Eastern Tiger Restaurant — Restaurant in Newcastle-Maitland

We attended a birthday lunch here on a Saturday. The restaurant was clean. There was a mix up with our booking which staff were polite and apologetic about but made no effort to fix as they were very busy.

Allergens: There is a sign on the front desk stating that due to the buffet nature of the meal they are unable to guarantee that ANY food is free from allergens, ie seafood, wheat, dairy, nuts, etc. as the kitchen does not prepare food in an allergen free way.

Having seen the set up, I assume they also cannot guarantee that serving utensils are not being mixed between dishes by patrons at the buffet. The seafood is next to the salad, desserts, and bread rolls. Soup, various meats, vegetables, and salads are all next to each other. So do be aware if you have any specific allergies.

The premises is wheelchair / walker accessible and has quite some space between tables which would make the restaurant easy to manoeuvre around in if you require. There are bathrooms and plenty of parking. You do need to follow club rules to enter the restaurant, meaning ID is required to enter, no hats, etc.

The buffet lunch was $20.50 per person as of January 2025, paid on entry. Drinks are available in the bar area of the restaurant.

The self serve buffet food was fresh, but very bland. However, we are vegetarian so maybe the meat dishes had something to offer that the vegetable and salad dishes did not. From the small amount we ate, the roast potato was the nicest.

As is the nature of a buffet, you have to be prepared to eat food that has been picked over by however many people before you. There were no staff monitoring hygiene or serving practices of patrons.

Eastern Tiger seemed to attract groups, families, and older clientele. It is reasonably priced if you are happy with an average lunch or need to cater to a variety of food preferences (but...

The Asian food was nice however, the rest was disgusting. The spag bowl was the consistency of a soup, with mince floating in it. It was watery and unbeatable, as if they’ve made a basic sauce then added a gallon of water to make it go further. Same with the potato back. Was so watery, I’m unsure how they would get it like that to begin with. The salads were rubbish, the prawn cocktail mix (lettuce with baby prawns) was tasteless to say the least. You can can the prawns are frozen and it’s again watery. Same with the custard, so thin with chunks of what I can only assume is the powder that wasn’t dissolved properly floating around in there. Garlic bread was hard and nasty. I got my little girl some nuggets with potato gems, even something so simple that all you need to do is prepare them in an oven was butchered. They were overcooked and hard as a rock. The chocolate cake was great that’s because it’s just a Sara Lee chocolate slab cut up into small pieces. I wasn't game even to try the roasts but they looked ok.. Just put it this way, I left hungry. I’m kicking myself for not taking photos. I’m not one to write a lot of reviews however, if a service is outstanding or really disappointing I feel I need to. It took The ladies at the desk about 40 seconds to acknowledge us by after they rudely finished their personal story which I can’t stand. That in itself should’ve ave made me walk out the door. But the man behind the bar was so lovely. Just real welcoming and chatty. He...

To first summarise so you don’t need to read all that follows: if you have any standard when it comes to your dining experience, this is not the place for you.

I’m not leaving a review to bash on this place, I just want this to be a PSA. This was one of the most derelict dining experiences I have had in Newcastle. The clientele this venue attracts have no concept of hygiene, and cleanliness is in no way monitored. It was a very obviously distinct crowd. The staff look like they’d rather be resting their faces in hot coals, and I honestly can’t blame them - I didn’t want to be there after I comprehended the situation we’d got ourselves into either.

The food offering was in no way a fresh serving, I can imagine the kitchen is only full of microwaves and storage for bulk bought at Costco. The food is dry, the textures are very incorrect, and the sushi offering, while initially exciting to see upon entry, was what you’d expect from your local sushi store at closing time with dry chicken and brown avocado. The baked potatoes are your only safe bet, everything else gets a hard pass from me. I certainly did not consume the $30 of food that we paid for - in-fact my body would not allow for it, as I was making most use of the bathroom as I handled my body rejecting what I had just eaten after only two plates, which is where my experience ended.

All in all, if you’re thinking of treating friends or family to a nice buffet experience, or if you generally just enjoy a quality meal -...