Branches Restaurant — Restaurant in New South Wales

Despite this place existing for as long as I can remember, I didn't visit until last year. I immediately regretted passing over it for so long. I've been back multiple times with multiple people, all of whom have commented the same thing: "Why have I ignored this place for so long?"

The food is amazing. It's sort of expensive, but well worth the indulgence every so often. Pretty much all modern Italian cuisine, but with a local twist like Balmain bugs or other local seafood. There are plenty of non-seafood options as well though. I can happily recommend the gnocchi with pancetta. The dessert menu is a little limited, but honestly you'll probably have eaten too much by that stage to want any anyway.

Service is wonderful, with the perfect amount of attention and restraint so you never feel abandoned or crowded.

A fairly extensive drinks menu at reasonable prices, including beers, red and white wines, and substantial spirits and liqueur options. Coffee and tea are also on offer, including spiked versions with whiskey, amaretto, and so on.

The decor is simple but lovely, with subtle themes of classic Hollywood, ratpack members, and early 20th century mobsters through black and white photos on the walls. The table settings are simple, yet classy, in black and white.

The tables themselves are varied, seating couples or groups of 5 or 6 at round or rectangular tables, and they will pull together tables to seat larger parties. I've seen groups of 20 eat with no problems. The room itself is quite large with a huge front window, and I could easily see the place hosting medium-sized weddings of 80 or so.

The view from the front window is gorgeous, despite technically looking out over a school and a sewerage plant (no, you can't smell anything). Views extend across the fields to the sea, and although you can't see the beach itself you can see the ocean to the horizon, which is particularly beautiful at sunset.

Don't let the outer appearance of a dingy motel fool you. This place is...

Fantastic restaurant. For the dinner menu you can choose from a selection of three course meals or select dishes a la carte. Portions were generous but not wasteful, and the prices are very reasonable for the high quality of the food and service. Our server Maria was friendly, attentive, and very pleasant to talk to. We opted for the three course meal and thoroughly enjoyed each dish - they included salads, seafood, veal, and desserts. The chef's skills really shined; apparently he's been there for 20+ years so he knows his stuff. For the restaurant's sake I hope he never leaves! It's located at the resort/motel; finding the pull off for the driveway at night was...

Tonight I had the eye fillet steak with dianne sauce and veggies. Wow!!! They were amazing! The steak was tender, tasty and cooked great. The veggies were superb too! Crunchy and perfectly cooked. I will 100% be trying all their other menu items. I also had the profiteroles with chocolate sauce. Unfortunately they weren’t very good. 5 stars out of 5 for the steak and veggies. 1 star for the profiteroles as they weren’t good but the chocolate...