seafood pasta served in a jar which was extremely impractical.

We all felt as though the quality of food didn't match the price point at all. The food felt quite experimental and 'boujee' which didn't match the restaurant.

Although it was a set menu, we received no menu cards to advise what we could expect to eat. There was also no drinks menu which meant we didn't know if a glass of wine was $10 or $50.

We feel as though the menu should include bistro style meals like - Schnitzel, steak, fish & chips, burgers, etc. which would be much more appealing to the many families staying in the surrounding caravan parks and camping grounds.

We probably wouldn't eat here again as it was extremely expensive for what we received and there is very little...

They don’t have a very extensive menu (yet still great diversity). I assume the choice of creating a more exclusive à la carte menu was to ensure their customers are served perfection on a plate? Because that is exactly what they did. We tried each other’s meals, everything was delicious and extremely flavourful. My rare steak was cooked to precision. Even the side dishes were a 10/10, nothing boring or typical about them, and the portion size is impressive. You only need 2 sides for 4 people. Loved the Pinot Grigio. Customer service was also top-notch, the staff were friendly and delightful. There was no long wait for anything, which was an unexpected surprise because the restaurant was almost full. Reasonably priced food and beverages. I highly recommend. The 3 stars for atmosphere is due to the level of noise when it was the busiest.

Tip for the owner: Large acoustic clouds added to the ceiling where you haven’t included panelling would assist in further noise reduction, another plus to them is they come in a vast array of styles so it can look like you have a feature ceiling! Additionally, adding panels to the walls would dramatically improve the noise levels. You can even get acoustic panels...