Market St Basement — Restaurant in Newcastle-Maitland

Possibly the most disappointing dining experience I've ever had. We booked a long time in advance for Valentine's Day dinner. We had dined at the Basement about a year before and enjoyed it very much. The set menu advertised looked fantastic and we were very excited for the evening out. We arrived a few moments before 7pm and waited while a number of guests in front of us were told they had double booked some tables and had to shuffle things around. We were directed to our table and were offered menus and table water after a few minutes. Another 10 minutes went by and our drink order was taken, we let the staff know we would have a soft drink and then a wine later with our mains. Drinks took a while to arrive, and we noticed that tables seated before us were receiving breads, and some entrees. At this point we've been seated around 40 minutes. Another 10 minutes went by as we attempted to get the attention of staff to enquire about breads, but were unable to get them. At a little after 8pm my husband was keen to leave. He'd had enough, but I convinced him to wait because I was sure it would be worth it. Boy, was I wrong. We got bread about 10 minutes later, and it was delicious - puff bread served with truffle butter. Very nice, but simple. We had noticed that service was quite chaotic, with some dishes doing the walk around the whole room before finding their table, the table across from us got their bread, and moments later were service entrees which barely fit on the table -they arrived around twenty minutes after us. Our entrees came and the seared scallops were cold (but tasty), the burrata was good, but not great. When we mentioned the cold scallops the staff said they would let the chef know when he was not so cranky. At this point we ordered wine for our mains and when the mains came about 10 minutes later we had to remind the staff about our drink order. The eye fillet of beef was okay, it had that taste that old beef gets, and was otherwise unremarkable. The rigatoni alla vodka with crab was very disappointing. It had the taste of crab, but none could be found in the dish. Dessert was okay, the tiramisu was very large compared to the panna cotta, the panna cotta was a bit bland and the chocolate ganache a bit rich for the delicate pudding. Throughout the meal the vibe in the room was unpleasant and it was palpable that we were not the only guests disappointed that evening. It was all but impossible to get the attention of staff who appeared to be avoiding the guests. Overall a very disappointing experience for $120 per head plus drinks. I would, sadly,...

We arrived for our 5pm booking and were seated at a table for two; despite there being three of us (At 5pm - being the only people in the restaurant).

At 5:30pm the waitress finally came to take our drink order, while there we asked if we could swap to a larger table as all of our share entrees won't fit on this table - She advised us she could however the larger table had a booking for 7pm, so we would have less time to eat. We chose to stay at the smaller table as she had still not taken our food order 30 minutes in. We gave our drink order and she immediately turned and walked away without taking our entree order - We had to call her back.

The waitress brings out our entrees knowing they won't fit on our table we scramble to make some room as she bluntly says 'Could you just move'. At this point she takes our mains and desert order.

Just as we finish our mains (plates still on the table), another waitress approaches our tables and informs us (very politely) that we have to vacate the tiny table as it has a 7pm booking... Which again, is exactly why we couldn't move to a a larger table.

When I state we haven't even received our desert yet, she advises we must move to a window bar seat - after 20 minutes of waiting on the uncomfortable seats I cancel our desert order as it has not arrived and we leave.

Now, I am all here for making money, and paying for your place. But when we're in an empty restaurant and crammed onto a single table with more plates than the table can hold - and lied to about why we can't move - Then I think this is just greed. Greed that didn't even pay off as the 4 seat table that we enquired about remained empty.

On top of this - If the waitress had have served us on time, we should have and would have been able to finish all courses within the two hour window. However, 30 minutes to take a drink order in an empty restaurant is ridiculous.

I have been to this restaurant 3 times, all of which I have had the same waitress, all of these times the service was terrible.

I've always given high reviews because the food is incredible - I can not fault it. But this time, the service was on another level.

P.s The duck ragu...

I am a disability support worker and while I was out with a client I stopped strangers in the street and asked if they knew a really good coffee shop. I actually said I really want a decent coffee not a horrible one. One of them said oh we own the neighbours coffee shop go there I promise it will be delicious. Well I can say this person does not break promises. It was by far the best coffee I have had in NSW since I moved here 6 years ago from Tassie. I have had good coffee before but this one was heavenly, soothing, calming and just delicious. Maybe it was the wonderful staff who I will add were very accomodating to my client and never once made him feel different or a burden, or maybe it was the amazing atmosphere, it could have even been the delicious food, but honestly I just loved that coffee and am grieving the fact that I live an hour away and can’t just make it my local. I ordered the green bowl with falafel to add to it and O.M.G. it was delicious. My fussy client who had his own lunch box (which the staff were more than happy for) due to his fussiness, stole 3 of my falafel and devoured half my bowl 😃 which I was more than happy to allow because the bowl was jam packed. I loved the amount of gluten free food as I’m allergic to wheat and the prices were fair. I honestly cannot say enough about this place. It has taken me a long time to review because I couldn’t remember the name but found the receipt and was very happy to give this beautiful business 5 stars. I promised I would if I enjoyed the coffee so now I finally have. 😃 Seriously do yourselves a favour and make this your local. The staff were so friendly and the thing that impressed me the most other than there knowledge of the menu was the way they communicated to each other beautifully, they dressed professionally (I’m not a snob but I hate going to buy food from someone with their hair a mess, and messy clothes) and actually looked like they enjoyed being there. I cannot wait to go back. Thanks for being great owners. Your choice of decor, staff and food was 100%. I wanted to post photos but I must have waffled on too much because there is...