Suq Restaurant — Restaurant in New South Wales

This cosy fine dining 30 seat restaurant with its brightly painted orange exterior is located on the outskirts of Terrigal and is booked out sometimes for months in advance, getting a reservation can be difficult. The interior with its simple white linen and wicker decor was humble with a laid back feel. I was greeted in a professional manner and shown to my table.

With a varied range to choose from a globally inspired menu it made it difficult to choose because I wanted to try just about everything.( the menu online was not the same menu in restaurant)

An Amuse-bouche was delivered to my table a few moments after placing my order, it was a simple cracker with hummus (complimentary)

The fresh corn cobs were tasty and the accompanying capsicum Mayo and aged parmigiana was very good. ( $12 )

The Duck liver pate was simply magnificent and I loved every component of it, including the beautiful presentation, my only complaint is that the baguette was over baked hard and dry making it difficult to bite through. ( $29 )

The spiced Lamb spring rolls were small and very ordinary and had a basic curry interior, the deep fried pastry was undercooked and chewy. The accompanying minted yogurt was delicious. ( $23 )

The crispy skin Duck unfortunately was not crispy, accompanied with cauliflower purée and cherry jus. The duck was blush and cooked perfectly, The purée and jus were way too thin and watery and was impossible to scoop up even though it came with a spoon, almost all of it was left on the plate as I couldn’t pick it up. The cherry flavour was minimal and the duck breast small ( pre cut into 5 slices) although the duck itself was nice it was a bit disappointing and overall, not a well executed dish. It could of been better. ( $44 ) The octopus tentacle was ordered off the specials menu and said it came accompanied by chorizo and olives. ( * no pre warnings that the stones still in ) When it arrived I was surprised to see it was served in a an gravy style sauce with a very unusual flavour ( which was not described on the menu ) although there was nothing wrong with the dish itself, I felt that unfortunately the sauce ruined the dish and It wasn’t to my liking but may be to the liking of others. I was expecting grilled octopus rather than a stewed style meal. ( $38 )

The fish of the day was snapper ( and said it was whole fish that was filleted in a light tempura) When it arrived, also not quite as described but thickly battered cocktails and served with whole deep fried potatoes, a deep fried garlic and coriander dome, and a lemon chunk ( with store sticker still in tact ) Although the dish was ok and the inside fish itself was delicious, it was not as expected and no sauce accompanying it so it was basic, ( similar to battered fish from the corner fish and chip store ) It was a rather large portion though of 5 pieces of fish and 3 whole deep fried potatoes with skin on. ($45 )

The Passion fruit Creme brûlée was average and unfortunately a bit of a let down. It was served warm and it was a thin baked custard rather than cold thick rich creamy traditional Creme brûlée which I was expecting. The well known sugar glass top was near missing, the small amount of blown sugar that was on top was clumped and gritty. The passion fruit component was simply a spoon full of tinned passion fruit on top, rather than flavoured throughout as I thought it would have been. It was accompanied by a very small amount of berry compote which was nice in flavour and texture. ( $16 ) .

Although some of it fell below expectation in places, Overall it was still a fairly enjoyable dining experience anyway, everything was fresh, of good quality and presented extremely well, just lacking a little in the attention to the finer detail that is needed in a fine dining restaurant.

Service was highly professional and meals spaced and timed perfectly. Music was a mix of relaxing and enjoyable modern mood chill style, played at a perfect level.

Would I return …yes Would I recommend …yes

Bookings are essential ( with...

We decided on Suq after reviewing the seafood restaurants in the Central Coast and were excited to find and book this restaurant. The reviews and menu looked amazing. The Restuarant offers share plates and recommends 4 or 5 share plates for a couple. Our first share plate took nearly 40 mins to arrive. It was delicious but not what I was expecting in its presentation or the way it was cooked. It was small, but I figured it’s the entree so all good. 20 mins after the first plate, we are still waiting for the next plate. I enquired about it and they advised it is on it’s way. Finally the next plate arrived and we had been there for an hour. The plate was Mediterranean’s octopus, we received ONE octopus tentacle with a little bit of salad with it. Small for one person, let alone two. Again, it was tasty but disappointing. Now we wait for the main meal plates. Now sitting for 1hr 30mins, we still haven’t had a decent meal. I enquire again. ‘I understand you’re busy and the food is quite nice, however we have been here since 7.30 and now it is 9pm and we still haven’t eaten, do you know how long until our food will be ready?’ The staff enquire and advise that the snapper is being cooked now and it should be ready in under 10 mins. 10 mins later, still no food. I’m now getting frustrated, so ask again about the food we ordered. The snapper is ready and then the duck dish will come out. I wait a few minutes. Our side dish of roast potatoes arrives, still no food. In 1hr and 45 mins, we have had two entrees and a side dish served. I decide to leave, I no longer wish to wait. The staff tell me that they are very busy and that share plates come out one at a time. I would have expected them to come out one after the other consistently, rather than waiting half an hour between servings. As I advised the staff, if I wait any longer, by the time we eat our first plate, then wait for the second main plate, then dessert and coffee we would be here until 11pm!! I decide to pay for what I’ve eaten and leave. Only when I’m paying does my snapper finally arrive. Too late! I’ve lost my appetite and no longer want this food. After much planning to finally get a nice weekend away with my wife away from the kids all we wanted was to relax to a nice meal. Instead we ate Dominos pizza at 10.30pm and I was down nearly $70 for two tiny share plates and two cokes! Not impressed. If you want to offer only share plates to your customers, then make them actual share plates suitable for two people. If you want to offer share plates, advise your customers that you will only begin cooking the next plate after the previous plate has been served. All this time, I’m watching a group of 8 at a table who arrived after us being handed one plate after the other. In all honesty, I felt I shouldn’t pay anything at all, but because I was there for a nice time and didn’t want to create a scene, I politely paid and left. Regarding your reply: yes the order was taken 7.50pm you’re correct. That’s because we were there at our reservation time of 7.30pm and spent 20 mins sipping on sparkling water until someone took our order. Yes, I know seafood is expensive. My wife and I have travelled widely and have dined at some of the finest seafood restaurants all over Australia. You served one octopus tentacle and a small cake of lobster and crab with some watermelon. I am not one to shirk or concern myself with cost of good food. I know what quality food is worth. I guess a restauranteur must combine food with service to make a customer feel like they had...

Suq Restaurant Absolutely exceptional (cheeky quick mid week) dining experience. The culinary skill and excellence is phenomenal. You can really understand why the Chef is so frequently written up in the paper. The restaurant has a warm ‘family run restaurant’ vibe with the excellence and finish you’d expect from fine dining. We were in and out in less than an hour (at our request thank you Chef) as we had our little one with us.. however, many guests were dining, trying the menu, enjoying cocktails or a bottle of wine over the course of the evening. The Mid week specials + a locals mid week chefs choice is great. The main menu has a selection of light but really special entrees that are easy to share. Mains are more substantial with a really good variety of dishes such as incredible sushimi, perfect pork belly and tempura prawns that are honestly the best we’ve had. The balance of flavours and the culinary skill is what we look for if we are going to go out for dinner. Really special dish’s and the menu is set in such a way you can try a few different things which we absolutely loved. Even our little fussy eater was impressed with Zucchini flowers & the pork. We absolutely love local restaurants but even more so when the food is at such an exemplary level as the menu at Suq. We requested a take away dessert which was kindly accommodated ~ we can only say thank you Chef! Dinner was exceptional. Monique and the team provided excellent service. Highly recommend Suq for its exquisite food, warm service, great wine and stand out desserts! Mid week for easy dining worked so well for...