Home At The Bay — Restaurant in Newcastle-Maitland

I’m a local and used to come here often when it was run by the previous owners and always had good experiences, but this was very disappointing under the new management. I ordered a pizza and asked for bacon only on one half, but it came out with bacon on nearly every slice. I don’t eat pork for religious reasons, and after taking just one bite I realised it was on my side of the pizza. I felt sick and disgusted. When I raised it, staff initially tried to insist it was only on one half until I had to point out slice by slice that there was bacon everywhere. I later learned the man I dealt with was the owner, which made it worse — I expected more understanding. They did remake it, but I felt like my concern wasn’t taken seriously, and the comment when handing me the replacement (“here’s the pizza exactly how you wanted it”) came across as sarcastic rather than apologetic.

This isn’t just about preference — it’s about trust and safety. For people with religious, ethical or medical dietary needs, being listened to and respected is essential. If this had been a medical allergy, the consequences could have been extremely serious. I won’t be returning.

EDIT: After posting this review, the owner located my personal facebook profile and messaged me directly about it. This contact was unsolicited and made me uncomfortable. In his message, he provided a version of events that was inconsistent with what actually occurred during my visit. I've attached screenshots for context and transparency. I believe feedback should be handled through professional business channels, not by tracking down customers on social media. I'm sharing this so others are aware of how feedback...

I came here at the end of November and had the corn and zucchini fritters. It was a lovely meal and service was excellent. Went back today keen to enjoy the same dish and experience. It was like I had come to a different place. The fritters were completely different in looks, taste and texture. It was quite busy so meal delivery was slow - the meals were sitting on the pass for a while and arrived cold. My friend’s daughter ordered ordered the waffles and they were soggy. She ordered the compote on the side, but it came with a berry sauce drizzled over, and the side dish was a few cut up berries - so not sure if the sauce was meant to be the compote, or the fresh berries. Plus the waffles were undercooked and soggy. My friend’s daughter ordered the burrito bowl - the meat was burnt and tough - inedible. One of the waitresses came over to check in with us, she was very understanding and agreed that the burrito bowl was inedible and they provided a different dish free of charge. My cousin did enjoy the fish tacos, they just needed a bit more fish in the tacos.

They may have been affected by being quite busy but it was not the experience that I was anticipating after enjoying my first...

I’m a visitor from Scotland and I was with friends that live in the area. We went for a lovely walk along the lake and stopped here for some lunch. We ordered drinks and food. The drinks arrived after 5 mins, but after 35mins there was still no food. I was observing the staff and the manager and they didn’t seem to be customer focused. I approached the manager and asked in a polite way why the food was taking so long. His words were “we are busy” not what I was expecting to hear from a manager. I just said that it was an inappropriate time to wait on bacon and eggs, a fish dish and some waffles. He stood his ground as to the time we waited, went to the kitchen then returned to say he was not happy to serve us. So we were asked to leave the premises. We were all in shock as to how the manager dealt with a simple complaint. I have never been dealt with in such an inappropriate manner but someone that is managing this type of business. Also not a good example to members...