FAT CHEF Carrum Downs — Restaurant in Melbourne

Food: 3.5/5 Service: 4/5 Price: 3.5/5 Atmosphere: 4/5

I've been here twice. Both times for dinner. Both times, the staff had pretty good customer service from what I could see. They appeared friendly and were helpful when needed. They were happy to talk about the foods on the menu and make recommendations. Overall, pretty nice service from my experiences. The food is average to be honest. I got the parma. It was HUGE and I really couldn't finish it. I mean I probably could have, but I would've wanted to puke afterwards if I moved. Lol. It wasn't too bad, you can't really go wrong with a parma. The chips were a bit salty though. Too salty. I didn't really like the salad. I don't know why it's a thing to put pomegranate in salad... Unless you're supposed to eat the seed. Otherwise, it's a little inconvenient. I was quite disappointed with the salad because it was just that rocket leaf thing and I find it very bitter and yuck. I would have preferred just simple lettuce and that small leafy green thing that's not bitter. For the portion of my meal, I suppose it was value for money. I ordered a pina colada and it was actually really nice. Less rum taste, more coconut and pineapple or whatever tropical fruit they use in it. Still taste the alcohol but I like tasting the external flavours too... I tasted my family's meals and they were pretty good. Lamb cutlets were really small though but it was cooked nicely with some nice sauces. They could give more than a smear of sauce tho. The steak was pretty good and juicy. The pasta/lasagne was good. But tbh overall all of this was average. It's not super amazing. Biggest downfall that night was the chips were too salty. At least the food presentation looked great.

Second go, I had tried their calamari dish and really... I didn't like it. Halfway through I started to feel sick and I just couldn't push myself to finish it off. Mind you, they don't give a lot. The batter was too floury. It made that fluffy texture in my mouth and I just didn't like it. The calamari meat itself was cooked fine but the batter really ruined it for me. I was with friends for this visit and they all got burgers. They looked really big, so I guess there was value for money there. They looked filling as well, but really just fell apart on first bite onwards. I couldn't exactly try them so I can't say much, but the biggest downfall for them was the chips apparently weren't even salted! They had to add salt. This night I had ordered an ice coffee and it was really big... But it was delicious. I had the option of whipped cream and mixing it in made it nice and sweet. I don't like strong bitter coffee taste. So this was really nice. But really, you can't go wrong with ice coffee...

I'd say overall the food is just average. It's nice, but it's average. I also think some days it's just a hit and miss. I'm not sure if I would recommend it, but if you like basic foods that look fancy... It's not terrible. But for the price... I think it's just a...

Consistently poor service, after several different visits hoping things would improve we won't be returning.

For today's experience we arrived to find the place less than half full, were pointed towards rather than guided to a table, and had to ask for kids menus to be provided.

The couple that arrived a few minutes after us and sat at a nearby table had to ask for used glasses and cutlery from a previous guest to be removed.

We were not advised of any wait time and told our meals would arrive "soon". 40 minutes later when we asked if they were coming soon we were told "at least 10 more minutes" - more than enough time to cook our couple of simple fish&chips meals which obviously hadn't even been started. Today we left without eating or paying.

Previous visits have also involved long wait times, forgotten items, erroneous items included on the bill, and when we visited once in a larger group the meals (all ordered together) arrived sporadically rather than together. It's often hard to get attention to order additional drinks, which then often take an unusually long time to arrive. Ambient music seems to just be whatever the staff feel like putting on - it isn't always family friendly, and varies wildly in volume anywhere from inaudible to so loud it's getting difficult to have a conversation.

Watching the regular menu changes on Facebook it seems like someone in charge thinks that's why this place seems to be struggling a bit - maybe listen to the many reviews similar to my own experience and work on improving good old fashioned service.

I must say on a positive note, in my experience the food has always been good when (or if!) it finally arrives, but the rest of the experience is just off putting.

Reading through other reviews, it seems even many (but not all) of the positive 5-star reviews have at least one minor complaint, usually about service or...

We’ve been twice, once on steak night and most recently for platter night. Steak night was so delicious and well priced, I could not fault it!!

Herein lies the problem though: nowhere EXCEPT the physical window of the restaurant does it tell you what specials are for what night. So we turn up to platter night, there’s no pricing for the discounted platters so we have to take our best guess on what discount the waitress will apply for us. The platters we’ve seen on instagram, not a single one is available on the night only those on the printed laminated menu.

So here we are expecting surf and turf, maybe some oysters and a steak or tomahawk but we got the same standard three that are there week in week. After an instagram message to the venue, we were told just refer to the menu in front of us, nothing actually special this week at this location.

I can appreciate that specials might change week to week based on ingredient availability but please consider actively using your social media platforms and confirming the locations that specials are available at. A specials printed menu, non laminated, also wouldn’t go astray to ensure your staff and customers are firm on pricing and availability.

The platter itself was stacked! Lots of options and a generous serve. The fish was overly processed, dry and lacking but the calamari and prawns were delicious as, so some room for improvement. The slow cooked lamb was out of place on this particular board with no bread or grain to pair with. A larger serve of chips also wouldn’t go stray if the board is suited for 2-4 people.

I know we’ll be back because it’s our local and we want to support them but the spontaneity and disorganisation of the menu will always have us use this place as a...