Sandpipers Restaurant and Bar - Seafood Restaurant - Restaurant Nelson Bay — Restaurant in Nelson Bay

If I could rate this place lower than a one star I would. I have eaten at many places but this experience has been by far the worst and has left the most disgusting taste in my mouth. My wife and I dined here on our last night of our vacation at nelsons bay. We were served by a man who provided a service which obviously looked like had no training at all. From the moment we sat down we didnt feel welcomed at all, and was just rushed by just telling us the specials of the night- the waiter stated that there were two fishes of the day swordfish and maya maya. My wife and I decided on the turkish bread and dips which was mediocre. When the food arrived the food was basically dumped in front of us without any explanation for even at least what type of dip was provided (as nothing stated in the menu). For mains I ordered the seafood tasting plate and my wife ordered the meat sandpipers tasting plate. The seafood tasting plate specified on the menu fish of the day. The waiter didnt even bother asking me which of the fish of the day I wanted. But I didnt want to make a big fuss about it so I let it slide. Anyway the food took 45 mins to come out. Once the food arrived our orders were switched. I received my wife's meal and she received mine. My wife asked what type of fish was included and the waiter wasnt even sure which fish it was. He just concluded it was maya maya, which he probably just guessed. Which could have just been a simple mistake no big deal but where is the eye for detail in your service?? So, we just simply switched our meals back. When my wife took a slice of the fish she noticed an insect crawling in the bed of salad which the fish was presented on. She really wanted to bring it the waiters attention but I just took it out and just told her not to eat the salad. It was obvious the salad was not washed properly. Which is very slack considering the tasting plate is $42 each. You would think they would take more pride in the presentation as it is so overpriced. Furthermore, the food was tasteless, overcooked and definitely did not meet the expectation for what it is priced. After we had finished our mains our plates were taken away straight away and the waiter didnt even ask us how our meal was or if we would be interested in looking at the dessert menu. We requested for bill as we wanted to leave this place asap. I was left waiting at the table for 20 mins to pay. When the waiter returned with the eftpos machine. The waiter was so rough with swiping the card and inserting the card then stating the card chip does not work. So I just paid with different means. After all this the waiter did not even thank us or anything just simply walks away from us and told the next people to take our table. This was definitely the cherry on top of this worst experience. I mean we dont expect above and beyond service everytime we dine out because lets face it, thats just not realistic these days but as a paying customer there has to be at least a basic standard of customer service that you should meet and this service was unfortunately below low. This is an absolute shame as my wife and I are actually returning customers. We dined here many years ago. Which pI must say the standards with both food and service has drastically dropped. Im not sure if it is because they have been running this reataurant for a long time and the people working there are over it- which is understandable but this is unfair to be treating people this way. If your over running your business I suggest just shut it down. Absolutely no passion in hospitality, poor service, poor quality food. Beware do not dine here!! We Will never be returning here...

Firstly let me say I’d give the food a 4.5 however the review is brought down by the staff. Staff where very formal, sure, I’d have to say probably a little aloof. We had too flag them down for everything, never once did they check in with us if we wanted anything, water, more drinks, desserts etc.

We started with 3 Entrees, the Arancini balls, dumplings and Halloumi. Out of the 3, the Halloumi was a standout. The dumplings were nothing special and the arancini balls were smaller than expected, tasted alright but again nothing amazing. The Halloumi and salad had a great combination of flavours.

For mains we ordered where the Chicken Scallopini and the Sandpipers tasting plate (pork belly, lamb & Squid). Let’s start with the tasting plate. The Squid was soft, some pieces tasted salty others bland. That scores a solid 1. Pork belly was good, great crackeling probably lacking a little flavour but melted in your mouth so over-all a good experience. The Lamb was fantastic! Tasted amazing! The Chicken Scallopini also tasted great however it didn’t take long to get a little over it, flavour was a little too intense for the quantity of old on the plate. Serving size’s where good.

For desert we ordered the White Chocolate Spring Rolls & Burlee. The Burlee was delicious, really enjoyed it and my wife really enjoyed the spring rolls and the vanilla bean ice-cream served on the side.

Overall the food was great but let down by the staff and also probably the ambiance of the venue, “cosy” is one word you could use. It didn’t have the feel of a premium dinning establishment and considering the scenery in Port Stephens I’m sure there must be another venue that has Dinner with a view.

Not a cheap experience but one worth having. If you’ve only got 1 night to head out for dinner I’d have a stronger look around for something a little bit finer, maybe try “The Point”...

Can not believe we were turned away at 6:00pm for a 6:30pm booking. We got told our table was occupied at the time when there many tables that were free. When we asked about the free tables, they said those tables were booked and people were coming at 6:30pm and told us to come back in 30 minutes. We left feeling being treated so coldly and decided to go elsewhere for dinner. Absolutely horrible experience. It was a meant to be a special night for me and my husband and we were planning to enjoy the food there but no food is worth horrible hospitality. I hope this is just a one-off experience for us and other people are treated much nicer!

Re: owners reply Offering customers outside tables on a freezing Saturday night is NOT being nice We did NOT rudely reject the offer, we just said we preferred inside coz it's less than 8 degrees outside Arriving early to my dentist or hairdresser appontment, yes I would have to wait but I would be asked to sit down have some water, offered magazine or something NOT get out and come back after 30 minutes We did NOT get a call, maybe we did but reception was bad so it didn't connect but so what, you cancelled our booking by 7pm and we did get an email notification I don't understand the tables looked exactly the same and other people had the same time booking as us, you are NOT a restaurant with fantastic water-front view the decor was plain, what's the deal with sitting is down first Horrible hospitality is an UNDERSTATEMENT now that I've seen the owners defensive reply, again I'm not suggesting the food is bad and I'm sure you don't treat everyone like this otherwise you'd be out of business, but personally I had a horrible experience and I don't need your justifications I just want to express my...