Riviera Bar & Grill — Restaurant in New South Wales

Staying across the road at the Rydges Powerhouse Hotel and After looking at the reviews we decided to to try Riviera, I’ve got to say what a disappointment. Their were 3 of us dining and I’ll start with the first meal a simple T Bone steak, we asked this to be cooked Rare, obviously their Chef is unaware that rare is still supposed to be cooked. The meat was hardly charred, and was still cold not to mention Blue. I told my friend to send it back but he didn’t want to make a fuss. After only being able to eat a few bites around the outside he left the rest. The next meal the Gnocchi, I’m not sure who taught the person how to make this, but they really need to get their mixture right, it was more like eating potato puffs I guess would be the best way to describe it. It was edible but certainly would not order this from there, even though they describe it as one of their highest rank choices, I think the word rank is used incorrectly from them. The last meal was a Sirloin cooked medium, at least they cooked this one correctly, but really there was no real flavour at all. I must say we only complained about the T Bone that was hardly touched but only received it half price which I believe was a little embarrassing for the business. Service was good buy the waitresses, but I think the manager needs to do a hospitality course and get a better understanding of what customers expect when meals are so bad. Stay away, much better places in Tamworth, especially across the road at Powerhouse who definitely know how to cook a...

While good motel restaurants seem to be the exception rather than the rule, Tamworth is one place that breaks the mould. Not only is the Powerhouse Tamworth’s restaurant—The Workshop Kitchen—a fabulous place to eat locally produced Jack's Creek beef, over the road at the Best Western Sanctuary Inn they are doing interesting things as well. The restaurant is called the Riviera Bar & Grill. The decor is a curious blend of conservative wainscoting, and flamboyant lush blue-green velour chairs, circle lights and cane chairs, most boasting window views onto two of Tamworth’s busiest roads.

Here you can eat Jack’s Creek beef as a hearty, slow-cooked ragu over gnocchi ($28) topped with Parmesan cheese and basil. It’s also trotted out as wagyu bolognese on the “gangster” ($25) 13-inch, 24-hour proofed pizza with thinly sliced spuds, garlic, tomato, and mozzarella cheese. Both dishes eat well and speak to the conservative side of this meat’n’potatoes, cattle country town. The cocktails address the town’s more performative character with a spicy watermelon margarita ($16) topping the list. There’s also a credible wine list, with drops like the Kooyong Massale Pinot Noir ($15/glass) if you can’t quite make the leap between the two different faces...

We had a very disappointing experience at Riviera Bar & Grill. Despite the restaurant not being busy (only a handful of tables), we waited over 40 minutes for our meals. We had requested for the kid’s meal to come out earlier, but it never did — we had to chase it up, and another waitress claimed it hadn’t been requested at all. Poor communication all around.

When the meals finally arrived, the quality was very underwhelming. The oriental pork belly was overcooked — hard as a rock and not edible.

I specifically requested my steak to be cooked medium, but it came out almost well done and certainly not worth the $48 price tag. Overall, very mediocre food.

When asked how everything was, I explained the food was overcooked. The waitress told me I should have said something earlier and they would have remade the meals — but after already waiting 40 minutes, we couldn’t wait another round. She dismissed the feedback and offered nothing further.

Sadly, this place is overpriced with very average food and poor service. Would...