Paper Daisy — Restaurant in New South Wales

If I were to solely rate the food, it’d be 5 stars, it was absolutely divine. However the service was terrible. One could feel they try to be very upscale, Try to serve the food from the correct side etc., but it feels fake and it makes you feel uncomfortable. Takes ages to actually order food. Our waitress explained each point of the menu without leaving any chance to talk, when I then asked about the vegan menu, she said “you should have told me at the beginning”, then came with the vegan menu and said “well this is basically self-explanatory”-really? It made me feel really uncomfortable. Service very slow. In the end, we were charged 2 items that we didn’t order, which resulted in a 25% increase of the bill. They did change that after I explained in detail (it took her a while to understand), but basically just said sorry and that was it. After receiving the bill (which again took a while), nobody ever returned to our table-still not quite sure if that’s how it officially works there. But at the cashier, nobody really felt responsible neither. How embarrassing for an upscale restaurant to be so unorganized. I would definitely return, for the venue and the food, but if you want to have a nice lunch with good service, go to your pizza shop next door.

On another note. I got an email asking to leave a good review here, and/or write criticism via mail. The point of a review is for other people to read about pros and cons, so...

Had dinner on Friday evening there a party of 11. It was a set menu. I'm a pescatarian and there was one vegan so the swapped dish for me was octopus - tough and tasteless. The starters were thoroughly boring and unimaginative. Resembled more of a 80's party option than a 5 star restaurant. The mains were dry snapper and chicken I could have better at the local pub. Wine list was also limited to a "try to hard" selection of wines. They should throw a few good local wines in that appeal to a majority at a fair price. I certainly do not mind paying top dollar for a 5 star rated restaurant, but I want something that is innovative, visually appealing and is going to leave me with some wow factor. Needless to say this was not a good dining experience for a hatted chef or a 5 star restaurant. Service wise, totally rushed. One of our guests had food on her plate, the tables getting cleared and she was asked to finish, she gulped down a portion of what she had and the rest was taken away and told y the waiter she needed to take the plate as the mains were coming out. Then we waiting 15 plus minutes for the the uneventful snapper and chicken. Honestly, if you want a 5 star experience the restaurant is not the place. A very disappointing experience. By the way , we had several people at our table who work in a 5 star venue and we all felt the same - food was substandard and service definitely...

Where do I even begin? From the moment we arrived, the venue felt chaotic and disorganized. We waited at the host desk to be seated, only to be greeted by a French man (who I assume was the manager) who showed no interest in being welcoming or hospitable. The manager showed no sign of leadership or care, spending most of his time behind the desk at the computer instead of overseeing the service. After being seated, we waited at least ten minutes just to get water, which made us feel ignored right from the start.

I’ve dined here many times before and always raved about the food and service to friends and family, especially the multi-course degustation and wine pairings. Unfortunately, that experience is no longer the same. The food quality has dropped to what feels like an overpriced home-cooked meal, and the service has gone from excellent to poor or, at best, average.

The dining room is still as beautiful as ever, but sadly, that seems to be the only charm Paper Daisy has left. Despite several attempts to get attention for water or wine refills, the staff, though present, appeared overstretched — perhaps a sign they were understaffed.

Overall, a disappointing dining experience, and unfortunately, we will not be returning when there are so many other great options nearby that offer delicious meals at much...